If content is king, then what better way can there be to draw in an audience than by getting them to, well, listen to you!? In many ways, the podcast is the cool cousin of the written word. Unlike reading, podcasts have the advantage of being accessible while on the go – be it running, driving, squashed on the tube or even doing the ironing. No matter how engaging a work-related
article is, reading just isn’t as fun as tuning into a podcast on a business trip or on the way home from the school run. In short, people like podcasts.
Podcasting has grown dramatically as a marketing medium since it begun in the early 2000s. According to Statista, in 2021 there were over 19.1 million podcast listeners in the UK and it is estimated that this figure will reach over 28 million listeners by 2026. What’s more, podcasts are the now the most popular form of audio entertainment in the UK with a whopping 40% of UK listeners aged 26-35 tuning in to podcasts on a weekly basis. As a platform, podcasting presents savvy b2b businesses with a terrific opportunity in terms o f marketing and PR.
Many trade publications, such as the EG, the leading property title, already run highly successful podcast series providing lawyers and other professional services with the perfect opportunity to speak to a large audience about an industry-related topic. Other b2b titles are bound to follow suit.
Alternatively, firms can look to produce their own podcast series. Quick to set up and budget friendly, podcasts are easily shared on social media channels, websites and via direct emails. As a marketing medium, podcasts have the advantage of appealing to even the most reluctant fee-earner; partners and associates who may have proved rather elusive when it comes to volunteering to write an article or providing comment to the press, may happily make themselves available for a podcast which can take as little as 10 minutes to record and not much longer to prepare for.
As with any PR, the golden rule of podcasting is to make sure the content is timely, interesting and relevant. An audience will switch off to anything that sounds like a hard sell. In contrast, anything that teaches the audience something they want to learn about and is ideally hooked to a topical news issue will draw in listeners. There are many ways to produce good content but with a with a podcast you can be sure your audience is tuned in.
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