Follow this useful guide from PracticeWeb's Zoe Sweet
Accountants who want to win more clients can’t just wait for them to come along – they have to take action. But what exactly should they be doing? Well, for starters ...
Of course, there’s a lot more you could be doing, from systematic search engine optimisation to video, but without the basics above, you’re essentially making yourself invisible.
You’ll notice that those essentials I’ve suggested all use digital channels. The fact is, it’s more efficient, more flexible and more effective than any other medium.
Research shows that consumers and business-to-business (B2B) buyers increasingly research decisions online. Even if they’re acting on a referral, they’ll generally want to see supporting evidence. These days, that means Googling your name, or that of your practice.
Alternatively, they might search for ‘accountants in Berkshire’ (location) or ‘accountants for builders’ (sector specialism) or some combination of the above.
If they find and click through to your website, what they find should help them decide to buy from you:
When it comes to convincing potential clients that you know their industry and have professional credibility, your blog is also vital.
If you claim to specialise in working with charities, for example, someone looking at the most recent posts on the blog should easily be able to pick out at least one relevant piece of content on that subject. The headline should make them want to click. And, finally, the body of the post should deliver on the promise, answering their questions and needs.
You can have vast swathes of amazing content but if it isn’t getting found in search, you’ve got a problem. That’s where search-engine optimisation (SEO) comes in.
SEO requires patience and the investment of time, energy and money in ongoing technical fixes, like tuning an engine; the creation of keyword-targeted content; and the improvement of existing content to better meet the quality standards set by the Google algorithm.
If you’re not sure how your firm is performing in search, here’s a quick test.
If you’re not on the first page of results for some or all of those terms, your website might benefit from some love and care from an experienced SEO expert.
As for social media, that’s appealing because the entry costs are low and it takes relatively less time to produce 280 characters than the 1,000+ words Google’s algorithm currently prefers. Or to share an animated GIF of a cat.
It’s also about going where people are actually hanging out. The Digital 2021 report from We Are Social found that 4.55 billion people worldwide are active users of social media (Oct 21) – with more than 1 million new users every single day. That figure is more than 400 million higher than it was this time last year, equating to year-on-year growth of almost 10 percent.
In 2022, an accountancy firm that isn’t active on social media almost seems suspicious. People will expect to find your brand on Twitter and Facebook, and to find your partners being the best version of themselves on LinkedIn.
In fact, social media isn’t easy – you have to stick at it to build a following and it doesn’t necessarily suit thoughtful, introverted personalities. That’s why for most firms, it will just be one part of the mix – and an up-to-date profile and three or four posts a week is better than nothing.
Zoe Sweet, commercial director, PracticeWeb
Get in touch for strategic marketing advice, a new website or hands-on help producing engaging content.
ACCA has collaborated with PracticeWeb on a series of podcasts that look at how to grow your practice through data-driven marketing. The series covers how to use marketing to win the business you want, whether you should become a specialist firm with a niche focus, how to create a marketing strategy and plan for your practice, how marketing can help overcome the price objection, and how to market your firm on a budget. Listen to the podcasts on your preferred platform.