Instagram for Lawyers: Stories and Reels Marketing Your Law Firm

When it comes to social media platforms for promoting your law firm, it’s easy to envision using some channels more than others. LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter all seem to be a great fit for attorney social media. You may not have considered Instagram for lawyers as a viable tool for sharing your expertise, building an audience, and growing your legal practice.

In truth, there are several lawyers on Instagram who have found ways to use Instagram posts to grow their law firm’s brand and reach their lawyer marketing strategies. If you are interested in expanding your social media marketing, keep reading.

This piece explores how to market on Instagram for lawyers, best practices to follow, and how Instagram posts for lawyers, reels, stories, and other legal content can be used to connect with your target clients.

Lawyer Instagram: Another Marketing Tool

Before you dive into Instagram marketing for lawyers, we recommend that you review the guidance provided by the ABA and your local bar association as it relates to professional conduct on social media.

In particular, you should be aware of rules that apply to the content you may post to your law firm's Instagram account, the use of disclaimers, accounts you may follow, establishing a social media policy, and ethics related to law firms advertising.

If you follow other attorney accounts on Instagram, you will find that many lawyers are using Instagram like they are using other social media platforms. Instagram for lawyers is great for building brand awareness and connecting with people in your local community.

When you publish Instagram stories, posts, and videos, the people who see them learn more about your law firm and develop a connection to your brand. Eventually, if they need legal services, your firm may be one they remember.

Additionally, if you invest in paid advertising on Instagram, you can reconnect with people who have already visited your website, thanks to retargeting. This helps you get more out of your advertising dollars. Instagram has the potential to be a valuable part of any marketing campaign that includes social media marketing for lawyers.

Starting Your Attorney Instagram Business Account

To get started with Instagram for lawyers, you will need to create a business account. Start by downloading the Instagram app and installing it on your smartphone.

If you have a law firm Facebook account, feel free to use that to create your new law firm's Instagram account. If not, follow these steps:

• Sign up for Instagram: Instagram uses your email address, phone number, and law firm name to make your Instagram profile discoverable and expedite building your attorney Instagram following
• Create a Username and Password: Instagram will automatically generate a username for your Instagram lawyers account, but you can change it so that it matches your other law firm social media accounts
• Connect with Your Contacts on Your Phone and Facebook: Instagram will ask you to connect with your contacts, but you can skip this step until you have a fully customized business account
• Add an Instagram Profile Photo: If you have a profile picture on LinkedIn or Facebook, use it to maintain visual consistency

Every Instagram for lawyers profile is initially set up as a personal account. However, you can change your Instagram account settings to make this a professional account. 

You can create or switch to a professional account if you have a business or are a content creator. Since your law firm is a business, you can also connect your Instagram account to your business Facebook page.

Select the category Lawyer & Law Firm, and opt to make your contact information public. This way, if prospective clients want to contact you based on your Instagram posts, your law firm’s contact information is available.

Nailing Down Your Law Firm Instagram Account

Instagram Bio Ideas for Lawyer Marketing

Instagram for lawyers is extremely effective, as long as you follow this tip for new law firm accounts. Fully customize your profile and create a few compelling posts before you begin to attempt to connect with your target audience.

You can customize your law firm Instagram profile by tapping the profile icon and then the link to edit your profile.

If you want to add or update a profile picture, tap on your current image or the default image. Then, upload your image. It should be a minimum of 180 x 180 pixels. Pictures of lawyers on Instagram should match your other social media profiles. This increases brand recognition.

To take that continuity even further, use the same law firm name and user name to stay on brand. Also, remember that a bio for lawyers on Instagram can have your law firm's website URL.

Now, you can complete the 150-character bio description. This is where you can introduce people to your practice. You can also explain what kind of content you intend to share on Instagram. Some lawyers also choose to use this space to add a disclaimer about the content they share.

Public Business Information on Your Law Firm Instagram

It's important to understand the information about your law firm that is visible to the public. You will want to monitor this part of your Instagram business account to ensure it is accurate and aligns with your attorney reputation management practices.

The bio for lawyers on Instagram is connected to your Facebook. If there is a Facebook page connected to your Instagram, you can change that here. You may also modify your account category. This is where you can add or change any contact information as well as determine which information will appear on your public profile.

When a bio for lawyers on Instagram contains a phone number or email address as part of the business information that is shared with the public, Instagram adds a contact button to that profile. If you choose to do this for your law firm, other Instagram users may tap or click to call or email you from your profile.

If you add your law firm street address and make that visible as well, potential clients can tap that to get directions to your office.

Additionally, people will be able to go to your location page if you have linked your FB page. You must also have set your Facebook page up as a local business. This information is taken from the about section of your Facebook page. It includes your:

• Website URL
• Phone number
• Business category
• Price range

When an Instagram user views your location information, they will see images of lawyers and other pictures that people have tagged to your location.

Take time to review these pictures. You aren’t able to remove them, but you can respond to comments. You can privately contact the owners of the photos if they are problematic.

Take Time to Discover the Best Instagram Hashtags for Lawyers

Lawyer hashtags are valuable because they help your law firm gain more traction on Instagram quickly. Creating great Instagram posts will allow you to gain more followers eventually, but the right hashtag instantly connects your account to current conversations that relate to your practice area.

Using hashtags works best if you approach them strategically. You can borrow some tips from your SEO campaigns. Start by identifying relevant keywords. Then, write Instagram content that optimizes those. To do this, pay close attention to the hashtags that Instagram users are adding to their own posts and comments.

Try using the Search and Explore tab on Instagram. This is where you will be able to see various legal topics and how other law firms are using hashtags.

Look for hashtags that relate to your law firm. Click those and review the most recent posts. How much engagement are those posts getting? Is the content truly relevant to your practice?

You can also use tools outside of Instagram for keyword research. These can help you identify hashtags that are currently popular. Finally, follow relevant hashtags to stay on top of trending legal content.

Attract Followers from Other Channels

So far, these Instagram tips for lawyers have addressed how to attract Instagram users to your law firm from within the platform. This is certainly effective, but there are other ways to grow your presence on Instagram.

One method is to connect with people on other channels and then draw them to your law firm’s Instagram profile. 

A simple, effective approach for attracting followers is to add a small icon in the footer section of your law firm's website that links to your Instagram. This is a simple change or addition to a request when you are contracting out attorney website services.

If you are specifically interested in attracting local clients to your business Instagram account, consider using your Google My Business profile. It’s good practice in Google my Business for law firms to include a link to your law firm's Instagram page and other social media pages. This will help you increase your following among people who may not have found your Instagram page.

Come up with Your Law Firm Instagram Content Plan

Now you know the high-performing hashtags and content that are connected to your area of practice. You can start to create an Instagram content strategy for your Instagram lawyer account.

What is good Instagram content for lawyers? Any content that allows you to build your attorney brand, attract new clients, and achieve other goals.

Start by outlining what you want to achieve by creating an Instagram account. You may want to increase your engagement with your current clients, share your expertise on a new channel, or something else.

Now, consider the resources you have available to bring your content strategy to life. Do you have personnel available to work on this? How many hours per week can you and they dedicate? What about budgeting for paid efforts? Yes, you should go through this process even if you are a single attorney practice or small law firm. It helps ensure you create a realistic category.

Take a disciplined approach to your law firm’s Instagram content. Make a list of topics you would like to cover in your posts and other content. Keep your objectives in mind, and use the hashtags that will attract the right audience. You can work with a professional content writer to ensure you publish high-quality posts.

Now, consider how often you will post. For most commercial accounts, posting once a day is sufficient, but more can be better. However, you will also want to take into account the Reels and Stories that you will publish. Your available resources will also impact how often you can publish content.

Instagram for Lawyers: Make Content Categories Work for You

Lawyers on Instagram: Posts

As you learn how to market on Instagram for lawyers, it will become clear that posts will be the foundation of your firm’s Instagram. On Instagram, posts are either videos or photos.

There will always be some production involved in getting content to your audience and ensuring it helps you accomplish your marketing objectives.

Take a look at these Instagram lawyer tips for creating posts that increase brand awareness and help you connect to your audience.

• Don’t Focus on Promotion: 80% of your posts should be informative, not promotional
• Give Your Audience Something Valuable: Give them actionable information they can use right now
• Prioritize Production Value: Source the right equipment and take time to produce quality videos and images
• Go Behind the Scenes: Create a sense of intimacy by showing your law office, profiling your legal team, or giving an update on an important court matter
• Maintain the Correct Tone: For most law firms, a professional and authoritative tone is best, but some practices have been able to use relatability in their branding
• Use Instagram Filters: These can make your posts more appealing as long as you don’t use them excessively

Use these tips to create and share relevant, engaging posts with your audience. Eventually, you will be able to see which posts are working best and which are not.

Lawyers on Instagram: Stories

Instagram Stories are now a key component of the social media platform. This is despite the fact that this content format actually began on a different platform: Snapchat.

The concept of stories is brilliant yet simple. You put together a set of photos or videos. Instead of being displayed in the newsfeed, they are posted to the top of it for 24 hours before they disappear.

It’s that placement that makes stories so valuable. They are much more visible than posts. The 24-hour time limit makes this format ideal for time-sensitive content. Also, Instagram automatically plays story content. Once someone begins viewing stories at the top of their feed, your law firm’s content will be seen as well.

Law firms can also use stories to create audience engagement. You can add stickers that ask yes/no and open-ended questions. Stickers may also include polls or countdowns. It’s also possible to use stickers with hashtags. This can attract a wider audience to your Instagram stories.

When you create content for stories, remember that they appear in vertical format. You want to ensure that your content will display correctly. Here are some story ideas that law firms have used successfully:

• Live Videos: Share live videos taken during events, such as legal conferences 
• Q&A Content: Answer questions about legal topics in your area of expertise, but avoid speaking on specific cases
• Team Member Intros: Use stories to give brief intros that highlight your team and their expertise

If one of your stories really gains traction, you can feature it on your profile. Eventually, you can build a collection of stories that truly represent your law firm’s brand, history, and expertise.

Lawyers on Instagram: Reels

Instagram Reels are a fairly recent feature. In fact, most lawyers aren’t using this content format. Reels are short-form videos that may be 15, 30, or 50 seconds long. The purpose of these short videos is to be impactful and provide entertainment value.

Instagram is currently trying to get more people to use this feature, so reels are often given top priority in newsfeeds. Law firms can use this to increase their reach on this social media platform.

When it comes to Instagram lawyer reels, here is an important question to consider. "What interesting questions can I answer quickly that will engage the widest segment of my audience?" Film your answer in portrait mode. Make sure you have good lighting and an attractive background.

Be prepared for best practices on Instagram reels to change. This format is still relatively new.

Lawyers on Instagram: IGTV

IGTV is Instagram’s video platform. It’s a space for businesses and content creators to create and share longer videos than they would on Reels or Stories. With IGTV, you can upload up to an hour of content from a web browser and 15 minutes on a mobile device.

For IGTV, your videos must be 30 frames per second and 720 pixels. They can be filmed in both horizontal and vertical formats. Files should be in MP4. They should be a maximum of 3.6GB for an hour of video.

Remember that viewers who tune into IGTV will have higher expectations when it comes to viewing experience compared to stories. If you decide to work with IGTV, consider investing in a tripod, ring light, and professional microphone. This will increase your production values.

Instagram allows you to add a custom cover photo to your videos. This can get people interested in your content and motivate them to click from the IGTV tab, Search and Explore, or IGTV on your profile. The cover photo should be 420 x 654 pixels.

After you have created your IGTV video, promote it so that a wider audience may view your content. You can do this on Instagram stories. IGTV shows the number of views you have received, so you will want to increase those numbers as a matter of social proof.

Instagram Tips for Lawyers: Advertising

If you want to create an Instagram ad, you will go through the Meta Ads Manager dashboard, then click the "create ad" button. You will be asked questions that will allow you to create your ad.

The first step in making an ad is to define your marketing objective. Are you interested in increasing website traffic, boosting brand awareness, or increasing engagement on the Instagram platform?

In most cases, an Instagram ad campaign will increase the visibility of your brand. However, Facebook will show your Instagram ad to audiences that are most likely to take these steps to allow you to reach your chosen objective. For example, if Instagram engagement is your objective, Facebook is going to display your ad to the people who are most likely to comment or like it.

After you set your objective, you can name your campaign. You will also set A/B testing configuration options, optimize your budget, and complete your ad account setup. A/B testing lets you create several ad creatives and then compare them against one another. Facebook uses budget optimization to use the money you have earmarked for ad spending to get the best ROI.

You can use the audience section to define a target audience. You may use an existing audience based on your IG profile or website traffic. You may also create a new audience.

Your new audience can include or exclude people based on certain characteristics. This includes people who live in or have recently been to a specific location. There are also demographic traits that you can use, including:

• Age
• Education
• Career
• Relationship status
• Gender
• Family status

Audiences can also be targeted based on their interests, online behaviors, and previous engagement with your brand online.

There is an ad placements section. You may choose to have Facebook place your ads automatically. You may also choose to have your ads only displayed on the Instagram newsfeed and stories.

Instagram Tips for Lawyers: Targeting Your Audience

If you want to target audiences that are within a specific demographic, you can define that and start your ad campaign immediately. However, if you want to target people based on the way they engage with your Instagram or visit your website, that will take longer. You have to allow Ads Manager to collect data for a period of time before you launch an ad campaign.

To create a custom audience, you must set that up before you create or launch your ad. This is done in the Audiences section of Ads Manager. Get started by clicking the button to create a custom audience. Then, choose the option for an Instagram business profile or website traffic, depending on your target audience.

One of your targeting options is to reach out to people who have previously visited your website.

You will be given a code by Ads Manager. This is the Facebook pixel. When you place it on your website, it allows you to target Instagram ads to users who have visited your website in the past six months.

If your custom audience is fewer than 1000, it is considered to be too small for targeting. However, Facebook does offer tips for advertisers who want to increase their audience size. However, not all visitors can be linked to a Facebook or Instagram account, so these visitors will not be counted. 

If you choose to target audience members who have engaged with your legal practice on Instagram, you may select audiences who have:

• Visited your Instagram profile
• Sent you a message on Instagram
• Engaged with one of your posts
• Saved one of your posts

After you create your target audiences, wait until Ads Manager accumulates enough data to use in your campaigns. You can review that data via the Audiences dashboard.

Leverage the Power of Instagram Analytics to Make Informed Decisions

Instagram Insights allows you to learn important information about the performance of your account. You can find Insights by tapping on the counter that displays the number of visits to your profile. You can also get to Insights via your profile settings. This is where you will see the information you can use to optimize your Instagram marketing strategy.

If you want to see how people are interacting with your posts, go to the Content tab. Click on See All to view the engagement actions people have taken after viewing your posts. You can limit this to seven days or go back as far as two years. Engagement goals include:

• Comments
• Follows
• Impressions
• Likes
• Shares
• Website clicks
• Profile visits
• Calls
• Emails

You can also view the engagement total. You can sort the posts in your content tab by engagement goals. This allows you to see which posts are top performers. This will help you create posts that are most likely to achieve your current digital marketing goals.

Instagram allows you to see similar insights for your Stories over the last 14 days. You can learn whether people watched your story more than once, clicked on the next story, or exited out of stories altogether.

The Activity tab in Insights gives you a seven-day view of the profile visits, interactions, impressions, and reach that your practice has received. This information is useful if you are currently running a campaign and want to see if there are any positive changes in your online engagement.

Look at the Audience tab to see your total number of followers. You can also gain insights into demographic information about your followers, including location. That’s useful information if you have been attempting to reach a local audience.

The bottom of the Audience tab shows when your followers are usually online. This can help you time the content you publish and engage in conversations with active audience members using relevant hashtag posts and the Search and Explore tab.

Lawyers on Instagram Who Inspire Us

Now you know many of the options you have for marketing your practice on Instagram. It can really help to see what some of the top lawyer influencers Instagram has to offer are doing on the platform.

@omelvenymyers

Is it good for law firms to have an Instagram account? If they create as dynamic of a presence as this law firm has, the answer is yes. O'Melveny Myers makes full use of Instagram. They post frequently, share multiple Instagram stories, and use Reels to create engagement.

@fklegal

Frankl Kominsky Injury Law uses its Instagram presence to share useful information with its target audience. The account also shares a range of stories that include legal tips, information on the firm's community action initiatives, and team profiles.

@mcg_legal

MCG legal is an excellent example of an account using Instagram to provide relevant, engaging content. The firm provides everything from legal advice to information about the firm and community interest posts. It's also notable that this account shares plenty of photos of its lawyers, creating a sense of familiarity.

@evansiplaw

Andrea Evans is an IP lawyer who uses Instagram as part of a large social media presence. She uses her bio to reflect her accomplishments. Her account makes extensive use of Instagram Stories and Reels, which makes her account very engaging. In addition to sharing legal information, she gives insights into her personal life and community activism.

@nortonrosefulbright

Norton Rose Fulbright is an international law firm that offers a wide range of services. The company uses Instagram to share visually compelling images to share information about the cities in which they practice. Many of the pictures are taken by company attorneys.

@divorcedonedifferently

Divorce Done Differently is a family law and mediation firm. People who visit the practice's Instagram page can very quickly learn their approach to divorce and other family law matters. The account features posts and Instagram Stories.

@gt_law

This is another large, international law firm. The Instagram account the company has created is an excellent example of a professional, dedicated social media campaign on Instagram. There are frequent posts, and production values are exceptionally high.

@nowthatsabadchic

Brooklyn Brewer is a Texas attorney who uses her Instagram presence to build her personal and professional brands. Her posts and reels offer legal tips, insights into current events relating to legal topics, and a look into her own interests and views.

@kinnylegal

This is a niche law firm that represents businesses in the areas of elder care and disability. The firm uses its Instagram to share relevant legal information with its target audience and to build trust by publishing testimonials from satisfied clients.

@dmv_lawyer

Jessica Ornsby is a divorce and family lawyer. She maintains a very active Instagram presence and has been able to achieve a significant amount of engagement. Jessica Ornsby uses video extensively with filters and high production values.

Can Lawyer Instagram Help Your SEO

Yes, your Instagram presence can help your SEO efforts. However, the influence is indirect. Google does track traffic to Instagram pages. However, it only influences the organic rankings of those specific pages. Your Instagram engagement and traffic won’t directly impact the search engine ranking of your law firm’s website.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t use Instagram to boost your SEO. You absolutely can and should. Here are a few ways in which you can use Instagram to improve your website ranking.

• Draw More Attention to Your Content: If you have an interesting blog post or service to promote, get more traffic and views by adding the link to your Instagram bio
• Earn More Backlinks: Thought leadership content linked on Instagram will reach a wider audience, which may lead to more backlinks
• Increase Website Traffic: If your Instagram presence is engaging, people will make an effort to visit your company website as well
• Boost Your Instagram Profile Rank: While your primary focus may be on boosting SEO for your website, don’t dismiss the benefits of having a high-ranking Instagram page
• Build Trust: People want to be able to learn more about attorneys through their professional social media presence before hiring them

If your social media accounts are outdated or underdeveloped, potential clients may choose to look elsewhere for services. The benefits of increased visibility and efficient communication with your audience can improve your business over time.

It may be helpful to avoid viewing your social media presence and your website as two separate entities. Instead, think of your law firm as having a single, holistic online identity. Eventually, what happens on your Instagram may impact your website performance, and the reverse may be true as well.

If you choose to work with a company that provides law firm SEO services, make sure they take an approach that aligns with this view.

A Strong Instagram Presence Can Help with Law Firm Growth

If you haven't considered using Instagram as a platform for engaging with prospective clients, sharing your legal expertise, and building your brand, it may be time to consider joining.

Law firms are successfully using this platform to share videos, images, and other content to keep their existing audience members engaged while also reaching out to new prospects.

The platform offers both organic and paid options for business accounts and has made it easy to get started. Also, because your Instagram presence is closely associated with your Facebook presence, much of your law firm's information is already available.

Instagram is a powerful platform for lawyers, but why not give your practice an additional advantage? An agency that specializes in law firm digital marketing can help you create the ideal Instagram marketing strategy. Contact Grow Law Firm to start developing your Instagram marketing strategy today.