Creating a podcast might be the next thing on your digital marketing to-do list, but have you considered the strategies you’ll need to find and keep an audience engaged? A podcast should be more than just another piece of your law firm’s marketing strategy. You have to attract listeners and keep your audience coming back for more. Here are some tips for how to launch your own successful podcast to boost your exposure, reach new clients, and connect with other legal professionals.
1. Define your topic, discover your audience
It’s not enough to create a legal podcast about general topics. A strong podcast that attracts more listeners is one with a clearly defined scope. Popular legal podcasts, like Lawyerist Podcast, LawNext and Legal Toolkit, all have a very specific topic and defined niche. When you create your podcast, you need to be able to describe in one sentence what it’s about and why anyone should care to listen to it.
Who will listen to your podcast, who will host it? Create a list of personal and professional attributes of your ideal audience to help you figure out what your podcast will and won’t cover. What will this audience prototype want to listen to, what topics will keep them engaged, and what tone will be most effective?
2. Plan out your episode topics and guests
Planning everything — from the podcast name, artwork and design development, creation and selection of theme music, and editing and uploading the audio files — is important, and takes time. Be prepared to create a script and a storytelling format that you can consistently follow. To the best of your ability, storyboard your individual episodes as well as the trajectory of the entire season.
Part of that process might be done by consulting special guests. When you know exactly what your podcast is going to be about, you’ll have more direction for who to interview and what subjects to cover, episode by episode. Create your dream list of interviewees, and consider what subjects they might talk about. Then, design the progression of your show around those subjects.
Next, you’ll want to determine how often you’ll be releasing your podcast. Every other Monday? The first of each month? The key here is consistency. Whatever schedule you decide, don’t stray from that, and don’t let your podcast trickle out of production entirely. You need to be prepared to stay on schedule for your podcast to be successful.
3. Get quality equipment and software, and publish it
A great thing about podcasting is the low cost of creating one. You can really create a strong podcast with a computer microphone and basic software that’s already on your computer, like RecordIt or iMovie. However, sound quality is absolutely key to keeping audiences listening. The strongest podcasts are recorded on high-quality microphones and edited on proper podcasting software.
Once you’ve finished recording and editing the raw audio file, you will want to upload that raw audio file to an audio editor that transforms it into a single audio file that you can publish. Once you’ve got that file, you’ll need to upload it to a podcast hosting site, such as iTunes or Google Play, or Spotify.
Since a podcast is a time investment, you may want to have a professional production company handle the finishing touches. This will ensure consistent quality and will save you time.
4. Edit and post your transcripts for SEO
By posting transcripts of your podcast, you’re creating new content for your website. Transcripts are an easy way to give Google a nudge to see you as an expert in your field, which will help your SEO. Optimize your transcripts by breaking down any content into words that might speak to search queries. Doing so will make your podcast more accessible and interactive, and give users a place to easily share the podcast, comment and submit questions. You will also be able to post links to anything you discussed on the show and special content for users to engage with.
5. Reach and retain listeners
Producing the podcast is one thing, but marketing it is altogether a project of its own. How will you reach listeners, and how will you keep them listening?
Our first recommendation is to blog about your new podcast. Let people know that your podcast is coming, and what they should expect from it. Build up some hype by placing links to your podcasts on social media profiles, sending out a press release, and an email newsletter. Make clips and share them through an email or social campaign. Otherwise, you might be creating a podcast that no one will know about.
You may also consider a paid promotion on social media or on platforms like Spotify.
6. Put passion into it
Lastly, the key to a successful legal podcast is the palpable passion transmitted through it. There’s no way around it: a good podcast is one where the audience can hear the excitement and passion of its hosts when discussing the subject in detail for weeks or months on end. You’ll only create a great podcast if you care about it enough to keep up with the many subjects that arise in your overarching topic, and if you put in the energy to do those subjects justice, month after month. With that kind of dedication, you’ll share your knowledge with those who are hungry for it, and you’ll likely gain new clients from that passion.
With all of these steps in mind, do you think you’re up for the task of creating a podcast? If you’re running your practice full-time, you might feel that you don’t have enough time to keep up with your podcast schedule. We’ve got you covered.
At CLM, we can take care of all aspects of planning, editing, and marketing your podcast, so you can focus more on discussing the topics that you’re most passionate about. Leave the rest of the details to us.
Cristina Fríes is a MA in English/Creative Writing from UC Davis (2019), and is a legal marketing strategist and content developer for CLM. Her interests include creating compelling marketing content, writing books, and traveling the world.