their social media potential.
!
and May
Why has Slaughter and May made
their account private?
!
@slaughterandmay
!
Few can deny that Slaughter and May
On the one hand, the limited access of
are one of the most established and
their Twitter account means that Slaugh-
revered legal firms in London. Founded
ter and May retain their reputation for
in 1889, Slaughter and May have
exclusivity. They have complete control
demonstrated their success by opening
over their audience and enjoy virtual
multiple offices in Hong Kong, Brus-
privacy while communicating with oth-
sels, and Beijing.
!
ers.
!
Unlike other London-based legal firms,
However, this then begs the following
Slaughter and May have distinguished
question: can a business sustain social
themselves with their seemingly unwa-
media without being social?
vering domestic focus. They are also no-
!
table for their conservative outlook.
!
Exclusivity
Exclusivity and privacy limit Slaughter
Throughout their existence, Slaughter
and May’s outreach capacity. One of the
and May have maintained a traditional
key goals of social media is to increase
partnership and preferred to develop
brand awareness and generate client in-
their own lawyers rather than recruiting
terest in your business. With a closed
externally.
Twitter account, Slaughter and May fail
Unfortunately, this conservative outlook
to do this on a popular and widespread
has managed to seep into their social
level.
media campaign. While Slaughter and
!
May have a strong presence on Twitter,
To make matters worse, they also don’t
their outreach is limited by their ‘pro-
have a comprehensive LinkedIn ac-
tected’ account. Furthermore, they don’t
count. There is a somewhat informative
have a company account on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn page about Slaughter and May
This means that prospective clients and
- but there is no actual company ac-
leads are strongly prohibited from learn-
count.
ing more about Slaughter and May.
!
!
This is surprising, especially consider-
In a digital age where brand awareness
ing that over 5,800 users ‘follow’ the
and customer acquisition is paramount -
page. There are no updates, no an-
Prominent London Legal Firms and Their Twitter Accounts 4 of 63
Online Ventures Group, an Inbound Marketing Agency
nouncements, and no information detail-
gal sector. When used properly, social
ing Slaughter and May’s recent success-
media has the capacity to generate leads
es.
and develop customer relationships.
!
This is hugely important for any legal
It’s not the case that there’s no demand
firm - especially in London, where com-
for Slaughter and May’s social media
petition in the sector is particularly
presence (5,800 people would agree) -
fierce.
but there simply isn’t a consistent effort
!
to do so.
Use social media to build on client rela-
!
tionships
Internal promotion
For Slaughter and May, it’s vital that so-
Given that Slaughter and May produce
cial media is used in a constructive and
their own regular news items, it’s unfor-
positive way. An open Twitter account
tunate that they don’t have a public plat-
would allow the firm to promote their
form from which to promote their work.
news updates to a far greater client net-
!
work. It would also be a useful way to
In the world of digital marketing, it
build relationships with Slaughter and
would be wrong to assume that content
May’s international client base.
will automatically promote itself based
!
on a company’s prestige.
In addition to this, Slaughter and May
!
would benefit from using social media
Like all forms of content marketing, it’s
on a more consistent level. If you want
paramount to have an accompanying so-
to develop meaningful relationships
cial media campaign. Only by doing so
with your clients, then it can be very
can you ensure that your content will be
beneficial to use social media to develop
widely seen.
a consumer following. Regular, useful
!
tweets are invaluable way of achieving
What can Slaughter and May do to
this.
improve their social media presence?
!
!
Unlike other firms in this report, Slaugh-
Be more open
ter and May do not have a Twitter ac-
As one of the most prestigious legal
count specifically for graduates. This is
firms in London, it’s of paramount im-
disappointing, especially considering
portance than Slaughter and May devel-
how revered the firm is amongst stu-
op a comprehensive and consistent so-
dents.
cial media strategy.
!
!
Slaughter and May are the only firm in
It would be wrong to think that Twitter
this report who have privatised their
should be used primarily as an exclusive
Twitter account.
and private tool for businesses in the le-
Prominent London Legal Firms and Their Twitter Accounts 5 of 63
Online Ventures Group, an Inbound Marketing Agency
With 16.4k followers, Allen and Overy’s