Marketing for Law Firms and the Future of Web 2.0

The ABAJournal.com has shown its commitment to Web 2.0 as a model for those engaged in marketing for law firms.  I was pleasantly surprised to receive today an e-mail from that publication asking whether I was too busy to go to the actual website itself.  The e-mail provided me the option of subscribing via e-mail, RSS, Twitter feed, mobile edition, iPhone application, or Facebook page.  I was able to subscribe on my own terms in the way I wanted, and I chose to subscribe via RSS.

Like the ABAJournal.com, law firms should allow clients and prospective clients to subscribe to their content in a variety of ways, including through RSS, Twitter feed, Facebook fan page, etc.  The future (and present) of marketing for attorneys is in providing content to users in the manner they choose.

According to Chad Hurley, CEO and Co-Founder of YouTube, the future of Web 2.0 is also in online video.  In a blog post today on the Official Google Blog, Hurley notes that online video was almost non-existent ten years ago.  There are now, according to Hurley, thousands of video services and sites, and 13 hours of video are uploaded every minute to YouTube.  Hurley notes that in ten years, YouTube believes that video broadcasting will be everywhere.  Law firms should take note and include appropriate videos on their websites.  While Hurley notes that it is becoming common to find video on most websites, law firm websites are generally an exception.  The marketing for lawyers community needs to start embracing online video.

I welcome your feedback on the role of online video and Web 2.0 in internet marketing for attorneys.