And so firms of all sizes are engaging in some form of social media efforts, which can range anywhere from gaining basic knowledge of all the available tools and sites, to hiring specific personnel or even having everyone in the firm contribute to social media initiatives.

The reality is that most firms are still feeling their way around with social media and don't have a clear plan yet. The few that are making some strides are seeing notable results from their efforts. Below are several case studies on how firms are utilizing social media for specific purposes and their experiences in doing so.

Building blogs

Firm: BCG & Co. / Akron, Ohio

Size: 100 staff

Product/service(s): Facebook and Twitter

Commencement date: 2010

On record: Marketing manager Jenny Hertzig

Challenge/objective: To get traffic back to blogs written by "expert sources" via social media, further positioning thought leadership in the firm. Target was existing clients and potential referrals.

Amount spent: Nothing.

Process: The firm started some recruiting efforts via Facebook in 2009 and evolved it over time, adding photos and videos to show the "fun" side of the firm to potential hires, according to Hertzig. Social media in general also grew in importance, with each new hire being trained on Twitter and LinkedIn. The firm also hired a marketing coordinator to assist with its social media efforts.

More important, several of the firm's partners had been selected to blog articles on their respective areas of expertise, and the firm wanted to drive more traffic to them, effectively "sharing thought leadership," explained Hertzig. In 2010, the firm began efforts to share these articles via Facebook and Twitter on the firm's site, as well as the sites of the partners. Hertzig, along with the marketing coordinator and the blog writers, would share their articles with their respective fan bases and followers, and engage them further where appropriate.

"We are all about selling our brand, who we are [as a firm], and wanted to establish ourselves as thought leaders," she said. "It's very cool for [our writers] to have something published and they share with their own friends and followers as well. In accounting, the personal and business worlds do cross over; you do get referrals from friends and it helps people connect with the firm."

Results: Many of the results of the social media sharing of blog articles were positive - albeit anecdotal, according to Hertzig. "People here will say so-and-so found me via LinkedIn or Facebook and they e-mailed about a quote on business, or they would say they read an article one of our experts wrote," she explained. "When we prospect a company, we do try to see who knows who, but people do contact us from the blog posts we get. We are definitely noticing an uptick in business and attendance to events we have, as well."

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