1
Get your brand right
Your brand is the first impression a customer has of your accounting firm. Whether you’re trying to stand out from the competition, appeal to a certain kind of customer, or shake old perceptions of your brand it could be time to review your branding. Make sure your name, colours, iconography, messaging and brand personality all work together to paint a picture of who you are as a business.
2
Customer Experience
Understanding how to reach potential customers stems from understanding what your touch points are during that customers journey. What points might present barriers and which ones provide opportunity?
Almost every successful company recognises that it is in the business of customer experience (CX) It’s no longer enough to compete on products and services; how a business delivers for its customers is beginning to be as important as what it delivers.
Take the time to map out your customer experience and develop a strategy to connect and deliver.
3
Website
Make your website work harder for you. Before a customer makes contact they’re going to do their research and if your website is clunky, outdated or impossible to find then they’re going to have difficult trusting you’re the right choice.
Keep things fresh, easy to navigate and responsive on mobile devices. If you’re unsure whether you’re doing it right you can organise to have a digital audit or website health check performed by a digital or marketing agency.
4
Content-driven educational marketing
The more your customer understands, the more comfortable they feel making big decisions. Educate your audience and demonstrate how knowledgeable you are with educational and engaging content across your social media, website and newsletters. Consider infographics, articles, video and even webinars.
5
Blog
Demonstrate your teams authority in the field by blogging on news, trends and topics. Blogs also make sure your website stays fresh.
6
SEO
Make sure you can be found! Invest time in increasing your google rankings so that people can find you. SEO is handcrafted, you need to take the time to show Google you deserve to be at the top of the rankings.
7
Digital Advertising
Digital advertising is targeted and incredibly cost effective. Try Adwords, digital display and social media advertising to reach the right audience, at the right time. The best thing? You only pay for the value you receive (per-click or per-impression).
Ask your digital expert about geo-targeting and remarketing tactics as well to make the most of your pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns.
8
Facebook
Facebook marketing can be incredibly effective for accountants, but only when done correctly. Keep your content valuable and engaging.
We’ve also found a successful approach is to use your Facebook presence to showcase your community support efforts.
9
Cause marketing
Cause marketing is one of those types of marketing often overlooked in a marketing strategy but offers a huge number of perks. Check out one of our popular articles on the perks of partnership here.
10
Events/ seminars
Organise a seminar or event that rewards your customers and offers value. Events are also the perfect opportunity to swap client referrals. Partner with another business to run the event and each invite along your own guest list.
11
Referral marketing
Accounting is one of those industries that thrives on referrals. Use your happy, satisfied customers to advocate for you and encourage referrals. Get creative with your referral marketing ideas.
12
Linked In
LinkedIn is perfect for business accountants. Take the time to cultivate a presence for not only your company, but your personal brand.
13
PR scouting (authority)
Seek out opportunities to get in front of a mass audience without paying a fortune for advertising. Earned press is a great opportunity to establish your credibility as a practice. Online PR is also an excellent way to drive traffic directly to your website and ultimately increase your search engine rankings.
14
Lead Generation funnels
Lots of people hitting your site but not capturing any leads? Successful lead generation campaigns will gently lead your customer in the right direction without any barriers or difficulties. Combine a lead generation funnel with lead magnet tactics for best results.
15
Database marketing
A database is truly an asset. It is how you communicate with your community, introduce new offerings and products and build relationships with customers and readers. Your email list has the potential to be worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
16
eNewsletters
eNewsletters are a valuable tool for keeping in touch with both existing and prospective clients.
The modern audience values engaging content and relationships, rewarding brands that provide these with their loyalty and referrals. The key to using eNewsletter marketing correctly is to keep your content valuable rather than spamming your clients with unwanted sales material.
17
Lead magnets
A lead magnet is a little bit of extra incentive you can offer people at key touch points in return for signing up.
It should be something that either adds value or is somehow relevant and irresistible for your target clients. Rigani recommends a broad lead magnet strategy that weaves its way across all other database marketing tactics. This may include:
18
Affiliate marketing
Make alliances with other service providers that play in well to accounting, such as legal firms or financial advisors.
19
Cultivate testimony
The opinions of peers is incredibly influential when it comes to making a purchase decision. Help customers recognise the value in your practice before they’ve even connected with you by encouraging testimonials from your client base and keeping reviews and testimonial content online fresh.
20
Networking
The age-old sales method. Stay engaged with the networks around you.
Rigani is a strategic marketing agency with office locations in Darwin, Toowoomba and Melbourne. The team work across a broad range of industries helping brands reach greater heights. If you would like to learn more about any of the marketing tactics mentioned above leave your details below and someone will get in touch shortly.