5 key principles for accounting firm marketing

what’s something that continues to evolve year after year?

by katie thomas
leaders online

accounting firm marketing.

it can be hard to keep up with all the changes. just when you think you have it down, google changes its algorithm, or a new social media channel comes to the market.

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there are a few keys that remain consistent and will help you master your firm’s marketing. and that’s what we’re covering in today’s article: five key principles to build your entire marketing strategy around.

1. define your target audience

who is your target audience? you can’t reach the right potential clients if you don’t know who they are. just take an example of how one company increased its brand consideration by 34.6%, according to hubspot, a marketing automation provider, when purchasing ads on youtube.

if you’re not targeting the right audience, you’ll spend more money to get the same results.

i recommend that you define your target audience by doing the following:

• brainstorm your ideal client. think about the clients how you really enjoy working with and can best serve. after all, you offer solutions to problems. often, the solution can lead to the ideal client. you want a profitable client that you can help and is in a niche you prefer. perhaps you enjoy working with saas companies and offer a custom solution to help them with forecasting or advisory services that support them getting access to funding.
• create personas. many articles go into great detail about creating personas. basically, a persona is a fictional character based on the ideal client that you’ll target. you want to write down the person’s age, income, pain points, career, goals, what’s stopping them from reaching these goals, family life, etc.

once you have this information available, you can use the information in your persona to begin targeting your ideal client.

note: you can have multiple personas.

now a question that is commonly asked is: what about my clients who aren’t my target audience. how do i deal with them?

you can absolutely continue to keep serving them! your target audience, also known as a niche, can simply be a marketing niche. this will allow you to focus your efforts on a specific category, which is important. if you try to market to everyone, you’ll end up marketing to no one.

2. demonstrate your unique value and create an irresistible offer

you have a good idea of who your ideal client is, and now it’s time to show them why your service will change their lives. if you need help with creating an irresistible offer, this can help.

i recommend that you sit down and:

• write down what makes your offer unique.
• determine what makes the value you provide worth it for the client.

you need to know what makes your products or services special and different. in all cases, you solve a client’s problem. when you know what unique value that you bring, this can be the foundation of your accounting firm’s marketing.

when you’re trying to narrow down what makes your services different, it’s crucial to map out your competitors, too.

if you know and understand your competitors’ service, you can better understand what makes your offer different.

from there, you can create an irresistible offer.

3. create a plan based on your audience’s channels

we’re ready to create a marketing plan. once you know what makes your offer different and unique, it’s time to find out where your audience is located. i call these locations “channels,” and they’re places where your audience is most likely to see your marketing material.

for example, your audience may be best reached through the following:

• social media. linkedin, facebook, instagram, youtube and other social channels have billions of total users on them per month. thomson reuters checkpoint marketing says a staggering 84% of decision-makers use social media when making a purchase, so it’s an excellent option for firms.
• email marketing is huge, and it can produce exceptional returns on investment. in 2022, 333 billion emails are received each day, according to statista, the research service,. transactional emails, promo campaigns, and newsletters are all channels we’ve used to help accounting firms grow.
• blogging. in 2022, blogging and content marketing are still extremely effective. creating content to attract your target audience should always be a part of your marketing plan because organic search traffic can help you land new clients regularly.
• networking events. many accounting firms use networking as a crucial way to “get their foot in the door” and meet new, potential clients.

determine which channels you’ll use for marketing and then test channels over time to see what works and doesn’t form your firm.

4. build out a killer follow-up process

if there’s one thing i’ve realized, it’s that too little time is spent on the follow-up process. many firms don’t even have a follow-up process in place. people get busy, and if you’re not following up, you’re letting potential leads slip through the cracks.

a single follow-up email can convert 22% more prospects, according to woodpecker, an email service provider.

when you’re trying to sell someone on helping them with their financials or taxes, it’s a major decision for the person to make. it’s not uncommon that after one discussion they are not ready to work with you yet. however, if you nurture this lead, you’ll build trust over time and help them be ready to take the next step.

your follow-up process needs to be planned out, and you can likely use automation to help with some of it.

a few key points to remember are:

• give leads two to three days to reply initially.
• sending subsequent follow-up emails is a great option, but don’t spam.
• the lower in the funnel the lead is, the more likely you’ll need to be sending personalized messages.

depending on your audience and service, you may want to send, one, two, three, or even more follow-ups. your follow-ups may be taking place in the form of email, phone calls, direct messages on social media, or whatever channel you find best for communicating with your leads.

5. implement, execute and monitor your marketing

finally, you’re at the step where you can implement, execute and monitor your accounting firm marketing. unfortunately, you won’t know if your plan is a success until you start executing it.

three crucial parts of the process are:

• monitoring your results
• tweaking your plan
• repeating the process

if you’re not monitoring your marketing plan, you risk losing money on marketing that doesn’t work well for you. we recommend hiring experts to help you through this process. an expert can help you execute your plan, monitor the results, tweak the plan as needed, and allow you to focus on your clients.

accountants have a valuable service that they offer to their clients, but you need to get in front of prospects and nurture them to convert them. if you follow the advice above, you’ll be well on your way to creating a marketing plan that is successful.

over time, you’ll need to reevaluate and adjust your plan using data to maximize your results.

 

 

posted on march 29, 2022