Adoption Firm’s Multi-Pronged Social Approach

“We receive three to five messages per day on Facebook from potential new clients.”

In today’s business environment, social media is a vital tool to market your practice. The majority of potential clients are online. Utilizing social media marketing is faster and less expensive than traditional marketing methods. Social media used in conjunction with traditional marketing tools can be a successful investment of time and resources. But if you’re a novice, it can seem like an overwhelming task. Where and how do you start?

Indiana Adoption law firm, Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. successfully uses social media to bring in and update their clients. They have a large Facebook following as a result of their sincere and honest online presence.

Background

Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. is located in Indianapolis and limits their practice to adoption law. For over 30 years, attorneys Steve Kirsh and his brother Joel have based their independent private adoption law practice on meeting the human needs of prospective birth mothers and adoptive parents.

Their phones are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days a year. Steve is a licensed pilot, and the attorneys travel by airplane and car to meet with prospective birth mothers and adoptive parents throughout Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, and Kentucky.

Goals

Update current clients and followers on company news, events, etc.
Bring in new clients
Advertise the practice

Advantages of Social Media Marketing vs. Traditional Marketing

Social media marketing is faster and less expensive than traditional marketing methods. In the past, before the internet and social media existed, one of the primary marketing tools at Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. was a paper newsletter, costing money in paper, postage, and ink. Once the newsletters arrived at their destinations, they were often tossed in the trash before they were read. On Facebook, however, the client or potential client is online, willingly seeking and receiving the information, in real time and at little to no cost. Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. uses their Facebook page and other social media accounts to respond to a demand that already exists. “It’s not an option to not be on social media,” Steve Kirsh says.

Social Media Tools and Posting System

Grant Kirsh (Steve’s son), now in his 3L year of law school at the Robert H. McKinney School of Law at Indiana University, manages the social media accounts for Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. The three main social media tools are Facebook, the company blog, and Pinterest. They use a multitude of other social media platforms and review sites, including:

Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Yelp
Google+
LinkedIn
Foursquare
Yahoo! Local
Citysearch
YellowBot
Lawyers.com
FindLaw.com
AVVO.com

As far as posting new content, they usually post multiple messages daily, and sometimes there will be three or four days with no posts (no forced content). The Facebook posts are set up to automatically go into the Twitter feed, and sometimes Grant will post additional content on Twitter. Businesses need to be careful not to post too often on Facebook or people will become annoyed. “On Twitter, it’s difficult to post too much since it moves at supersonic speed,” Grant says.

A main piece of content for both the website and social media channels: profiles of carefully screened prospective adoptive parents. Grant will post links to the profiles on social media, and one of the tools he uses to save time is HootSuite. This program is designed to write and schedule future content into such platforms as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. When Grant wants to post a link daily to a profile, he can take a half hour or so to load the links into HootSuite and is saved the time of posting links every day from multiple websites.

Social media can take a large amount of time, not only with posting but keeping up with changes and new platforms. “I’ll wait and see how often I hear about a new social media platform before I decide to try it,” Grant says. He started the Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. Pinterest account after he heard about “pinning” over and over.

Facebook

Facebook is the most effective social media account as far as engagement and conversion for Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. The page has over 4,400 “likes” at the time of this writing from current clients and often friends of current clients. “We receive three to five messages per day on Facebook from potential new clients,” Grant says.

Grant has, in the past, tried using small $10 and $20 ads on Facebook to increase the number of likes, but finds there is no substitute for getting new likes other than posting relevant and honest content. In the ads Grant has done though, he finds he’s more successful targeting ads towards the friends of people who already follow the page rather than complete strangers. “A vast majority of the people we work with are referred to us by others who have worked with us,” Grant says. Using this method, the chance of the page being relevant to those targeted increases, which boosts the number of likes. Along with ads, Grant will periodically ask his Facebook friends to like the page. Grant uses Facebook Insights to measure his efforts and says the reach grows if you post often. The reach for Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. has at times grown to 20-32,000 people on consecutive days with multiple posts.

Grant writes most of the content. If Steve or Joel has a message they want to post on Facebook, they will give the content to Grant, and Grant will preface the status update with “From Steve” or “From Joel.” For confidentiality purposes, clients’ names are never mentioned. Once the adoption process is complete, clients will eagerly ask if it’s their turn to have a blurb written about them on Facebook. While their names aren’t specified, the individuals know when the update is about them, and will tell their friends. This results in more likes for the particular post and the entire page.

The most popular Facebook posts are adoption success stories, links to posts on the Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. blog, and images. The success stories make an emotional connection with the people who follow the page. Grant finds when he posts a picture with text that receives a much larger response than text alone, which people tend to scroll past without reading. For example, a post on January 8, 2014 reads: “Steve is at the Indiana State House this morning meeting with the Senate Committee to speak about an adoption related bill.” The text is paired with a picture of the state house skylight. This photo garnered 86 likes at the time of this writing.

Another creative way to use images to increase engagement and reach is to run a contest. Last Halloween, Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. held a costume contest on Facebook. Grant collected pictures via email from parents of their children in costume. He uploaded the photos to an album called “Halloween Costume Contest 2013!” The photo with the most likes won the contest. At the time of this writing there were 104 likes for the album as a whole.

Blog

The Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. blog, “Indiana Adoption Law Blog,” has archives dating back to 2007, and today the blog has grown into a primary online marketing tool. Several employees write posts for the blog, including Grant, Steve, and Joel Kirsh. Steve and Joel’s sister, Jill Freeman Kirsh, who works at the practice as a court appointed confidential intermediary, also contributes. The most important thing to remember with a company blog is to provide value to your readers and potential clients. Recent article titles include:

Indiana Adoption- Pregnant and want to know about adoption?
Adoption: My Parents Say I am 22 Years Old and Should be Old Enough to Raise a Baby
Adoption? How Do I “Give Up” my Baby for Adoption?
Adoptive Parents are Grateful to the Birthparents of their Sons who are now 24, 21, and 18 Years Old

Much like Facebook, posting frequency isn’t set in stone, and content is never forced. From January-November 2013 the blog had 200-300 unique visits per month. In December 2013 Grant set a goal to post twice a week to increase that number. He ended up posting four times in December (about once a week). “We still had a jump to 726 unique visitors that month,” Grant says. To draw readers, Grant will “cross pollinate” when a new article is published on the blog by posting the link on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and other relevant social media channels.

Review Sites

In addition to Facebook, the blog, and other social media accounts, review sites are an important piece of the online marketing strategy for Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. With listings on such sites as Google, Yellow Pages, and Citysearch, anyone can write positive or negative reviews without a moderator. Grant has claimed 12 of these sites to give the practice more control over this part of their online presence. A malicious review containing lies was written and posted all over the internet, and Grant had to make a serious effort to get the review removed. Now that the sites are claimed, Grant directs clients to the specific sites if they’d like to write a review (whether positive or negative, but the reviews are mostly positive). Grant selects reviews to post on the website under the link “Online Reviews of Kirsh & Kirsh.” The link is located on a sidebar under “Helpful Information.” The positive reviews are an online marketing tool to bring in new clients.

How To Get Started And Grow

The most valuable social media marketing lesson Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. has learned is to “just do it.” Whether you’re a novice or if you want to improve upon your social media marketing results, set a goal to devote 30 minutes a day (more or less time depending on your schedule) to social media. If this isn’t an option, delegate to a social media savvy employee in your practice or hire a service. Sign up for accounts, post relevant and honest content, get the word out, and ask your friends, family, and current clients to like or follow your pages. Once you get started, it takes time to build a following, but it will happen if you’re consistent. For Kirsh & Kirsh P.C, 85% of new clients come from referrals. A strong social media and online presence enhances traditional marketing methods and helps bring in new clients.

Once you’re established, there are a few things you can do to continue to grow your following. Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. lists their social media account by icon on hard pieces of paper (think traditional marketing collateral such as brochures). All Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. email signature blocks contain linked social media icons such as Pinterest, Facebook, and Twitter. Colorful icon stickers are displayed in the office lobby.

Results

Over 4,400 Facebook likes and counting.
3-5 Facebook messages per day from potential new clients.
Facebook reach has grown to as many as 20-32,000 people on consecutive days with multiple posts.
Once adoption process completed, clients eagerly ask if it’s their turn to have a post written about them on Facebook. Clients’ names are never mentioned for confidentiality purposes, but the individuals know when a post is about them, and will tell their friends, resulting in more likes for the post and the page.
Post images with text to generate more likes than text alone.
Contests, such as the Halloween costume contest Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. sponsored, are helpful to increase likes and engagement.
In December 2013 the Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. blog jumped from 200-300 unique visitors a month to 726 because of consistent posting frequency of once per week.
Claim review sites and listings such as Yellow Pages and gain more control over the content posted on the site.
If a client expresses interest in writing a review, direct the client to one or more of the sites claimed. Select positive reviews from these sites to post on the company website to help bring in new clients.
85% of new clients for Kirsh & Kirsh, P.C. come from referrals.
Display social media icons on brochures, in email signature blocks with links, and with stickers in your lobby to grow your network.