Public Relations
About Business and Law Firm Public Relations
The law is frequently a subject of people’s interest, and public relations helps attorneys and law firms tell people what they do. Law firm public relations can take several forms and be used for different purposes. For example, a large law firm might send a press release or buy advertising space to promote a new practice area or an expansion office in a new city. Meanwhile, a smaller law firm may also send press releases but may spend more time focusing on publishing and sharing blog articles about their practice, newsworthy notes about the attorneys, and local community events. For example, a small law firm might be an event sponsor and write an article about it.
Forbes: Five Things Everyone Should Know About Public Relations
Earned Versus Paid Placements
Earned placements are the product of a public relations agent pitching stories to news organizations hoping they will run the report and gain media coverage. Earned placements are what most people traditionally think about when they hear about public relations.
Paid placements are advertising. When you decide to buy ad space to get your message out, the content should be written in a way intended to be positive advertising, not news. There is nothing wrong with buying advertising space when the intended result is to put your story out there.
Make or Follow a Story Using Social Media
Whether creating or following a story, law firm websites and social media are tools to get your content out to people. For example, a criminal defense attorney may follow a newsworthy court case and offer general information about the legal issues involved. The law firm can write a blog article and share that in its social media and newsletter.
Creating a narrative on your starts with an idea you think people might find interesting. Every news story comes from something that affects people. For example, a divorce attorney receives frequent similar questions about a change in family law. They may write an article for their website and share it on social media and in their newsletter. Doing this opens the door to someone finding the piece in search engine results and sharing the article with current social media followers and people who send client referrals.
