Accountancy marketing – Five top tips

If you are responsible for accountancy marketing then I hope you will find these 5 top tips valuable, so please read on.

The first step to winning new accountancy clients is to think like a potential client who has an issue with their current accounting system – be it an incumbent accountant or an in-house solution. Put yourself in their shoes.

What thought processes will they go through? Which websites do people visit when they are looking to hire a new accountant? How can you engineer so they “see you” online when they are searching for a solution?

TOP TIP 1

Initially, potential clients will be searching online for information. Maybe they are looking for a DIY accounting solution – solutions such as Xero and Quickbooks? This is your ideal opportunity to become their trusted accountancy advisor. Have information on your website to educate them to the problems they are experiencing and looking to solve,  and even give them help on the solution. It may seem counter-intuitive to give free advice but this really does build you as the trusted advisor and even though some people will solve the problem themselves with a DIY solution, there will be others who simply want to call in an expert in accountancy when they do not have the time or the job is bigger than a DIY job. So this can be blog posts, PDF guides or videos. I recommend this book to my clients on how to create content that draws clients to you. They Ask, You Answer by Marcus Sheridan.  And this becomes even more powerful when it can be linked to a marketing automation system, see point 4 below.

TOP TIP 2

Be visible online. These days the first port of call, when someone is interested to learn about accounting solutions will be the internet and primarily using Google. It is imperative that your accountancy practice is visible on Google.

So do a check – how do you appear on Google right now in your local area. Because most of the time people will be looking first for a local accountancy practice they can call upon.

Step 1 – Go to Google, enter the name of your local area followed by the word  “Accountant”  into the Google search bar.

Example: Manchester Accountant, London Accountancy services

Step 2 – Make a note of the websites that come up on Page 1. Study them and get inspiration for your own ideas. Is your accountancy practice on the list? If not…

TOP TIP 3

You need to get your website listed.

Google Adwords are the ads top and bottom of the search results page. Advertising is a quick win, but can be expensive and you need to know what you are doing. I would recommend hiring a Google Adwords Expert as it can be complex to set up Adwords and expensive if you get it wrong. (I would definitely recommend using Google Remarketing, this enables you to display ads to your website visitors AFTER they leave your site – the ads follow them all over the internet. These work great and costs next to nothing).

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). This is the process to optimise your website so that Google lists it in the rankings. You need to be on page 1 of Google. The good news is that this is free, the bad news is that it can take months of work to achieve a result. But once you do you will reap the rewards for a long time. SEO is a huge subject so you can either hire an expert or if you have the time and inclination you can teach yourself, check out the book I mention in TOP TIP 1.

As people tend to search out a local accountant I would definitely ensure that you have set up and optimised a Google My Business page on Google. It’s free, so it’s a no-brainer and will help you ensure you rank highly in your local area. A few hours spent optimising this page can be time spent profitably – and after that, the game is to proactively start collecting reviews from all your clients – you will have to be persistent to get them, but they are so valuable in reassuring potential new clients. Read my blog post on Google My Business.

TOP TIP 4

Use a CRM system – Have an accountancy marketing and sales follow up system.

This is what the majority of accountancy practices do not have or understand. In points 1 to 3 above we are looking at ways to generate interest in our service, which is essential. But what you have to realise is that of those who visit your website only one or two in every 100 are ready to buy today. So if they do not buy today then that means 98% leave your website and the chances are they will never come back. That 98% is where the gold is for your business. So you have to have a system in place that enables you to consistently follow up with EVERYONE who expresses an interest in accounting services. This can be really simple – paper-based or Excel, it is possible but it is a definite chore that requires dedication and time to manage. And that leads me nicely on to what I do. I specialise in helping clients set up a marketing automation system called Keap / Infusionsoft and this is the leading marketing automation system for small/medium size enterprises. Check out my blog post – Do you really need more accountancy sales leads?

TOP TIP 5

Referrals. Even in this online world, word of mouth advertising is still the best. How can you encourage previous clients to talk about your service? Can you offer them an incentive if one of their friends buys your service? Can you reach out to all your clients and remind them if they could refer you to their contacts, this is really easy if you have a marketing system in place, see Top Tip 4.

If you are interested to learn more about how to build your own accountancy marketing and sales system then please schedule a free 1-hour Discovery call.

Accountancy marketing photo by Ibrahim Rifath on Unsplash