Q&A: A CMO's insight on using Twitter for establishing thought leadership

By Marissa Window
Inspiration

How can your brand establish thought leadership and influence with Twitter? We chatted with Michael Hertz, Chief Marketing Officer at law firm @WhiteCase to hear his insight.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

I'm the Chief Marketing Officer at White & Case. I'm responsible for brand, marketing, business development, client service and relationship programs, communication and media relations for the brand. As the CMO, I oversee a team of marketing, business development, and communications professionals across the globe. 

Tell us a bit about White & Case.

We’re a global law firm, operating in every significant market and strongly committed to growth. We are both a full-service firm, with a deep bench of more than 2,000 lawyers, and one strategically focused on industries and practices that play to our strengths in handling complex cross-border work. Our lawyers work on cutting-edge, substantive assignments with high-profile clients. 

What inspired the White & Case marketing team to create a Twitter account?

We created our handle @WhiteCase in June of 2009. The primary goal of getting on Twitter was to raise the profile and brand awareness of our firm. Since we've created our account we've been able to build a community of more than 40,000 followers on Twitter.

How does Twitter fit into your marketing mix?

Twitter is where we share our thought leadership content with clients, media and law students. Our content varies from industry reports to insights on hot topics and industry trends.

What are a few Tweet examples that you think really capture the White & Case brand?

This was one of our most engaging Tweets highlighting a data-driven article from a tool we launched last year.

The gender pay gap continues to be a hot topic. In our report, we decided for the first time, to highlight all of the data points as graphics to drive home the key elements in the report. We found that these visuals resonated with our audience much more so than had we used text-only Tweets.

As Brexit became an important topic for our clients, we chose to capture insight into the impacts using video and then made this video immediately available on Twitter. The video published included quotes for those unable to hear the audio. This was the first published in a series for our Firm.

What's something your marketing team has tested on Twitter recently?

We've been experimenting with sharing animated branded GIFs.  We've found that the engagement on these Tweets is higher than static images reflecting the same information being communicated.

How do Twitter Ads play a role in your marketing strategy?

We use Twitter Ads to increase our reach and promote our thought leadership content to our target audience. 

What makes Twitter different from other platforms?

The speed and volume of accessible information makes Twitter unique when compared to other platforms. 

Any final tips for brands on Twitter?

Know your audience and focus on sharing content that is helpful to them.

Know a brand doing interesting things on Twitter? Tweet us @TwitterBusiness.

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