Clients increasingly are reading blogs and participating in social media because they can find important industry information more quickly and with less time investment than with traditional media — partly because of a less rigorous process of editorial review and shorter articles. According to Technorati’s State of the Blogosphere 2008 report, the number of American blog readers grew to 60.3 million in 2008.

With so many business professionals consuming and generating social media content, savvy professionals are making use of the stream of insights and information that these sites deliver. However, with more than 50 million blogs and hundreds of social networks in existence, you also need to make use of the time-saving tools available on the Web that help with the synthesis of this information.

• Register for news alerts: A digest of relevant news can keep you informed about developments affecting your client and your client’s industry, as well as about news from competitors or key suppliers. Quickly browsing this type of news feed and mentioning a timely development to a client demonstrates a clear commitment to knowing the client’s business.
• Get to know your client: In addition to all-important face time and one-on-one conversations, social media can help you understand individual client personalities. Do the key leaders within a client company have LinkedIn or Twitter accounts? This information can be useful in selecting a team to complement the client’s personality. Social media can provide previously difficult-to-find data and aid in developing the best approach for a client.

Source: The Legal Intelligencer, July 23, 2009