YouTube for Lawyers

Google is the largest search engine on the internet. Microsoft (Bing), Yahoo, Ask and AOL aren’t even close. In fact, another Google Site—YouTube—garners more search traffic than all of those competitors combined. Therefore, YouTube for lawyers should be a part of every attorney’s marketing plan.

More than 3 billion searches are processed on YouTube each month. Every minute, 100 hours of video are uploaded on YouTube. Every month, 6 billion hours of video are viewed on the site, making it currently the fastest growing video sharing website in the world.

These are some of the findings on YouTube compiled by the San Diego company Mushroom Networks in a compelling infographic. Other highlights include:

• Nearly half of internet users are on YouTube
• YouTube receives 1 billion unique monthly visitors
• YouTube reaches more 18-34 year olds than any media network

How Law Firms Can Market With YouTube

Most people, including yourself and your competitors, are probably already on Facebook and Twitter. In addition, most firms also have a blog. YouTube, on the other hand, is underutilized by law firms and other businesses. This creates the opportunity to reach a customer segment that your competitors aren’t reaching.

The American Bar Association recommends that lawyers use video in the following ways:

• Begin with a few trial videos. Don’t launch a full-scale video campaign until you first create a few short videos and gauge feedback.
• Market the lawyer, not the law firm. Video is a tool that allows you to humanize your brand, rather than focusing on firm aspects such as case results, reputation and accolades.
• Develop an online video version of regular firm communications. This includes educational videos, legal alerts and press releases.

The ABA also provides tips on how to have success with videos. It recommends posting videos frequently, keeping them short, tagging and sharing content across other social media platforms (i.e. Facebook and Twitter), and measuring results (views, shares and likes) to learn what works best.

Mushroom Networks found that 4 factors seem to most significantly impact video rankings:

• Number of views
• Title
• Description
• Ratings

As for what not to do, Martindale-Hubbell provides examples of awesomely-bad lawyer video ads.

Any firm interested in establishing a stronger web presence and engaging prospective clients through YouTube for lawyers can learn more with a FREE consultation with Legal Web Design.