This question from James, an associate at a corporate firm in Manchester, highlights a common challenge for lawyers: balancing personal LinkedIn success with firm page development. At its core, this is a question about resource allocation – and with good reason. Implementing the wrong LinkedIn strategy can waste valuable time and miss engagement opportunities.
Why Personal Profiles Outperform Company Pages in Legal Marketing
It’s entirely normal for personal LinkedIn profiles to significantly outperform company pages, especially in professional services. The data consistently shows this disparity across the legal sector.
The explanation is simple: people engage with people, not brands. Your success with posts about regulatory changes demonstrates that your network trusts your personal insights – something much harder to replicate on a company page.
According to LinkedIn’s own engagement metrics, personal profiles in professional services typically receive 5-8 times more engagement than company pages for similar content. This isn’t a reflection on your firm’s brand strength but rather human psychology – we’re wired to connect with individuals rather than entities.
The Strategic Value of Personal LinkedIn Profiles
Building Thought Leadership
For lawyers, personal profiles offer unparalleled opportunities to establish thought leadership within specific practice areas. By consistently sharing insights about regulatory changes, you position yourself as an authority while indirectly enhancing your firm’s reputation.
Key elements of effective thought leadership include:
- Commentary on regulatory developments with practical implications
- Analysis that demonstrates both legal knowledge and business acumen
- Consistent voice and perspective that differentiates you from competitors
Leveraging Personal Connections
Unlike company pages, personal profiles benefit from direct network connections. Each comment or like exposes your content to that person’s network, creating exponential reach that company pages rarely achieve organically.
Consider strategically expanding your connection base to include:
- Peers at other firms who don’t compete directly
- In-house counsel in relevant sectors
- Industry experts and consultants who complement your expertise
The Overlooked Benefits of Company Pages for Law Firms
Despite lower engagement metrics, company pages serve critical functions in your firm’s digital strategy. These benefits are often overlooked when focusing solely on engagement metrics.
Credibility Markers for Potential Clients
When potential clients research your firm, a professional LinkedIn company page is a crucial credibility marker. Research consistently shows that business clients research professional service providers online before making initial contact
A complete, professional company page signals:
- Established market presence
- Collective or discrete expertise
- Professional stability and credibility
Content Repository Strategies
Your company page should function as a curated repository of the firm’s most significant insights and achievements. This differs from personal profiles, which may include more frequent, varied content.
Effective repository content includes:
- High-impact regulatory updates with broad implications
- Significant case outcomes (appropriately anonymised)
- Firm accomplishments and recognition
- Thought leadership content across various practice areas
Team Amplification Opportunities
The company page’s admin functions provide unique opportunities for coordinated amplification unavailable to personal profiles:
- Content sharing: Administrators can share posts directly with team members, prompting them to engage
- Employee notifications: Notify colleagues about high-priority content that merits broader sharing
- Analytics access: Gain insights into content performance that isn’t available for personal profiles
Practical Strategies for a Dual Approach
Rather than choosing between personal profiles and company pages, implement a complementary strategy that leverages both channels’ strengths.
Cross-Promotion Techniques
Create natural pathways between your personal profile and company page:
- Selective tagging: Tag your firm in personal posts that align with firm-wide priorities
- Strategic resharing: Occasionally reshare company posts that complement your personal insights
- Mention connections: When discussing firm achievements, mention colleagues to expand reach
Content Differentiation
Develop distinct content strategies for each channel:
Personal Profile
- Timely regulatory insights
- Professional journey reflections
- Engagement with industry conversations
- Personal perspective on legal developments
Company Page
- Formal firm announcements
- Client success stories (with permission)
- Practice area capabilities
- Team recognition and growth
When to Consider LinkedIn Advertising
While organic engagement remains challenging for company pages, LinkedIn’s advertising platform offers targeted reach unavailable through personal profiles.
Consider strategic advertising for:
- High-value content assets (guides, webinars, research)
- Practice area launches or expansions
- Significant firm milestones
- Recruitment campaigns for specific roles
Target precision is LinkedIn’s primary advantage – allowing you to reach specific industries, job functions, and seniority levels that align with your firm’s business development priorities.
Key Takeaways
Building an effective LinkedIn presence doesn’t require choosing between personal profiles and company pages. The optimal approach leverages both channels with appropriate expectations and strategies:
- Prioritise your personal profile as the primary engagement engine, continuing your successful regulatory content
- Maintain the company page as a professional repository and credibility marker
- Implement cross-promotion techniques that create natural pathways between both channels
- Consider strategic advertising for high-value company content targeting specific professional segments
By understanding the complementary roles of both channels, you can build a LinkedIn presence supporting personal reputation development and firm-wide marketing objectives.
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Paul Evans is a legal marketing expert with extensive experience helping lawyers build their practices.
