Picture a smiling young mother with her smiling young daughter sitting happily in her arms. The associated LinkedIn Update reads: “Enjoying lunch with my cutie pie! So grateful to my firm for supporting on-site childcare and working mothers.”
Now, picture a glossy brochure with infographics, stock photos and a compelling pull quote from the managing partner extolling the firm’s long-standing efforts to promote work/life balance.
Both are recent examples from the same firm: one came as the result of a happy parent sharing her experience working as an associate at an AmLaw 200 firm, the other the result of countless dollars and hours spent on a marketing piece to garner publicity for their commitment to the cause. Which is more compelling? Would the happy mother’s message be amplified by a like, share or comment from the firm’s managing partner? More to the point, what is the return on investment for each kind of publicity?
For a long time publicity could generally be counted in two buckets: paid or earned. Paid media was much simpler to identify during the print era. It was either a display advertisement, positioned and marked in a special paid advertising section or buried in the back of the book as a directory or classified ad. Earned media, on the other hand, held a special sway and more respect. Earned media was that which, well, an organization or person earned through their efforts in the form of a journalistic article. Of course there has always been a lot going on behind the scenes as in-house and external PR teams work hard, make pitches and deliver experts to a reporter pre-deadline earning coveted spots on short-lists of people to call. Quotes from high-powered attorneys and article placements aren’t always earned on merit, sometimes it’s the right person at the right time.
But as social media and other technologies that make it easier for reporters to easily cull a wide variety of sources for their stories have grown, the definitions of earned versus paid media (especially in the legal industry) remain largely the same. It’s time for a new definition of earned media that includes credit for authentic and organic endorsements of a service or product on social media.
You don’t have to take my word for it. Consider last week’s Bloomberg BNA post from the Global Chairman of Baker & McKenzie, Eduardo C. Leite, “Why Social Media Matters for Law Firms”. Mr. Leite is proud to be part of the 5% of AmLaw 100 Managing Partners on Twitter. He cites, among many reasons, the fact that in five years, “…50 percent of the global workforce will be members of Generation Y and Generation Z. They have grown up connected, collaborative and mobile.”
Jennifer Risi, MD of Ogilvy Media Influence captures the sentiment in an article about a recent survey. She says, “Our savviest clients know they need to have a mix of traditional, social, and paid. It all needs to work together. They’re seeing the power of earned, and they’re seeing the return they’re getting because it’s very cost-effective, and when people tell your story for you, without having to pay for it, that’s very powerful”.
Social media enables people to tell your story without having to pay for it. It enables the good work your firm does to see the light of day. If guided correctly, social media can grow in power and take your story further. Managing Partners like Mr. Leite will be glad to see a continuation of the status quo: as his competition postpones and discounts the use of social media he will go about earning the powerful stories of tomorrow.
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