Social media has completely changed our society.
With social media platforms, we network differently. We market ourselves differently. We build businesses differently. And of course, we talked to friends and family members differently.
Today, there are approximately 1.4 billion global Instagram users – and that number is expected to continue rising in the years to come.
Smart lawyers are already taking advantage of that, with a personal branding or marketing strategy that at least partially includes an Instagram presence.
Instagram marketing is a big, complex topic.
But we can start with something simple: an Instagram bio.
So how exactly should lawyers create a better Instagram bio – and establish the foundation for a better, stronger social media presence?
First, why should lawyers and law firms consider using Instagram as part of their omnichannel marketing strategy?
As we've already established, there's a billion and a half Instagram users and ostensibly millions more to come. Not all of them will be in your target demographics or in geographic proximity to your practice, but chances are good that there are thousands of leads and prospects well within your reach.
Plus, even if you're not reaching leads and prospects directly, connecting with other Instagram users can be a great way to develop yourself as a thought leader and build your professional reputation.
Instagram is also an attractive marketing tool because of its accessibility. You don't need a degree to manage an Instagram account, nor do you even need much marketing experience.
It's true that marketing knowledge and experience can greatly improve your Instagram marketing results, but if you're just starting with the basics, even a handful of fundamental principles can be enough to help you build initial momentum. Also, because you can manage an Instagram campaign with relatively little time and effort, it doesn't have to interfere with your primary responsibilities as a lawyer.
Marketing and lead generation for lawyers can be expensive. But Instagram marketing is relatively cheap. Creating an account, writing a bio, and regularly posting are all entirely free, even for businesses. And if you want to pay for advertising, you can do that – and get access to even broader, more powerful reach.
There are lots of social media platforms, but not all of them are as uniquely visual as Instagram. Originally, Instagram was all about photos, though it now showcases videos in equal measure. Users can apply filters and smart edits as they see fit, showing themselves or their subject matter in the best possible light. It's true that being a lawyer isn't as inherently visual as being, say, an artist, but that also means you'll have less competition to contend with.
It's also easy to love Instagram because of how easy it is to integrate with other digital marketing strategies. Managing an Instagram marketing or advertising campaign can easily become part of a broader social media strategy with other social media platforms. You can also integrate it with strategies like search engine optimization (SEO), pay per click (PPC) advertising, email marketing, and more.
With a proper strategy, and a clear path to conversion, Instagram marketing can be extremely profitable.
Why should you care about your bio, specifically?
In case you aren't familiar with this piece of your Instagram account, this is a brief description of your profile, where people can gather information about you. It generally appears below your profile picture and affords you 150 characters to concisely describe yourself and your account.
This is important for several reasons:
Most users who encounter your content and profile on Instagram will first notice a photo or video that you've posted. If they're interested in seeing more, or learning more about you, they'll immediately turn to your bio.
If anyone discovers you through your Instagram handle, rather than a piece of content you posted, the bio will be one of the first things they see as well. Accordingly, your Instagram bio is your opportunity to make a good first impression with practically everyone who encounters your account. As an experienced professional, you already know how important first impressions can be.
Your bio is also a great opportunity to optimize for search engines. If you're not familiar with this digital marketing strategy, search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of fine tuning your website and online presence generally to increase your rankings in search engine results pages (SERPs) for search queries relevant to your business. In other words, practicing lawyer SEO makes your legal practice more visible in Google and other search engines.
Social media doesn't impact your website’s search rankings directly, but fleshing out your Instagram bio can facilitate higher rankings for it in search engines – and build the relevance of your content for search queries relevant to your area of expertise. Additionally, your Instagram content can support visibility and link building for your primary website SEO strategy.
Finally, your Instagram bio is an opportunity to specifically appeal to clients. Anyone who might be a good fit for your legal services and anyone currently searching for a lawyer should be able to read your bio and determine whether you're worth considering.
You can demonstrate your expertise, convince users why they need a lawyer, and even show off your personality and communication skills to close the deal. In this way, you can think of an Instagram bio as a mini landing page designed to help you win more conversions.
A good Instagram bio for lawyers is:
For starters, your Instagram bio should be as original as possible. It's tempting to copy or slightly modify an Instagram bio from another lawyer, but it's probably not going to help you in any meaningful way.
If you've written the same thing as a hundred other lawyers, you're going to blend in as white noise and potentially tarnish your image as a distinguished professional.
Conversely, putting together an Instagram bio unlike any other is going to naturally help you stand out and give your leads and prospects a better vision of what they can expect from your services in the future.
Because your Instagram bio is already limited to 150 characters, it's naturally going to be more concise than most of the legal documents you draft in your job. That said, you still need to make an effort to maximize the information to content ratio within your bio.
In other words, you should focus on conveying as much information as possible in as little space as possible. Word your statements efficiently, utilize emojis when appropriate, and focus on the impact of each addition in this space.
You need to demonstrate, through your bio, exactly what your business does. Who are you? Who do you work for? What is your area of expertise? How much experience do you have? Why is your approach unique? Why should clients consider working with you? You shouldn't write a book to address all these questions, nor will you have the space to, but you should aim to be as straightforwardly informative as possible.
Not only will this help people better understand you in less time, but it will also serve as an example of your ability to concisely communicate and help people understand complex topics.
Your Instagram bio doesn't need to be adversarial, but you should remember that you're likely going to be competing with similarly expert lawyers on this platform. Accordingly, your bio should show off aspects that make you fiercely competitive or dominant in your space.
For example, you should show off awards and recognitions you've received, or mention the number of clients you've served successfully. Even if you're relatively new, you can likely find and post things that make you stand out.
This is also an opportunity to build trust with new followers and potential clients. You can't come out and say “I’m trustworthy,” so you'll need to find an indirect way to convince people that you're worthy of their time and money. Credentials and awards can serve this purpose, but it's even more powerful to demonstrate social proof.
Though not a strict requirement, Instagram bios are generally more effective if they are somewhat thought provoking. Challenge your users with a critical question about the law, or showcase an opinion that's somewhat controversial.
Not only will this serve as a mark of uniqueness and integrity, but it can also stir up discussion and help you build more engagement with your following.
Hashtags are a very useful, but often misunderstood element of social media marketing. When utilized properly, hashtags can make your account much more easily discoverable, since people can use hashtags to conduct searches and find related materials.
However, you also shouldn't spam hashtags or use them in irrelevant applications. The solution is to choose a small number of highly relevant hashtags to include in your bio.
Remember that your Instagram bio should also be easy to read for whoever your target audience is. This isn't a platform to show off your advanced vocabulary or demonstrate your ability to write in legalese; it's a way to connect with people, including everyday laypeople who may not be able to understand your most advanced writings. In other words, dumb it down just a bit.
Don’t forget a link to your website! While some of your leads and prospects may feel comfortable reaching out to you via DMs on Instagram, the heart of your digital marketing campaign is still going to be your website.
Linking your Instagram to your website will make it much easier to convert your social media following to a stream of social website traffic; it's also highly beneficial from an SEO standpoint. While you're at it, feel free to link to other accounts or websites that are relevant to your practice or your place in the legal field.
As you can imagine, it's hard to cram all of these qualities into a space that's only 150 characters long.
But with the right process, it becomes much easier.
If you're looking for tips on how to create your own successful Instagram bio, follow this process to start:
One of the best things to do first is review examples of lawyer Instagram bios that you like. Look up at least a few dozen different Instagram bios held by lawyers and law firms, then make a note of some of your favorites.
What do you like about these? What makes them stand out? What is it about the weaker bios that makes them perform worse? Remember, it's a bad idea to copy or even slightly modify an existing bio; you're simply looking for inspiration at this point.
Next, write out your most competitive qualities. What expertise or experience do you have that most other lawyers don't? What qualities do you have that people truly need? What credentials, awards, or other forms of recognition could you show off? At this stage, don't worry about conciseness; just keep writing until you're all out of ideas.
With a bigger list in place, start narrowing it down. Focus on your most competitive qualities and most impressive achievements. Eventually, you'll find the most concise, yet most impressive way to present yourself to the masses.
Finally, start experimenting with different variations. You can present your best achievements in a slightly different order, swap out different types of achievements, experiment with formatting, have an emoji version contrasting with a non-emoji version, and more.
When you see them out in the open, you'll be able to more easily compare and contrast them; you'll likely have an intuition for which of these bios will work best. If you want to take things a step further, you can AB test them with an audience representative of your target demographics and see which versions are most engaging.
With an Instagram bio in place, you'll be much better positioned to attract new followers, build your social media presence, and ultimately elevate your traffic streams and client base. It's a long process, but one that you can take one step at a time.
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