Laura Symes – Though they were popular before, the pandemic and lockdown days have boosted the popularity of podcasts even more for achieving top rankings in the search engines. Companies and law firms are utilizing this trend because podcasts are great for marketing and reaching a target audience and attracting new clients.
But how could launching a podcast be beneficial for law firms? Why is it a major law firm marketing strategy that can help achieve your marketing goals?
Legal marketing is a lot more than blog posts and content creation today. Yet many law firms do not have a strategic plan to market their legal services.
According to the American Bar Association (ABA) 2021 Websites & Marketing Report, smaller law firms are most deficient in this area with the survey showing that 84 per cent of firms with over 100 lawyers had a marketing budget but then the numbers declined significantly: 55 per cent of firms with 10-49 lawyers and 35 per cent for those with 2-0 lawyers.
This article explains how to set up podcasts and identifies the other law firm marketing strategies, focused however on podcasts and their power when it comes to marketing.
To launch a podcast can help establish yourself as an authority, a public intellectual and influencer and expand your law practice or legal business.
The Legal Marketing Universe
We know there are a number of marketing tactics you can use which should form part of a good plan for legal marketing once you have established a law marketing budget and strategy, focused upon your unique nature, service offering, core values, pricing options and the like.
There are also multiple social media platforms that can be deployed to facilitate marketing, although smaller firms should ideally focus on a small number of channels and law firm marketing strategies they can exploit for their marketing campaign.
The various options available include –
- a good, responsive website – the ABA survey referred to (above) showed that while 94 per cent of the respondents have a website, only 69 per cent said it was mobile-friendly, a key attribute for developing brand awareness and responses from potential clients.
- content marketing – a staple for great organic SEO reach, this should involve projecting the law firm’s goals and values with key information for potential clients. For a useful guide to setting out your writing for clarity and consistency check this guide from MailChimp.
- Google ads – these can provide an ‘instant hit’ but require some care as to how they are set up and used and are also something smaller firms can avoid initially, focusing instead upon organic SEO issues and social media marketing.
- Local SEO – a key ingredient to good online SEO, which should include a careful selection of primary and secondary categories, complete information about the firm and use of relevant keywords.
- PPC ads
- Social media posts – social media strategies are a key element of successful marketing, which is another great reason for using podcasts to boost social media presence. Two of the most popular social media platforms for law firms are LinkedIn and Twitter. Smaller firms should focus on these for the necessary social proof and overall social media marketing efforts.
- Press releases – law firm business development is enhanced by strategic use of press releases, which can achieve significant online presence and garner good leads, while also building your law firm branding.
- Legal directories – often overlooked but a key, remaining relevant tool to use for creating authority and presence, as well as for helping with overall SEO.
- . . even the Yellow Pages and their digital marketing equivalents.
But podcasts are a key, simple and easy attorney marketing tool lawyers can use to publish great content, while boosting their ‘reach’ via the various marketing channels.
They should be a key part of any successful law firm marketing plan and here’s why.
1. The Number of Podcasts Has Increased
Over the past five years, there has been a rising interest in podcasts. The pandemic has made this even higher over the past year. Podcasts have become more famous because people spend much time at home watching content on their desktops and laptops.
More people are participating in podcasts, which means more people listen. This can allow your company to be seen and establish relationships with clients and to discuss legal issues.
Furthermore, the ease of access to podcasts is a factor in their growing popularity. They can be accessed on various platforms and enjoyed while working out, commuting to work, or engaging in any activity.
According to a survey, 6 out of 10 adults over the age of 12 will have subscribed to nothing less than one podcast in 2021. Additionally, 32 per cent of Americans have been discovered to listen to podcasts regularly.
2. Engages Users and Personalizes Experience
Maintaining engagement is among the most crucial aspects of establishing a connection with your audience. It can be challenging for a legal business to generate interaction because your target market typically avoids using legal representation unless they are in dire need of them.
With podcasting, you can be more open with your listeners and exhibit your style more laid-back manner. Doing this can show more of who you are than just writing on a blog, providing video content or updating your law firm’s website.
Your podcast enables you to talk about topics important to you and your business with various guests or even regular contributors. Additionally, it provides your audience with more personal information about your business and has a highly effective ability to achieve a higher conversion rate for your subscribers.
3. Cost-Effective
The cost of launching a podcast may not be as high as one would anticipate. You only have a few resources and tools, like:
- A good microphone
- Headset (separate)
- Software for editing sound
- Software for hosting podcasts
These tools vary from $100 to $200 based on your needs. Sites for hosting podcasts cost about $20 per month if you edit the output yourself.
A podcast can be easily and quickly hosted on an iPhone or smartphone if you want to invest even less cash and start immediately.
4. Increase Your Authority and Your Network
You can target individuals you wouldn’t typically communicate with within your daily practice by expanding the scope of your network with a podcast. This may involve connecting with both current and potential clients and other attorneys.
You can establish your image and increase your agency in your primary practice areas more quickly with this broader audience. This is especially true if you concentrate on a specialized area of practice that attracts much attention, like immigration law or human rights.
You can establish yourself as an authority by offering insightful commentary on a subject you are enthusiastic about, much more like making an appearance on television or writing a book. This knowledge can increase recommendations from other lawyers, improve your standing with prospective clients and create opportunities for other forms of marketing, like speaking at seminars or being featured on the news.
Tips for Starting Your Legal Podcast
Now that you now know why you should start a podcast for yourself or your law firm, here are some tips to help you get going:
- Choose your topics. You must first choose the subject of your podcast. Avoid being too general if you intend to use this to market your profession.
- Put together a content plan. Planning your content is necessary after you have chosen your topics. You can respond to frequently asked questions about your fields of expertise.
- Interview special guests. Guest interviews make up a significant portion of most podcasts’ content. This makes it much simpler to create new content and is essential for keeping the ideas on your podcast current.
- Get the appropriate tools. You can record a podcast using your tools, like your smartphone or laptop. But they say, just because you can doesn’t mean you should. Purchase a good microphone.
- Consider distribution. You must choose a podcast server and a distribution strategy for your podcast. Podcast hosting refers to keeping your episodes and making your podcasts available for broadcasting to your listeners on mediums like Spotify.
If you decide having your own legal podcast is something you’d like to pursue, be sure to check out the legal podcasting production platform LawPods.com to get started on your podcast journey. Their team of experienced producers, editors, and sound engineers focuses solely on legal podcasts and will create a podcast that is professional, polished, and on-brand.
Conclusion
The popularity of audio platforms like Clubhouse, podcasts, and Twitter’s Spaces is constantly rising. This implies that you already have potential customers who enjoy audio content.
The same goes for community members and other legal scholars who listen to podcasts. Every day, more people sign up.
Having a podcast for your law firm will improve your chances of communicating with them and is a fast, enjoyable and effective marketing strategy for law firms. Your reputation will improve, you’ll gain more respect among your peers as a lawyer, and eventually, your practice will expand.
Author
Laura Symes writes on legal marketing, including social media marketing, web marketing for lawyers and related matters. She has previously written for LawFuel and other publications on law marketing issues and legal marketing strategies best suited to law firms.
