• Payment Innovations team (@HLPayments)
• Privacy team (@HLPrivacy)
• Intellectual Property team (HoganLovellsIP) Lovells
• Corporate responsibility (@HLCitizenship)
• General matters (@HoganLovells)
• UK Press office (@HoganLovellsUK)
• US Press office (@HoganLovellsUS)
@HoganLovells
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• Spanish office (@HoganLovellsES)
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Hogan Lovells is one of the most estab-
The great thing about these accounts is
lished legal firms in the UK. They work
that they allow Hogan Lovells to seg-
with a variety of businesses, including
ment their customer base and target
large corporations, governmental de-
prospective clients accordingly. The
partments, and financial institutions. In
‘payments’ account, for example, is used
addition to this, they have over 2,500
to promote content relating to financial
employees throughout the world - oper-
matters in the wider legal industry.
ating primarily in Washington, London,
!
and Hong Kong.
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Furthermore, Hogan Lovells is one of
the few firms to have a foreign Twitter
Hogan Lovells has a unique approach to
account dedicated in a non-English lan-
their social media strategy. They are one
guage. This is something which will ar-
of the few firms to create separate ac-
guably become more important as firms
counts for their individual departments;
continue to open offices across the
something which has its own advantages
world.
and disadvantages.
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Engaging content
What do Hogan Lovells do well?
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In addition to this, the ‘Citizenship’ ac-
count is incredibly engaging and enjoys
Hogan Lovells have a substantial Twit-
a large Twitter following. Some of their
ter following and use their account pri-
tweets are particularly enticing, such as: marily to share updates and interesting
news articles. However, their main area
of success can be attributed to their division of Twitter accounts according to
different industries.
!
Purpose-driven accounts
Hogan Lovells have 8 different ac-
counts; each created to suit a unique
purpose and reach its own targeted audi-
!
ence. This includes:
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One of the problems with many legal
Of all the Hogan Lovells Twitter ac-
firm Twitter accounts is that they lack
counts, the US general account is by far
any images or friendly faces. This is not
the most successful. One of the reasons
the case with @HLCitizenship - where
for this popularity is because they fre-
there are regular updates with interest-
quently tweet about news events and ar-
ing and useful pieces of content.
ticles which are specific to its targeted
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audience. For example, there is plenty of
How can this replicated?
information for their clients and
!
prospects who work in the public sector:
Create separate Twitter accounts for dif-
!
ferent departments
There is an immediate challenge facing
legal firms who want to create a Twitter
account based on their corporate inter-
ests. As the magic circle continue to ex-
pand their offices across the world, it’s
difficult to manage a unified social me-
dia campaign which effectively reflects
their values and industrial practices.
!
One of the ways that Hogan Lovells
combats this problem is through sepa-
rate Twitter accounts for different sec-
tors. There are downsides to this
methodology, as will be explored short-
ly, but it allows the firm to segment their
!
audience and its interests more effec-
This type of content would be largely
tively.
!
un-useful for Hogan Lovells’ European
market, but it’s perfect for their clients It also gives staff at Hogan Lovells the
in the US.
opportunity to try new things and exper-
!
iment with social media.
!
If other legal firms wish to replicate this success, then they should consider dis-Share content from reputable sources
tributing content which has a pragmatic
Hogan Lovells is good at sharing con-
use for their clients.
tent from trustworthy and informative
!
sources; helping them to build upon
Tweet regularly
their network of client relationships
Although ‘Citizenship’ isn’t the most
across the world.
popular Hogan Lovells Twitter account,
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it is updated regularly and is consistent
The main account has a significant fol-
in quality:
lowing on Twitter:
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Alternatively, when you look at the
‘payments’ account, there is much less
buzz surrounding the firm:
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This problem is less apparent for the
‘privacy’ account, but there is still a
large discrepancy:
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The language is emotional and is much
more engaging than simply sharing
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news stories with very little personal
In order to combat this problem, it’s
comment. This is something that Hogan
highly important that Hogan Lovells
Lovells frequently succeeds in; helping
dedicate an equal amount of time and
them to improve their client relation-
attention into improving their social
ships and increase their sharability.
!
media accounts.
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How can Hogan Lovells improve?
!
Consider Consolidation
If this fails to work, then Hogan Lovells
Overall, Hogan Lovells have made a
may wish to consider consolidating their
very good attempt at creating a compre-
individual Twitter accounts into smaller,
hensive and consistent social media
more manageable accounts. This would
strategy. However, there are still some
take less time and energy - helping the
areas which could be improved upon.
!
firm to focus their efforts on one target
market. In addition to this, they
Achieve consistency
wouldn’t need to utilise so much of their
The separate Twitter accounts for Hogan
employees’ time on social media inter-
Lovells are very useful, but they are not
action.
consistent in their popularity.
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Although there are downsides to this
Ashurst
approach, Ashurst’s account makes it
easier for online users to access useful
@ashurst
information in the quickest way possi-
!
ble. You simply have to scroll down the
Ashurst might not be the largest legal
screen and find ‘Read our latest X’ to
firm in this report, but they have estab-
access your document.
lished themselves as a well-respected
!
and esteemed business in the centre of
Consistency
London. They have 24 different offices
In addition to this, Ashurst’s Twitter ac-
across the world and focus specifically
count is consistent in sharing the same
on mergers, finance, and acquisitions.
type of content on a weekly basis. In
!
terms of their social content, Ashurst are In terms of social media, Ashurst have a
good at being reliable and distributing
strong following on Twitter but they do
their content at a regular time slot. This not update their content regularly
is something that many legal firms could
enough. They are known for sharing
benefit from implementing.
quality content but it seems to attract
!
very little in the way of attention.
Overall, it’s tempting to speculate that a
!
partial reason for Ashurst’s Twitter suc-
Nevertheless, their account is undoubt-
cess is due to having one social media
edly successful and Ashurst have an in-
account. They don’t have separate ac-
teresting approach to their Twitter strat-
counts dedicated to different topics and
egy.
client segments. Everything is in one
!
convenient location, allowing for greater
What do Ashurst do well?
ease of access and potential communica-
!
tion. It’s difficult to prove this notion
Useful information
beyond pure speculation, but one thing
Ashurst’s Twitter account is primarily
remains clear: Ashurst’s significant
used as a vehicle to advertise their
Twitter follow is a testament to their sta-newsletters and briefings. As this report
tus as prominent intellectual leader in
will soon discuss, these updates are reg-
the legal sector.
imented but they are also advantageous-
!
ly concise. Nearly all of the tweets are
How can this be replicated?
structured in the same way:
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Ashurst have two-pronged approach to
their social media strategy: consistency
and quality. Unlike many other legal
firm Twitter accounts, they use their
platform purely to advertise their corpo-
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rate publications. This is immensely
articles and newsletters. Furthermore,
useful for their followers who are inter-
there is very little evidence of the com-
ested in newsletters written on litigation pany account being used to contact
and commercial matters. However, it
prospects or share other examples of in-
also runs the risk of alienating other au-
teresting content.
diences who aren’t as well versed in
!
these legal matters.
To combat this problem, it’s paramount
!
that Ashurst begin to use social media
Although Ashurst must increase the reg-
with regularity and commitment. They
ularity of their tweets, they have already have a substantial Twitter following, but
established a positive benchmark for re-
there is hardly any evidence of commu-
leasing updates at a (roughly) set time
nication between the company and other
each week. This means that their fol-
leads. This is a significant business
lowers know what to expect and can an-
blunder; after all, social media is intend-ticipate when the next Ashurst publica-
ed to bring people together, not drive
tion will be advertised. Overall, this is
them apart.
an incredibly useful tactic and helps to
!
reinforce the firm’s status as a thought-
Mix things up
leader.
One of the other problems with
!
Ashurst’s Twitter account is that there’s
If there any lessons to be taken from
no real engagement with prospects and
Ashurst’s example, it’s that legal firms
other online users. The dialogue is one-
must achieve continuity across the
sided and consists of sharing corporate
board. Great content, with consistent so-
material. Although this is undoubtedly
cial media promotion, cannot necessari-
useful, it’s somewhat conservative and
ly be enough to generate long term
lacks any overt sense of personality. The
client relationships. Instead, publication overall impression that this Twitter ac-should be promoted in conjunction with
count gives is that someone is merely
other interesting shares and useful
going through the motions.
tweets.
!
!
If Ashurst want to improve on this prob-
How can Ashurst improve?
lem, then they should consider sharing
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and distributing more unusual content.
Update their content more regularly
This would help them to shed their con-
It’s evident from Ashurst’s Twitter ac-
servative persona and create content that
count that they dedicate roughly once a
excites people. For example, much of
week to distributing content on social
their briefings are based on data. They
media. There are clear patterns in the
could create eye-catching infographics
updates - every 5-7 days, there will be a
to draw the attention of readers and in-
morning set aside for sharing Ashurst
crease their Twitter following.
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Communicate with others
One of the challenges facing Ashurst’s
Twitter account is finding a way to
communicate better with online users.
Overall, their tweets receive roughly 1-3
retweets each and the occasional
‘favourite’ - but hardly anyone ever
replies to them. This is a shame because
the lack of dialogue indicates that users
simply aren’t engaging with the social
content.
!
In the legal sector, business is built upon lead generation and client relationships.
Social media is an extension of that
process and should be maximised to its
fullest potential.
!
That’s why Ashurst should make a sys-
tematic attempt to create interesting so-
cial content that people want to read,
share, and (most importantly) discuss.
This is how you help to develop long-
term communication between a business
and its clients.
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