The life of an accountant is a whirlwind of intelligence, awareness, vigilance, and innovativeness. Accountants need to have an eye for detail to understand and analyze numerical information and draw meaningful conclusions. Needless to say, life at an accounting firm is fast-paced and busy as the accountants have to work with tight deadlines. With a lot happening in their professional lives, accountants often do not find time to market themselves. But here’s an essential piece of information to consider.
There are more than 138,000 accounting firms in the US alone, which makes it a highly competitive space. That’s why it is crucial to spend time every month on the right marketing strategies that will make your accounting firm excel and stand out from the pack.
So how do you get a game plan ready for your company’s marketing efforts? This guide explains the best ideas of marketing for accounting firms.
Consider the sales funnel
The sales funnel is the potential journey customers go through when making purchases. Marketing professionals employ it to analyze and categorize everything that occurs during the buying stages. It helps them build trust and develop deeper customer relationships.
Every sales funnel contains these primary stages:
Source: VMG Studios
The awareness stage: At this stage, a customer is looking for answers, so they need to be provided with education, resources, data, insight, and opinions to solve their problem.
The interest stage: At this stage, customers develop an interest in your products and start researching them.
The Consideration Stage: At this stage, your potential customer is considering your product, and they’ll likely discuss it with all the key stakeholders.
The Intent stage: After the discussion has happened, your potential buyer will request a follow-up. You may have to organize a formal product demonstration or present a contract proposal.
The Evaluation Stage: The customer will review your presentation or proposal against the competitors at this stage.
The purchase stage: At this final step, the purchase order is written to show the customer’s commitment to your product.
The trouble is, most busy organizations leave out a key element when marketing. As a result, prospects can’t move efficiently through the funnel and end up losing interest.
For example, a company may use tactics to attract new prospects, but they make little effort to deepen engagement. When this happens, the potential client is left to guess what to do next.
To avoid this scenario, it’s crucial to provide a clear next step that takes the prospect a little deeper.
Have the will and determination
You may formulate a great strategy, but your investment will go down the drain if it is never fully implemented. For example, a firm may plan a monthly blog series, but once they produce the initial few blogs, interest fades, and the initiative dies. Marketing requires sustained effort over time, so if a new campaign fails to deliver quick results, you should not lose faith and abandon the campaign.
Test, analyze, repeat
Several accounting firms make great marketing strategies but make little effort to understand what works and what doesn’t.
A study by MIT shows that 89% of the most successful marketers use metrics to devise their strategies.
They use the data to adjust their campaigns and research their target audiences to understand what motivates buyers to buy a specific product.
If you still rely on gut feelings, you are more likely to spend money on less successful tactics and chase the wrong prospects.
THE MOST EFFECTIVE MARKETING TOOLS WHEN MARKETING FOR ACCOUNTING FIRMS
Email Campaigns
Effective Communication is paramount to accounting firms to get consistent leads and stay ahead of the curve. Using the power of email marketing is the best way to do so.
Source: DazeInfo
It has several benefits, including:
- Cost-effectiveness
- Increased brand awareness
- More influx of new clients
- Broader reach
- Increased loyalty and trust
- And many more
As an accountant, you definitely understand the importance of ROI, and it is this medium that offers the maximum ROI, which is $44 for every dollar spent.
Guest Blogs
By contributing thought leadership blog posts to another company’s website with a similar target audience, you can project yourself as an authority in your industry and reach a whole new customer segment. You may also consider getting a content placement on a marketing media site with a high traffic volume, such as Moz. By doing so, your post will have more chances of being shared, improving your SEO, and driving more traffic back to you.
Word of Mouth Marketing
83% of people trust recommendations from the people they trust (Nielsen Study). So, make sure you’re offering products or services that will leave customers telling their friends and colleagues. Also, don’t forget to surprise and delight them with thank you notes, special offers, and thoughtful gifts.
Professional Website
When a customer discovers your brand, they’ll likely research you online and visit your website. So make sure you leave a solid first impression. Invest time to create a thoughtful, professional, and user-friendly website. Also, consistently write quality content for your website to keep the visitors hooked to your website. If your website has all the answers for your clients and captivates their interest, your brand will be an easy choice for new potential customers.
Testimonials & Case Studies
What your customers think about you forms a basis for your potential clients to build trust with your brand. So, don’t hesitate to ask clients for reviews once the project is complete. You may even request them to recommend your company to peers.
Network with other accounting firms and accounting professionals
Communities hold a lot of power, especially niche communities when marketing for accounting firms. Block out time each week to network with fellow accountants. A reliable and verified list of accountants can help you find contacts with similar professional goals and interests so you can hobnob with them, keep track of the latest trends and help each other grow. When you start cultivating meaningful professional relationships, it will pay back two-fold.
Engage on Social Media
Social media is a trendy and highly potent medium to engage with your prospects. But before you start engaging with them on social media, it is good to research your target market and what type of content would interest them. With this understanding, you will be able to develop a robust social strategy.
Conclusion
Accounting firms are often overwhelmed with work, but marketing the right way is pertinent to ensure their pipeline doesn’t run dry. A multifaceted, expertise-based strategy will help your firm grow throughout the year and boost your revenue, brand reputation, and confidence.