Professional Services Marketing: Scale Your Firm’s Expertise with Podcasts
Accounting, architectural, engineering, and consulting firms all share one thing in common: people are their biggest asset. These professional services firms are in the business of expertise—it’s what unlocks premium fees and differentiates their brand. It’s what wins new business and retains existing clients.
Because of this, marketing for professional services firms is a game of building visibility around firm experts. But how? Using podcasts in your marketing strategy.
This article will share an approach that can significantly scale the visibility of your firm’s subject matter expertise. By investing in podcast marketing, you can fuel an entire content strategy with a few 30-minute recorded conversations each month. But first, let’s explore why podcasts are the right vehicle for your expertise.
Podcasts build authority and trust among buyers
If you think your buyers are different because you’re selling expertise, you’re wrong. Buyers are influenced by all of the purchase experiences they’re exposed to. Just like in B2C, buyers largely make decisions based on emotion, and then justify with logic. Portuguese-American neuroscientist Antonio Damasio said it best, “We are not thinking machines that feel; rather, we are feeling machines that think.”
The same is true when marketing professional services. The emotional value buyers receive from making purchase decisions drives customer loyalty and brand attachment. It's often the key to differentiating products in competitive markets. And it’s not only true in consumer goods. In fact, according to Wunderman Thompson’s Inspire research studies, emotional connections influenced 66% of the factors that went into B2B buying decisions—right in line with B2C data.
So how do podcasts fit in? When someone listens to a podcast frequently over time, they develop a parasocial relationship with the host(s). In other words, listeners feel like they know them. In their mind, these hosts are almost like celebrities.
This parasocial relationship strengthens the host’s authority and builds trust. Professional services firms with active podcasts build authority and trust with their listeners. And when they’re ready to buy, they believe they can trust them.
The old way of doing content marketing doesn’t work anymore
Content marketing strategies for professional services typically revolve around the subject-matter expertise of consultants or seller-doers within a firm. Many marketing workflows start with a writer interviewing an expert for an “SEO article” or white paper PDF.
This approach may have worked ten years ago. But today? Not so much. Buyer behavior online has changed dramatically in the last decade. User attention spans are shorter, the volume of content available has grown dramatically, and technology has made media content easier to produce.
Written content is only one way to package your expertise. You may have a few speaking gigs throughout the year, but that doesn’t scale. So how can professional services firms evolve with changing buyer behavior? By using podcasts in their marketing strategy.
Podcast content can be efficiently distributed across channels
Instead of interviewing a subject-matter expert for a blog post intended to rank in search, publish the interview on a podcast and use it as a source of content for the firm’s blog, social media, and more. Transcripts, shorter clips, and quotes can be distributed in different ways across channels, as illustrated in the flowchart below.
Podcast consumption is growing and shows no signs of stopping
We’ve seen platforms come and go. Remember Myspace? How about Clubhouse? Or, more recently, Threads? These platforms were hot at some point, then flamed out.
This will not be the case for podcasts. They’ve been around since the early 2000s, and listenership continues to grow. eMarketer projects there to be 504 million podcast listeners in 2024 — a 54% increase over the 275 million listeners in 2019. There’s a good chance your ideal clients listen to podcasts. Probably a bigger slice of the pie than you think.
According to a survey of over 2,700 users by LinkedIn, 44% of department heads, VPs, owners, and C-suites listen to podcasts. Shows like 99% Invisible and 2Bobs are two prime examples of successful podcasts that feature topics relevant to professional services firms.
Probably the biggest reason for the growth of podcast listenership is they do not require your eyes to consume. People listen while they’re commuting to work, on long car rides, walking the dog, exercising, doing house chores… the list goes on. According to Podcast Insights, 49% of podcast listeners tune in from home, while 22% listen in the car. For businesses, this means you can reach and build trust with ideal clients in new ways.
Other businesses are waking up to the power of podcasting
Contrary to what you might think, not everyone has a podcast these days. According to Listen Notes, there are about 3.1 million podcasts available for consumption today. This pales in comparison to the 600 million blogs on the internet.
But when you dig deeper, there’s even more opportunity. According to Podcast Industry Insights, as of 2023, less than 18% of those 3.1 million podcasts have released a new episode within the most recent 90 days. Simply by producing an active podcast, your firm could have a differentiated marketing strategy.
This opportunity won’t last long, though. According to a 2022 survey by HubSpot, 82% of marketers plan to continue or increase their investment in podcasts or other audio content. Businesses are waking up to the power of podcasting.
Benefits of podcasting for business
Increasing the visibility of individual firm experts is one benefit of podcasting for business. There are many other benefits to your firm. Here are some examples of how a podcast can benefit your professional services firm:
Position your firm as a go-to resource for industry insights
Recycle audio content into text (blogs, case studies)
Open doors to speaking engagement opportunities
Efficiently scale the visibility of your expertise
Internal training, learning and development
Enable strategic partnership engagements
Source qualitative market research
Build the personal brand of host(s)
Humanize your company brand
Strengthen client relationships
Help recruit & retain top talent
Grow and nurture a network
Enable sales conversations
There are a variety of ways to position a business podcast
Positioning your podcast is critical. The premise and structure of your show must be connected to your marketing goals and business objectives. For example, at Silverback Strategies, I interviewed internal subject-matter experts on the Digital Marketing Troop podcast each week to build their authority and visibility. Here’s an example where I interviewed Jacob Clarke, an SEO expert, about keyword research:
The right way for you depends on your marketing goals and objectives. If you need support positioning your podcast, Red Cedar offers podcast strategy services. Here’s a handy chart showing some other examples of podcast approaches for various marketing goals.
Let’s break down a few common podcast configurations:
1:1 Interviews (Internal + External)
A common way to configure a business podcast is to feature interviews with subject-matter experts. By interviewing internal subject-matter experts, you increase their visibility and authority. On the other hand, when you interview external guests, you could position your show to interview prospective clients or strategic partners.
Co-Host Conversations
You can create a show where a few internal subject matter experts have regular conversations that dive deep into specific topics within your industry. Co-hosts provide in-depth analysis and commentary. Over time, this build familiarity and trust among listeners.
Monologues
This kind of podcast configuration is when one person speaks the entire podcast. This configuration is good for individual experts who are able to distill thought leadership topics into 5-10 minute chunks.
Include a podcast in your professional services marketing plan
Launching your own podcast is one of many content marketing frameworks that could work for professional services firms. But you don’t have to produce a podcast to reap the benefits. Guest podcast outreach is another way to build the visibility of your expertise. This way, you can share your expertise with the built-in audience of established podcasts.
However you decide to incorporate podcasts into your professional services marketing plan, it should all roll up to your marketing goals and business objectives. But most importantly, the content should resonate with your target audience.
Consider conducting market research to gain insights into your audience's preferences and interests. This will help you tailor your podcast content to meet their needs and provide valuable information that they can't find elsewhere.
Research the podcasts in your industry to understand what content is already available and find a unique angle to differentiate your firm. Look for gaps in the market that you can fill with your podcast, offering a fresh perspective or exploring niche topics that are not widely covered.
Next, invest in the necessary equipment and software to ensure high-quality audio production. This will help create a professional and enjoyable listening experience for your audience. Consider purchasing a good-quality microphone, headphones, and audio editing software to enhance the overall production value of your podcast. If you need help, check out our podcast production services.
How to Market Professional Services With a Podcast
To maximize the impact of your podcast, promote it across various channels. Here are some examples of how you can promote your podcast on different channels:
Social Media
Create short 30-second to 1-minute video clips of key moments from your podcast. Video clips can be created in RiversideFM, or you can upload audio to tools like Headliner to create “audiogram” videos that include a wavelength and subtitles for the audio. These assets are great for channels like LinkedIn and Twitter. Over time, you’ll need to consider re-promoting past episodes. Especially if a past episode is relevant during certain seasons or market fluctuations.
Live Webinars
Consider having your podcast host do live podcast events or webinars where your audience can interact with you and your guests in real-time. This creates a sense of community and fosters engagement, allowing your listeners to ask questions and contribute to the conversation.
Apple Podcasts & Spotify
Remember to consistently release new episodes to keep your audience engaged and coming back for more. Develop a content calendar and stick to a regular release schedule, whether it's weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. This consistency will give listeners more of a reason to subscribe to the show. Also, engage with your audience and ask for ratings and reviews.
Search Engine Optimization
In addition to producing regular episodes, consider supplementing your podcast with other content formats. For example, transcribing each episode into blog posts can help improve search engine optimization (SEO) and make your content accessible to a wider audience. Not everyone has the time or inclination to listen to a full podcast episode, but they may be more likely to read a blog post that summarizes the key points.
Podcast Analytics
Lastly, don't forget to leverage your podcast's analytics to gain insights into your audience's preferences and behaviors. This data can inform future episode topics and help you refine your marketing strategy to better resonate with your listeners. Pay attention to which episodes receive the most downloads or engagement, as well as the demographic information of your listeners. This information can help you tailor your content to meet their specific needs and interests. Below is a table that illustrates some common podcast metrics and what each measures:
Work With a Podcast Marketing Agency
Podcast marketing can be a game-changer for professional services firms looking to scale their expertise and win in today's competitive marketplace. By effectively leveraging the power of podcasts, you can establish your firm as a trusted authority, expand your reach, and attract new clients.
Contact us to learn more about our business podcast services.
