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Legal Marketing: Use Twitter to gather competitive intelligence

Guest post by: Tom Matte

Article Overview: Use Twitter to get the inside scoop on competing law firms in your practice area. These days everyone is using Twitter, whether it’s to jump start a business or just catch up on the latest legal news. Something legal marketers have overlooked, though, is that Twitter can be used to get an advantage over other law firms. Most everything on Twitter is public domain, so use this treasure trove of information to learn about your competitor’s marketing strategies and followers.

Legal Marketing: Use Twitter to gather competitive intelligence

Use Twitter to get the inside scoop on competing law firms in your practice area.



These days everyone is using Twitter, whether it’s to jump start a business or just catch up on the latest legal news. Something legal marketers have overlooked, though, is that Twitter can be used to get an advantage over other law firms. Most everything on Twitter is public domain, so use this treasure trove of information to learn about your competitor’s marketing strategies and followers.

If you want to know what the law firm across the street is doing, follow them on Twitter.

I came across a great article by Kristi Hines called, “7 Sneaky Ways to Use Twitter to Spy on your Competition,” and it opened my eyes to a whole new side of Twitter:

1. Follow your Competition on Twitter. Like I said above, following your competitors will give you the inside scoop on their marketing strategies. If you don’t want your competitor to know that you are following them, create a private Twitter list that is only visible to you.
2. Monitor their @replies. Search for your competitor through their @replies. This will show you what other people are saying about them – not just what they are saying or tweeting. You can even save this search to make it easier for you to “spy.”
3. Analyze their Followers. Look at who is following your competition. These people are their clients, employees, etc.
4. Check out their Toolkit. See where your competitor’s tweets are coming from. Every time your competition tweets you can see what time they tweeted that information and if they used a tool, such as HootSuite, to tweet it. If these tools seem to be working for them, then you can assume they will work for you too!
5. See what they do on other social networks. Most people and companies using Twitter also showcase other social networks they use. If you are monitoring your competitor’s Twitter account, then you can see if they are using Facebook, YouTube, and/or have their own blog account. This is just another way to learn about their marketing strategy so you can sell against it.
6. Keep up with their blog posts and articles. Blogging is a great way to connect with clients and gain even more loyalty. Not only do I recommend that your law firm has a blog account, but you should also look at your competitor’s. Look at the articles they are talking about and use that to your advantage. If your competitor doesn’t have a blog yet, make sure you are one step ahead of them and start one for your firm!
7. Get their score. Use Twitter Grader to find out your competitor’s rating for their Twitter site. Rate yourself too and figure out what you’re missing compared to your competitor’s Twitter account.

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Article Tags: law firm marketing, law firms, legal marketing, The Matte Pad, Tom Matte, Twitter



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