dated with the latest news and events.
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This is an important component of any
Freehills
good Twitter account; something which
Herbert Smith Freehills realise and use
to their full advantage.
@HSFlegal
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Quality content
Herbert Smith are an elite legal firm in
Many legal firms use Twitter to share
London, specialising in a variety of
interesting articles and news updates -
practice areas including corporate, regu-
and Herbert Smith Freehills is no differ-
lation, and real estate. The firm pride
ent. They regularly produce video posts
themselves in building excellent client
which helps to inform their followers
relationships and being one of the most
about a variety of legal topics. As you
ambitious legal firms in the city. With
would expect, Herbert Smith Freehills
offices on 5 different continents, they
utilise Twitter to promote this content on have a comprehensive social media
a regular basis. This is much more en-
campaign and a good standing on Twit-
gaging than merely sharing an article
ter.
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and helps to elevate Herbert Smith
Freehills’ status as a thought-leader in
What do Herbert Smith Freehills do
their industry.
well?
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In addition to this, the firm is good at
Excellent Follower-Following ratio
sending out content that people want to
The Herbert Smith Freehills Twitter ac-
read and share. Here is a good example:
count is one of the few examples of a
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legal firm actively following other use-
ful accounts too. More often than not,
legal Twitter accounts are just used as a
platform to distribute content. However,
this account takes an active interest in
!
promoting a wide range of topics from
The tweet is informative and helps to
many different sectors.
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give followers a good idea about the
company’s ethical and moral pursuits.
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It’s also much more engaging than other
types of tweets sent out about legal
firms (which are often dull and conserv-
Prominent London Legal Firms and Their Twitter Accounts 25 of 63
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ative). In this sense, @HSFlegal are
news updates. This something that Her-
good at engaging with their followers
bert Smith Freehills have proven their
but there is still room for improvement:
competence in.
This type of Tweet could benefit from
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being more informative. There is no in-
formation about who wrote the article or
what type of content it is. By and large,
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the majority of Herbert Smith Freehill’s
However, for those who want to give
Tweets are very good, but they could
themselves an edge, it’s important to at-
profit from applying this skill across the tach images to your tweets. This makes
board.
your social content much more eye-
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catching and memorable.
Consistency
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The @HSFlegal Twitter account is up-
Update your tweets regularly
dated on a regular basis; sometimes
It cannot be stressed enough how impor-
even several times a day. It’s incredibly
tant it is to send out tweets on a frequent important for businesses who want to
basis. Herbert Smith Freehills dedicates
increase their lead generation to produce
time and attention to ensuring that their
social content frequently. This is some-
social content is updated at least once a
thing that Herbert Smith Freehills excel
day. This helps to improve their status as at; setting a high standard for their com-a thought-leader and potentially gener-
petitors to match.
ate more interest in the brand.
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There is also consistency in the overall
How can Herbert Smith Freehills im-
quality of the tweets too. With the odd
prove?
exception, the updates are informative
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and useful - helping to develop long-
Improve their graduate account
term relationships between the firm and
Herbert Smith Freehills have a separate
its clients.
Twitter account for prospective gradu-
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ates, but it’s used in a very poor way.
How can this be replicated?
They only send out Tweets once a week
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(or fortnight, in some cases) and the firm Send out useful content
fails to interact with students in a mean-
If users want to develop a substantial
ingful way. Their social content is also
Twitter following and increase their dia-
somewhat uninspired:
logue with prospects, then it would be
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beneficial to give audiences content that
is actually helpful to them. Sharing in-
teresting articles, with a personal spin, is much more useful than simply tweeting
Prominent London Legal Firms and Their Twitter Accounts 26 of 63
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This is not a problem for the firm’s main
Twitter account, which is actually very
good, but unique to their separate grad-
uate account.
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The Advocacy Competition should be
an exciting event, but Herbert Smith
Freehills fails to effectively promote it
in an engaging way. The tweet is infor-
mative but it lacks any of the personality it deserves.
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The main problem for Herbert Smith
Freehills, however, is there lack of con-
sistency is distribution. Their graduate is poorly managed and reflects very badly
on the company; suggesting that they
lack the energy or resources to properly
maintain the account.
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Online users are obviously aware of
this, which is why the account has very
little social reach:
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Include more images
Like many of the legal firms in this re-
port, Herbert Smith Freehills’s Twitter
account lacks visual engagement. There
are almost no photographs or images at-
tached to the tweets - meaning that their
tweets fail to catch as much attention as
they deserve.
Prominent London Legal Firms and Their Twitter Accounts 27 of 63
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