Law firm social media marketing: where to post and what to say

A law firm's social media works when it answers the questions people ask before they hire a lawyer, on the platforms they already use, every week. We pulled Pew Research Center's 2026 platform survey and US search data on 6 November 2026 to show which platforms and which questions.

This is for partners and owners who want their firm's social accounts to bring in clients. If you are looking for a lawyer to handle a social media dispute, or for a job in legal marketing, this post won't help.

Which social media platform should a law firm use?

The one your clients already open every day. Pew Research Center surveyed 5,511 US adults between 30 January and 18 June 2026 and published the results on 19 October 2026. These are the shares who say they ever use each platform.

So the practice decides the platform. A family law firm and a corporate firm should not be on the same two channels. If your clients are individuals, start with YouTube and Facebook, because that is where most American adults are. If your clients are companies, start with LinkedIn and add YouTube, which works as a library you can link from every proposal.

Pick two channels and keep them going for a year before you add a third. A short vertical video can be posted to YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels without changes, so one recording covers both.

What should a law firm post on social media?

The questions people type into Google before they call a lawyer. We pulled US search data on 6 November 2026. Each of these is asked thousands of times a month, and each one is a video a partner could record.

Volumes are averages for October 2025 to September 2026, which Google rounds into bands.

Look at the cost column next to what firms pay for the lawyer search itself. On the same pull, divorce lawyer cost $29.97 a click and criminal defense lawyer cost $64.71. The question comes weeks before the hire, when few firms are bidding, so it is cheap to reach. A person who watched you explain what happens at an arraignment has a name in mind when they need a criminal defense lawyer.

Personal injury is the exception, at $43.30 for the car accident question, because injury firms bid on everything. That auction is priced term by term in personal injury attorney marketing.

Each video should answer one question in under a minute, in plain English, the way you would answer it in a first consultation. Say what it usually costs and what the person should do next.

How often should a law firm post on social media?

Once a week on each channel is the pace most firms can keep, and keeping it is what counts. A follower who sees you every Tuesday for a year starts to think of you as their lawyer. A follower who saw ten posts in January and nothing since has learned that your firm goes quiet.

The schedule usually dies for the same reason. The partner is the person clients want to see, and the partner is billing all day. A weekly recording around a full caseload is the first thing to go in a busy month.

Plan the year before you post the first video. Fifty-two questions from the table above and from your own intake calls will fill a weekly schedule, and a list written in advance means nobody has to think of a topic on a Friday afternoon.

What can a lawyer not post on social media?

Anything about a client's matter without the client's consent. The American Bar Association's Formal Opinion 480, issued on 6 March 2018, says lawyers who blog or comment publicly may not reveal information relating to a representation, including information contained in a public record, unless the Model Rules allow it. The opinion names informational videos and podcasts as public commentary, so it covers your social videos too.

That rules out the post most firms want to make first, the big win with the client's story. A filed judgment is still covered. So is a story told as a hypothetical if a reader could work out who the client is.

Comments need care as well. The same opinion warns that lawyers talking with readers through social media should be aware they could form an attorney-client relationship. Answer the general question in the video, and when someone posts their own facts underneath, ask them to call the office.

Your state's advertising rules apply on top of this, including what you may say about results, and they differ from state to state. We cover how those rules shape a firm's marketing in law firm SEO and marketing. For social media, the safe habit is the same one: every script is approved by the partner in writing before anything is published.

Does social media bring in cases for a law firm?

Yes, though rarely through a click on the post. People watch a firm's videos long before they need a lawyer. When something goes wrong months later, they search for the name they remember, or they ask a friend and recognise the name they are given. The case arrives through search or a referral, and the social video is the reason your name was the one in their head.

So measure it by asking. Add one line to your intake form, "Where did you first hear about us?", and count how many new clients name your videos. Counting likes on each post will understate what the channel is doing.

Who should run a law firm's social media accounts?

Somebody who will keep posting after the first month. These are the four routes we see firms take.

The last row is what we do. You record with us once, for about an hour. We build a model of your face and voice from that session, write each month's scripts from the questions your clients ask, and publish a video of you every week. Nothing goes out until you have approved it in writing, which matters more in law than in any other field we work in.

The detail for firms is on marketing for law firms. Prices are on the pricing page, and the process is on how it works. If you want to see what the conventional route costs, it is in what social media management costs.