Social Networks Legal Nurse Consultants Need to Use
Which social networks do you need to use? I still run into LNCs who are not using social media at all. Without social media you will remain a best kept secret.
What can you do as a legal nurse consultant to stand out on social media? These are commonly used social networks and tips for using each.
The best business social network: LinkedIn
Often thought of as a professional version of Facebook, LinkedIn has a lot of potential for anyone who is trying to build a brand. If you really want your legal nurse consulting business to stand out, start making more connections on LinkedIn. This is one social network you must use, even if you don’t use others.
Here are a few best practices to work into your LinkedIn social media plan.
• Profile – LinkedIn has a huge profile component. In order to stand out here, fill in every blank space that you possibly can. This includes an introductory video, a great professional headshot, as well as referrals, and testimonials from your attorney clients.
• Publish – LinkedIn allows you to publish legal nurse consulting articles that will potentially get a high amount of viewers, even outside of your connections. This is because all of the second tier connections (your connections’ connections) can see the content you publish. Make your content unique, timely, and relevant. They’ll even give you writing ideas once you click “write an article” under your profile header.
• Connect – It is tempting to connect to anyone and everyone on LinkedIn. However, like most social media platforms, it’s best to connect with only the relevant people you know. Start with the friends you already have and build your connections over time. You can narrow down the relevancy even more according to your needs. Use your connections to get introductions to attorneys.
• Engage – LinkedIn has many groups that probably relate to your business, niche, and topics. I run Legal Nurse Consulting Marketing. Join my group. Make a commitment to engage with your connections on a regular basis. Contributing awesome information and content will attract the audience to you want.
Complete your profile and keep it updated. Reach out to others – you’ll stand out. So many people are relying on automation now that when someone gets real and personal they’ll automatically make an impression.
Facebook can be quite amazing. You’ll find your clients on Facebook. According to statista.com, on a monthly basis there are over 1.71 billion active users on Facebook. The best way to stand out on Facebook is to encourage interaction in a variety of ways. Your Facebook friends will applaud you when you share with them.
And please, keep in mind that religion and politics can alienate your clients.
• Images – Every now and then Facebook changes its image sizes. Keep up to date on the best sizes to use so that they are more appealing and sharable. Use images in updates to help your audience find you in the sea of information in their news feeds. Use well-made, branded, attention-grabbing images to help promote your topics and updates.
Please use a photo of you. Not your dog, not your child, not your cat, not you and your spouse. You.
• Content – The content you share on Facebook should lead readers to take some type of action, whether it’s going your website, blog, or getting them to sign up for your email list. Plan the purpose or a call to action for all content before you share it. Don’t share anything that is unrelated or uninteresting to your readers.
• Engagement – Don’t blindly share content. Most Facebook users are not there to buy. Generally, they dislike advertisements and people who promote too much. Engage with users on Facebook for maximum impact.
• Promote – You can’t just leave things to chance on Facebook. If you have something important to share with your audience, use the tools available to promote it. You can promote a post, run an advertising campaign, and share items more than once.
Facebook is the place to be if you want to increase the size of your loyal audience base. Answer questions on other people’s groups, be a resource, and “go live” with important information for your audience a couple of times a week.
Twitter has over 313 million active monthly users (statista.com) so in all probability your audience is on Twitter. I find that most attorneys use LinkedIn for business purposes, Facebook for social purposes and Twitter to promote themselves. If you want to go beyond using appropriate #hashtags, here are some best practices and important tips to help you stand out on Twitter.
• Repeat Your Tweets – More than any other social network, repeating Tweets is an essential component of ensuring that your ideas are seen, commented on, and shared. While other networks frown on this practice, Twitter encourages it. Try sharing a slightly different tweet about the same info two or three times a day. Be sure you space each “repeated tweet/link” several hours apart to get the most engagement.
• Don’t Forget the Weekend – Weekends are a good time to interact with Twitter users. Some people may not have time to deal with social media during the week. Try sending tweets on weekends. Use what you know about the habits of your target market as well as analytics to find out when your audience engages on Twitter. You might be surprised at how much more you’ll stand out from the others who aren’t doing it.
• Use Images – Tweets that share images get more retweets and comments than those without. Be sure to brand your image with your logo. Let the image speak for itself with a small blurb on the image.
• Promote – On Twitter, you want to promote your important Tweets to get more bang for your time. When you know you want your audience to perform a specific action from the Tweet, that’s a good time to promote it.
Twitter has a lot of promise when it comes to social media promotions. You can use Twitter ads, Twitter pics, and even video to stand out from the crowd. Avoid too much automation and focus on interaction, especially on Twitter. Take advantage of the fast pace and tweet in the moment.
These social networks are places to start. Pick one, master it and then add another. Your goal of connecting with clients will be met if you interact, share, comment and post.
Get more tips about using social media by listening to the podcast by Sandy Lawrence at Legal Nurse Podcast.