Legal Marketers Search for a Use for Pinterest

Pinterest, law firm marketingI started a discussion on LinkedIn asking, Tell Me How Your Law Firm Will Use Pinterest? U.K lawyer Annette Freeman summed it up for me when she wrote, "Potential clients are unlikely to go to Pinterest to look for an attorney."

But wait. Pinterest could become something more than an online refrigerator magnet collection.

Corporate lawyer Sam Miller said, "Pinterest in my view has great potential. I believe it can be used responsibly, including obtaining permission from websites to pin their content (which we do request where needed). It is a great way to market legal services in our view (again!), and allows lawyers to show a more personable side to a profession which has largely been miscast for way too long. www.VirtualLawDirect.com is about transparency and engagement, and our Pinterest presence compliments that."

Allison Shields, law firm marketing, pinterestMarketing coach Allison Shields said, "I don't necessarily think that's the only standard by which to judge whether it makes business sense to use Pinterest. If those who use Pinterest on a regular basis are in your target market, it might be a good place to be.

"Attorneys engage in plenty of activities and strive to become part of plenty of communities where potential clients don't 'go to look for an attorney.' But isn't it even better if someone you know from one of these communities doesn't need to look for an attorney, because when the need arises, they already know one?" she added. "Pinterest may be an opportunity for some lawyers to come up with creative ideas that get them in front of the very people who hire them. Lawyers who represent photographers and fashion designers (or other visual and creative types, like interior designers, artists, etc.) may do well on Pinterest."

Patrick Nicks, a Law Firm Marketing Specialist at LexisNexis, added, "I am accustomed to focusing on marketing that is directional, in that the lawyer is visible at the critical moment in time when the client is looking to hire. Allison gives us a good reminder that although directional media has a much higher conversion rate, the advantage of being visible in front of your target audience has good value too. TOMA (top of mind awareness) is an important aspect of any marketing effort."

Annete Freeman, pinterest, law firm marketingAnnette Freeman continued, "Pinterest is said to be generating more traffic to websites than YouTube, Reddit, Google+, and LinkedIn combined. So merely for driving traffic to your website, Pinterest could be worth investigating."

"Lawyers and other service providers, especially in IP, might want to keep their own Pinterest account just to check on the activities of clients using the site. What are they doing with their brands? What reactions are they getting? For solo practitioners, it could also be a tool for networking with other lawyers, and with clients, since its main focus is sharing interesting information. Think office products, travel destinations, new restaurants...get creative. Everyone else is."

But Project Coordinator Gabrielle DeCrescenzo and lawyer Ruth Carter were skeptics, with Carter saying, "For now, I'm staying off Pinterest because it looks like a major time suck and copyright infringement city: http://bit.ly/zPybk1 ."

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Carolyn Elefant - March 27, 2012 8:17 AM

I think that there are many ways that law firms can use Pinterest, most significantly, to show an active interest in matters of interest to their clients. I have great results pinning Green Energy infographics - they are widely circulated and show my clients that this topic is as important to me as it is to them. - http://pinterest.com/myshingle/green-energy-green-tech/

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