10 Podcasting Tips for Law Firms

Law firms are successfully implementing podcasting as part of business development, and podcasts are preferred by many audiences over video because they can be listened to on the go.

If your law firm is looking for an inexpensive and efficient tactic that appeals to smaller practices with niche target audiences, you should consider incorporating a lawyer podcast into your business development plan.

10 tips for successful law firm podcasting

1. Identify a Purpose and Create a Catchy Name for your Law Podcast
   It is important that the purpose and name are relevant to the law practices that the episodes will cover. “You can cover any niche in law, but it’s likely going to be those areas of law that attorneys and firms plan out and engage with over a longer period of time,” says Rob Walch, Vice President of Podcaster Relations at libsyn.
2. Decide on One or Two Hosts to Run the Attorney Podcast
   Determine whether you want one or two hosts to run. “I personally prefer podcasts with two hosts – I think it makes for more interesting discussions – but obviously there are many successful podcasts with one host,” Doree Shafrir, author of Startup, podcast host and tech reporter on Quora. “I think it also makes it easier to build your audience with two hosts, and of course it helps to divide up the work!”
3. Follow SEO Guidelines
   Keep search engine optimization (SEO) in mind before uploading each podcast episode. Apply keywords and phrases in your titles, descriptions and other text that your audience will use when they search for your content or related content on search engines.
4. Be Consistent
   Schedule a time frame to publish each episode, such as weekly, biweekly or monthly. Libysn, the largest podcast network and pioneers of the system to host and publish podcasts, recommends launching new episodes once a week if possible. Once you begin uploading episodes, do not skip the set time. If it’s every Monday at 8:00 a.m., make sure to upload a new podcast every Monday at 8:00 a.m. because your target audience will begin to expect a time to tune in for a new episode.
5. Use High Quality Recording Equipment for your Law Firm Podcast
   Use high quality recording equipment that produces clear sounding audio, and take the time to learn how to edit audio. If you don’t have time, hire someone else to edit your content for you.
6. DO NOT Determine a Set Length for Each Episode
   “There is no minimum or maximum length for podcasting. If for one episode you have 35 minutes of content – you do a 35-minute episode. If for another episode you have 90 minutes of content you do a 90-minute episode,” says Rob Walch. “We see the most successful podcasts overall are the longer shows. Of those getting 100,000 downloads or more per episode – 84% were 51 minutes or longer.”
7. Contact Other Hosts to Build Your Law Podcast Audience
   Contact other podcast hosts to spread the word about your law firm podcast. Even if their content isn’t related to your own, it’s been proven to be one of the most effective tactics to drive traffic back to your own podcast show. Don’t be scared to reach out and ask if you can be a guest on their show or if they can mention your podcast during an episode.
8. Interview Insightful Guests
   Host interviews with unique persons of interest who are relevant to your show. Share the edited interview with the guest because it allows them to contribute as a content creator, and motivates them to share what they’ve worked on with their audience.
9. Engage with Listeners
   Provide the audience with the incentive to send emails, leave voicemails and send messages to you on social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter. One example of an incentive is quarterly “mailbag” episodes in which the hosts answer audience questions.
10. Be Passionate
    If you are passionate about your podcast, your audience will most likely feel the same way.

Greentarget’s 2018 State of Digital & Content Market Survey reported that 27 percent of in-house counsel surveyed ranks podcasts as a preferred source of content, and while general counsel are not usually early adopters of new medium, podcasting shows promising returns for law firms.

To start listening or to find inspiration to start your own law firm podcast, check out the ABA’s Web 100: Best Law Podcast list from 2017. Let us know which ones are your favorites or if you need help starting a podcast by contacting us at 215-340-0480.