Twitter: lawyers need to respond quickly to opportunities
There has been a massive increase in people using Twitter to ask for recommendations of professional service providers in the last two years, with solicitors one of the most in demand, according to research conducted for Orange Business.
It claimed that “small businesses are missing a trick if they take their eyes off tweets”, with its research reporting a 663% increase in people using Twitter to ask for recommendations around common professional services. Ten million Britons are on Twitter.
Most in-demand are web designers whose popularity, Orange speculated, may be skewed by the fact like-minded and tech-savvy individuals are more likely to be on Twitter. “However, second on the list are solicitors, who may not be aware of the fees they could be missing out on by not engaging with the public and other businesses via Twitter,” the mobile operator said. They were followed by accountants, architects and copywriters.
Mike Tomlinson, small business marketing director at Orange Business, said: “It is clear from this research that you can’t just rely on posting adverts in the classifieds. Today, Twitter represents a compelling word-of-mouth engine that can deliver significant business opportunities to small businesses across a wide variety of sectors… If professionals do not engage with people on Twitter, they risk losing out.”
Orange, unsurprisingly, said lawyers should use their smartphones to access Twitter on the move so that they did not miss out on what was happening, and also advised that they should be prepared to offer advice on the micro-blogging site. “Professionals need to showcase their expertise and accessibility over Twitter. It’s not about giving away free counsel but showing you know what you’re talking about and sharing information which might spread far and wide. Your words of wisdom will reach far more potential customers than your silence.”
Also, it said lawyers and others need to be quick in responding to tweets and ensure they can demonstrate their “real-world” credentials by making sure users can easily link from their Twitter profile to a website.
David 
Interesting article! It shows that a personal recommendation is still valued, even in the digital age – and also that perhaps some people aren’t as personally informed on certain legal matters as they could be?
Twitter (and Facebook) seem to be an increasingly crucial element in marketing professional services, not just digital ones – we’ve experienced this first hand, with @LongridgeLaw gaining 280+ followers in just three months.