How to Get Your Accounting Firm Noticed

Marketing an accounting firm is not easy. There are many competitors just a stone’s throw away from you, and other small businesses, your ideal clients, are often not thinking about bookkeeping. However, marketing your accounting firm is an essential task, just as much as getting the accounts done is important for your business.

In most cases, the decision of which accounting firm a small business chooses will often come down to a simple cost comparison. That is unless you can provide evidence to why you are a better choice, and you can do so with one of three main criteria:

•       Price – although low prices can be attractive, they can also signify a poorer quality of service. They can also make it harder for you to earn significant profits in your business to make the enterprise worthwhile.

•       Customer Service – Good customer service creates loyalty; it also allows you to develop stronger relationships with your clients that will then spread news of your services to their contacts with a recommendation. Also, new prospects are more likely to trust the word of their peers than yours.

•       Expertise – Being seen as an expert by potential customers can be a great way for you to gain more custom. People want the best companies working for them and the only way to demonstrate that without free trials or taster sessions, is by communicating your expertise via communication.

The situation isn’t hopeless; there are easy, and cost effective marketing tools that can help you seem like a more attractive option for your potential customers. Here are some of the best marketing tips for your accounting firm.

1. Create A Marketing Pathway

Today’s customers are more aware of the numerous options available to them, and they like to do a lot of research before they commit to a purchase. For 80% of purchases, there are likely to have been 5-12 interactions between you and your new customer.

Therefore, it is no longer relevant for you to only use one marketing tool to spread the word of your accounting firm. Instead, you need to utilize different communication tools and create a sales path that interacts and influences the decision of business leaders.

2. Network Better

There are plenty of options for your business to get noticed when you go networking. Meeting other business leaders in your local area is time-consuming, but it can yield excellent results. By talking to those who might be interested in your services you are providing a face to the name and showing that your accounting firm has a personality, a face and a voice that they can remember.

This makes it harder for prospects to choose other accounting firms as they know you and that can create loyalty. To increase the effectiveness of this, use the meetings to connect on LinkedIn and build your email marketing list.

3. Content Marketing to Establish Expertise

Your expertise is a selling point. Experts are reluctant to share their knowledge with prospects – mostly out of fear that their prospects will use it to avoid needing their services. The truth is that it is one thing to know how to do accounts, but quite another thing to actually do it. Sharing your expertise just reassures people that you have the skills to manage their accounts for them.

Content marketing is generally associated with blogging, but it can also include video marketing, podcasting, ebooks, whitepapers and even social media. So look at the different options available and consider what platforms your prospects are using to learn more about running their business.

4. Outsource Some of Your Marketing

If you really want to get ahead of the game, then outsourcing at least part of your marketing is going to be a good investment. You can see the benefits in how much outsourcing can save you by looking at the value of your time. Consider the length of time marketing activities take you and then work out how much you would have billed during that period.

By outsourcing your marketing, you are freeing up your time to conduct work for your clients while at the same time maintaining your presence in the larger world. Those trained in marketing can also help you get better results.

5. Email Marketing

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways you can keep in contact with prospects and sell to them. Research has found that more than three-quarters of email users prefer to receive commercial information via email. This can make it much more effective.

While there is some debate over whether email marketing is more effective than direct marketing, research has found that the ROI of email marketing is much higher. However, there are certain laws and other considerations to make when deciding whether or not to use email marketing. For instance:

•       You must have the permission of the email user before sending an email.

•       You must clearly identify the subject of the email.

•       You must honor unsubscribe requests of any users within a reasonable amount of time.

6. Send Out Reminders

The advantage of being in accounting is that you have a tax calendar that you can use to promote your business. For instance, you can send out reminders of tax, audit and other deadlines for businesses to think about how they are going to complete them. Using this to your advantage you can find clients who perhaps have forgotten about their responsibilities and now need your services.

Reminders can be sent out via email and can be automated.

7. Offer Freebies

Sometimes a good freebie can be worth its weight in gold. A freebie can be anything from a calendar to free access to an application. These should be branded with your company name, which will remind your prospect of your accounting firm every time they use your free item/service.

You can also combine a free offer with your email list to grow the number of subscribers you have – increasing the prospect of acquiring new clients.

Conclusion

Marketing your accounting business is not an easy task. There are numerous ways for you to achieve this, from standard offline tactics like networking and direct mail to also going digital and connecting with prospects via social media, blogging and email marketing. Remember always to have a strategy in place and know how each marketing activity you have undertaken is directed at achieving your goal of signing up new clients. That way, you will achieve greater success.