Three lessons in social media that I learned from Richard Grogan Solicitor

Richard Grogan became an internet sensation and a cultural phenomena in 2021. But he has been a very successful solicitor for much longer than that.

​According to his website Richard Grogan is BCL, AITI, TEP, CEDR, Solicitor and Accredited Mediator and “specialises in Employment Law, and Taxation of Employment Law Awards and Settlements.”
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Throughout the years, he has appeared on many radio programmes, educating people on employment law and has kept a pretty active social media presence for years. 

But why the sudden success on social media? Two years ago he was only getting a few likes, now they are in the 100s of thousands.
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As of January 4th 2022, the Richard Grogan Solicitors Tik Tok account has over 105,000 followers, 68,300 followers on Instagram, 18,629 followers on LinkedIn and he has accrued 4,074 followers on Twitter.

 
​He’s absolutely rolling in likes.

​So what is he doing?

Firstly, we need to take into account that Richard Grogan Solicitor and Associates as a business, has a massive target audience. There are approximately 2.3 million people employed in Ireland according to Statista. Now, I know that people argue the legitimacy of this number, due to types of employment people are engaged in (precarious, part-time, CE Scheme etc) but in any case, there are 2.3 million people working. 

And of those 2.3 million people, how many experience unfair treatment, abuse, or injury? 

The answer is a lot. 

He has a big following, but his target audience is also colossal. So keep that in mind before you start setting a 100,000 follower goal for your small or medium business.

Without further ado, here are the three lessons on social media that I learned from Richard Grogan Solicitors:
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1. ​Give valuable information in short snippets

Richard puts up a video on Tik Tok and Instagram almost everyday. He poses the question and answers it in under a minute. He puts a title on every video. He speaks clearly, concisely and factually in “everyday” language. If there is jargon or acronyms, he explains it. 

​He is, essentially, a translator. 

It is important to note that the game-changer here was video: he uses reels and tik tok videos to put a face to information and the information on our feeds.

​The consistent ‘face-to-face’ provision of information builds trust. Trust builds relationships, relationships build success.

The lesson is: if it’s educational and clear, your customer will value it. Use video!

How can you apply this lesson?
Look at your customer persona, pinpoint their knowledge gaps and teach what you know.
For instance, my potential customer might not know why tickets to their events won’t sell on Instagram. In a short video, I can give them information on how to use Linktree, how to use the link feature in IG stories, or show what basic information needs to be on their graphics.

As Richard says himself, the reason he has so many people following him is that employed people are woefully uneducated on employment rights.

Find the knowledge gap!
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2. Listen to your audience
Richard sits down and decides what the reel of the day is going to be. He does this by answering questions his followers ask him. Simple.

​Answering questions keeps his content fresh, highly relevant and timely.

The lesson is: listen to your audience is, answer their questions.

​How can you apply this lesson?
Consistently making relevant content is difficult because often we are trying to be ‘original’ when we should focus on being responsive. 

Now, not everyone is receiving a million DMs every day with pressing questions that need answering. This is when you take a deep dive into the comments. Go and find businesses or influencers who offer the same thing as you do and mine the questions on their posts like you’re digging for gold. Then, answer them in a post or video, whichever you feel more comfortable with.

Alternatively, you can search terms in Google Trends and find what terms people are searching for in relation to your organisation, business or product.

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3. Don’t be afraid of a catchphrase

Blindboy has ‘Yurt’, Joey Tribbiani has "How you doin?" and Richard Grogan has ‘That’s the law and that’s a fact’. The digital sphere is abuzz with this now in-famous catchphrase, the popularity of which has not been seen since the Father Ted days.

​Just as the use of videos positions him as someone who knows what he is talking about, his catchphrase also does this. 

(FYI, as a solicitor he cannot call himself an ‘expert’, so neither will I…however a common marketing technique is to ‘position oneself as expert’ by providing legitimate information)

The popularity of this particular catchphrase has a few elements:

• It reflects what he does (that’s the law)
• It communicates authority and knowledge (that’s a fact)
• It’s humorous when used outside the context of his videos and therefore culturally (comedically) useful. 

Anything that is comedically or culturally useful to a large enough group, has potential to become a meme. And being a meme is iconic. 

The lesson is: a good catchphrase makes you memorable. Be an icon
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How can you apply this?
Catchphrases are notoriously difficult to come up with but if you have something already that you say and think it could work, GO FOR IT!

Play around with words and phrases and don't be afraid to try something new.

After all that, I think we learned a lot from the internet sensation that is Richard Grogan Solicitor.

In summary

• use short video such as reels and tik tok videos to educate your audience
• Listen to your audience and answer their questions
• Try out a catchphrase & make sure it reflects who you are

​ I look forward to learning more as time goes on.

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