The Top 30 Podcasting Tips For Law Firms

In 2022, there are more than 1 million podcasts and 104 million monthly listeners in the United States alone. These are huge numbers, but the podcasting industry still has so much room for growth. Starting a podcast is one of the best digital marketing strategies a small business can implement. If you are contemplating or have decided on starting a podcast, use these top 30 tips to maximize your success.

Think about what you want the essence of your podcast to be. Think about your purpose for putting content out there. Where is your podcast now, and where do you see it going? Defining your vision and values is an essential step in starting a podcast as a small business.

Use the core principles of your vision and values to build a brand around your podcast. Do you already have a following elsewhere on social media? If so, you can build upon that brand or create something totally new. Whatever your vision is for your podcast brand, defining your branding guidelines is important. Here are a few things that define you as a brand:

• Colors
• Fonts
• Logo
• Style
• Tone of voice
• Values
• Target audience

Nail these down, write them down, and stick to them to build brand awareness through digital marketing. 

As you may know, podcasting requires more than just sitting down and recording yourself talking. Podcasting work includes recording, editing, posting, promoting, monitoring, outreach, and more. As a small business, this work may fall on one person or a few people. Preparing for and planning this workload will help your small business succeed in podcasting. A calendar with weekly tasks and deadlines is a good place to start.

Once you decide to start a podcast, you should commit to consistency. Posting consistently - when you tell your audience you will post - builds trust between you and them. Be realistic about how consistent you can be, and don’t overpromise. Consistency on social media channels is also important in the digital marketing of your podcast. Create a content calendar to keep yourself on track.

In other words, research the market. Listen to podcasts within your category. Analyze what they are doing, their strengths, and their weaknesses. Use their strengths as inspiration, and use their weaknesses as indications of where you can improve and fill gaps. Talk to your friends and followers about what they enjoy about competitors’ podcasts, or what they want more of. 

It is good to draw inspiration and information from the current podcasting market. However, your uniqueness is what will set you apart and make your small business successful in podcasting. Don’t hide your individuality for the sake of fitting in. With thousands of podcasts out there today, standing out is a good thing. Get creative, specific, and authentic with your niche. Once you do this, your audience will come running to you. 

Don’t try to be anything you aren’t. Long-form content like podcasting hides nothing, and an audience will catch on if you are not being authentic. Authenticity sells in today's digital climate. Authenticity means staying true to your voice and values. It doesn’t mean that you don’t put your best, most entertaining foot forward. It may take some time to find your authentic voice and the organic personality of your podcast.

While it is good to be consistent with branding, staying flexible is also important. Stick to your vision and values, but let your content and your brand improve and be fluid through time. Listen to your audience, listen to your intuition, and listen to the market. There is always room for improvement, innovation, and growth in the podcasting industry.

There is a ton of equipment out there for podcasters. As a small business, don’t feel the need to invest in all of it right away. The equipment that will make the largest impact is a good microphone. Luckily, you can find tons of options for good podcasting microphones online. A high-quality microphone means high-quality sound. 

Don’t overlook the importance of a well-edited podcast. There are many easy-to-use video and audio editing software out there. Find one you like and use it to edit your rough conversations into smooth and engaging podcasts. Cut out stale moments, awkward pauses, and retakes. Add in music, sound effects, ads, and segment breaks. Your audience won’t see the work put into editing, but they will notice the quality outcome. 

If used intentionally, special effects in your podcast can elevate it to the next level. These can include sound bites, jingles, funny noises, voice editing, and more. Special effects can be a defining element of your podcast brand. Play around with what feels authentic to your tone and your vision. 

Your small business’s podcast launch is an important day. It is crucial that you start strong by creating excitement around your podcast and having high-quality podcasts available to interested listeners. A promotional giveaway or interactive launch day is a great idea. Make sure that your first episodes clearly define your vision and values. Your first listeners will be some of the strongest leads you will acquire. Start lead nurturing from the very beginning by engaging with them and giving them quality content.

Podcast experts advise that releasing multiple episodes on launch day can lead to more successful launches. This is especially true for small businesses without a large preexisting following. Having multiple episodes available shows your audience that you are serious, and gives them more of your content to binge. Ultimately, it maximizes your opportunity to introduce your podcast and share who you are. Offering 3 to 5 podcasts should do the trick.

There are dozens of apps and websites where listeners can find podcasts these days. You have likely heard of Apple Podcasts (iTunes), Spotify, Google Podcasts, and YouTube. Stitcher, TuneIn, RadioPublic, and PodBean are other popular podcast streaming platforms. Publishing on as many of these as possible is a great way to get your podcast into as many ears as possible. There are podcast hosting sites that can help you publish to multiple platforms at once. ​​

Podcast hosts store and distribute your podcasts to multiple podcast platforms. Many options make this process as easy as uploading your audio file. Popular podcast hosting platforms include PodBean, Buzzsprout, Casted, Libsyn, and Captivate. The best hosts will offer most or all of the following features:

• Transcription integration
• Text editor for show notes
• Analytics
• Unlimited storage and bandwidth
• Custom website
  

With all of the podcast listening platforms out there, the most popular by far is Apple Podcasts or iTunes. About 70% of all podcast listeners use Apple Podcasts. If you are just starting, prioritize posting on Apple Podcasts. Keep in mind that you need a minimum of one episode uploaded to your podcast host to submit to Apple’s directory. 

While podcasts are a primarily audio-focused form of entertainment, it is becoming increasingly popular for podcasters to utilize youtube as well. If you aren’t interested in videoing your podcast just yet, you should still convert your audio into video format and post it to YouTube. 

Accessibility is so important because it allows for inclusivity of all potential audiences. Regardless of their abilities, audio transcriptions also give our audience another option for enjoying your content. You can post transcriptions on your podcast description, on your website, and on YouTube. If you don’t want to transcribe it on your own, or if your podcast host doesn’t offer transcription, popular podcast transcribing services include Rev and Sonix.

Encourage your audience to interact with you. If they feel like they are a part of the conversation, they are much more likely to stick around, participate, and share your podcast with others. Lead nurturing works best through podcast comments, social media posts, and emails. Ask for feedback, listen to what your audience has to say, and adjust as you see fit. 

Host giveaways to promote your podcast. You can host a giveaway for your launch day, for a special episode coming out, or just for fun. Either way, the chance of getting free stuff is always motivating for people to share your content and spread your brand awareness. Partnering with other brands and podcasts is a way to elevate your giveaway to the next level.

There are many benefits to partnerships in digital marketing. If you have any connections with fellow podcasters, ask about a partnership. This can include being guests on each others’ podcasts, promoting each others’ podcasts, bouncing ideas off one another, and more. Through partnerships and mentorships with other podcasters, you can spread your brand awareness, get valuable advice, gain more podcasting experience (remember-practice makes perfect), and grow your audience. 

Having guests on your podcast is a great way to keep your content interesting and fresh. It also has the potential to expand your audience to the audience of your guests. Interviewing or podcasting with new people takes practice. Study them and ask meaningful questions. Treat your podcast guests with kindness and gratitude. Ask them to promote their episode to their following.

Podcasts can rarely stand alone. You need to spread awareness of your podcast so that your target audience can find you. Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook are the main digital marketing channels for podcasts. At the very least, start an Instagram account for your podcast. Use it to showcase your brand, preview your content, define your niche, and share your personality. 

Use sound bites or videos from your podcast to promote episodes on your social media channels. Take funny or intriguing moments from your podcasts and make them into attention-grabbing marketing tools. 

At least once during every episode, ask your listeners to subscribe, follow, rate, review, and share. All of these actions help to grow and expand your podcast. Most times, your fans won’t think to do these things until you ask and remind them. Once you do, many are happy to participate and share in the growth of your small business. 

Start an email list. Encourage listeners and social media followers to go to your website to sign up. An email list is one of the most powerful digital marketing tools you can have as a small business. You don’t have control over algorithms or even the existence of social media channels, but you fully own your email list. Send out regular emails with meaningful and useful information, not spam.

There is an audience out there waiting for a podcast like yours. Sometimes, they just need to be made aware that it exists. Paid ads are a great vehicle to reach more of your ideal audience. You can spread brand awareness through ads on any social media channel or even within other podcasts within your niche.

Once you are consistently putting out podcasts, tracking your metrics will help grow your podcast. Key insights you can find through many podcast platforms include subscriber count, monthly episode downloads, unique podcast page views, and average listening time. You want all of these metrics to be steadily growing. If they aren’t, experiment with your digital marketing strategies to see what keeps these numbers rising.

Podcasting can lead customers to your product as a small business. It can also make you income on its own. To get started, you will have to actively seek out brands to buy advertisements on your podcast. You can also start a premium subscription service such as Patreon to bring in money in exchange for premium access or perks.

Podcasting doesn’t come naturally to everyone. Most pro-podcasters that you hear started out awkwardly fumbling through their first few episodes. This applies to recording, editing, and promoting podcasts. Persist and know that your podcasts will get better and better as you keep putting them out into the world. 

Podcasting can be a fun and natural way to connect with your target audience and grow your small business. After reading this article, hopefully, you are more clear on some things you can do to help your podcast succeed. The world wants to hear what you have to say!