Ben Davies at Econsultancy looked at the Twitter accounts of the top 10 UK law firms and found that out of these only two tweeted a reply in 2016. It seems that most of these accounts are used to share press releases, with little attention paid to what makes Twitter unique. i.e 'Budget 2016 [link]'

His blog highlights to me the dangers of using a social media network just for the sake of using it. Sure, it gives the firms a presence and if they're a top 10 that means that without putting in too much effort they'll probably get a decent following. However, it's a wasted opportunity to not make the effort to play by Twitter's rules, and ultimately makes the law firm look out of touch.

So what can a top UK law firm do to please the Twitter gods?

• Loosen up that tie for once, and adopt a less corporate tone. Interact with people reaching out to you, whether by retweeting or replying to them, or both.
• Encourage engagement by using and creating appropriate hashtags (this includes hashtags for events you're hosting or attending). This will situate your firm within a wider conversation.
• Get visual. The right image or GIF can make your content much more attractive. Periscope an event you're attending to add value to your feed.
• Encourage discussion through the way that you write your tweets - don't be afraid to ask questions or create Twitter polls.
• Automate your content sharing to free up time for real-time human-to-human interaction.
• Be specific - Davies noted that Twitter accounts used for a specific purpose, such as recruiting graduates, had more personality than the general law firm account. Establishing what and who your account will be aimed for will make it much more effective.