Comparing Organic Vs. Paid Social Media Advertising Efforts for Law Firms

Social media has become an essential part of the digital marketing world. Where Facebook and Twitter were once only used for chatting with friends, they are now wielded for social justice issues, current events, and engaging with brands and companies.

For law firms, social media can be a balancing act. Of course, it’s essential to remain professional online, but engaging with your client base can help you thrive. Admittedly, it can be challenging to walk this line. No matter your situation, however, your firm should be using social media to pull in new customers.

Though this may seem odd, it is the way of the world. More users find their new favorite brands, companies, and causes on social media, some of which come with undying loyalty. When you harness these sites to your advantage, you’re likely to see some amazing results for your firm.

Advertising on Social Media

Advertising on social media can be quite different from advertising in other ways. There are multiple ways to put ads on social media platforms, and it’s important to use them strategically to fulfill your advertising goals.

The ultimate goal of advertising is to amass a following on these websites. The larger the following you have, the easier it is to communicate with a large group of people. Ideally, these people will need your services and recommend you to others who may need something similar. Of course, not all of your social media followers will convert directly, but word of mouth and exposure are worth something and ultimately lead to higher conversions.

Organic Social Media Advertising

Many digital marketers talk about organic social media advertising, a term that can be misleading. Many people hear about advertising and understand it to mean a paid effort to gain more customers. However, organic social media ads are simply posts to your profile or page. You may be alerting your audience to the same information as you would with a paid advertisement, but you’re only reaching those who already follow you.

These ads may indeed make their way onto a general search page or explore tab, but overall, they remain within the demographic whose attention you’ve already grabbed. However, the upside to these is that you do not have to pay anything to get your point across.

Paid Social Media Ads

Paid social media ads, as the name suggests, require an investment. However, by paying a fee to your platform or app of choice, you can get your post to appear to people who don’t follow you. This means that you can potentially reach someone who wouldn’t otherwise know that your law firm exists. The best-case scenario is that those who see your ad will need your services and call you immediately.

These ads allow you to choose your audience from certain demographics. For example, if you’re an attorney specializing in divorce and family law, you may want to advertise to individuals between the ages of 40 and 60. On the other hand, if you’re a domestic violence lawyer, it may behoove you to advertise your services specifically to women. Though these demographics are not perfect, they allow you to narrow your focus to those most likely to need your services.

This kind of focused advertising isn’t available anywhere else. When you take out ad space in a magazine or on a billboard, you have very little control over the gender, age, religion, race, and sexuality of those who see it. However, you can be more precise with your target audience through social media analytics, which can be a significant asset for some ad campaigns.

Which Type of Social Media Ad is Best?

Clients often ask which type of social media advertising is best. The answer is neither. Both have distinct advantages and disadvantages and should be used in tandem for the best possible results.

If you focus only on paid advertisements, you’ll achieve diminishing returns. You may reach more people, but the number of those who need legal services will not remain proportionate to your efforts. You may get many conversions for your first ad and very few for the second. The goal of paid ads is to get the ball rolling on your social media pages themselves. They’re a great starting point to gain followers and build a community, but if you keep going, you will find that the results are not worth all the money you continually sink into them.

Organic social media ads are ideal as far as budget, but they can’t work on their own. You need a following for them to have an impact. Plus, with organic advertising, you can’t target an audience. This limits your abilities as far as growing your following.

It’s best to use both types together. Pay for social media ads when you’re just beginning your page or when growth has plateaued. They can also be beneficial if you’re making a significant change or have big news that you want many people to hear. In between these paid ads, you can maintain your online presence with organic social media posts.

If you use SEO in your organic social media posts, you can maximize their power without turning them into a paid ad. This can increase your following as well.

Turn to the Experts at RizeUp Media

Social media sometimes gets the reputation of being vapid or frivolous, but the reality is much different. Social media has become a potent tool for businesses of all kinds, especially when it comes to marketing efforts. These ads can have an impact, and many companies have been built using social media alone.

Harnessing the full power of social media advertising is not easy. This is not about throwing hashtags on a post or curating images. Instead, proper social media marketing requires thorough research, strategic campaigns, and hours of work. Without training, it’s challenging to do it correctly.

We have years of experience helping law firms with social media marketing, and we know how to harness these platforms to the benefit of your business.

For more information, contact us online today.