Blog – Page 32 – Financial Memos

Are you able to file corporate taxes for your clients in your sleep but struggling with ways to market your accounting firm or convert your web traffic? Don’t feel bad. Marketing your business locally and properly designing a website, so it’s firing on all cylinders can be a challenge. Local marketing isn't always about SEO and optimising your site, so it grabs leads from every small business in the area looking for tax advice. We have five marketing suggestions for accountants that may help them with their business online. Local marketing is about making the most of your client base through engagement, website usability & excellent customer service. This post is about optimising your website to convert new visitors and using web technology and old-fashioned good business practices to keep your clients remember you throughout the year and not just during tax season. So, without further ado, here are five things you may never have thought of to develop an interest in your CPA practice and generate more leads online. Stop Being So Camera Shy Oh wait – it is! When it comes to finding a CPA online, people will feel more comfortable seeing the accountants they will be working with, which takes marketing. Go hire a professional photographer to take some pictures of your staff. Pin an image of your crew on your homepage and link to your about us page with headshots of your employees along with compelling bios that would make Mr. & Mrs Random Internet Visitor want to use you. When comparing two companies side by side, I prefer the CPA that shows me pictures of the people who will be fiddling with my money, along with bios that showcase how adept they are at fiddling with said money. Busted! Stop Hiding Your Pricing While you don’t have to throw out a quote sight unseen, you should attempt to manage expectations by providing visitors with something to work with. Something like pricing starts as XX, or we charge XX per hour, and most transactions take XX hours to complete. Even throwing some prices that you know are consistent, like your standard charge for personal tax preparation, makes you more appealing and should increase conversions. Check out firms like Jackson Hewitt or H & R Block. They have pricing right there online! I’d bet that they play “add-on roulette” when they give you an exact quote, but I’d be willing to bet they convert more visitors because they have a starting point price advertised on their site. Distinguish & Customize Yet another way to stand out in this crowded, competitive online environment is to market niche iterations of your services. In addition to your “payroll” page, why not include a page geared toward retailers, an additional one for restaurants, and another for construction companies. Your motivation here should not be ranking in search results for related terms but to convince visitors that you bring something unique to the table when serving those industries. Speaking about getting something unique to the table, create a restaurant payroll specific page & give some quick points about what makes you a better choice for the restaurant industry. Will You Remember Me After Tax Season? They will be thinking, “The next time I need, I’m using. Those CPAs sent me a postcard!” This may sound like a typical professional courtesy – and it is – but it can do a great deal to develop business with new clients who only recently contacted you through your website. No one ever sends handwritten postcards anymore – but you will, and it’s going to make people want you more than sprinkles on ice cream. This brings me to our next item (don’t be disappointed if it’s not ice cream related). Staying in Contact & Anticipating Needs If your clients subscribe to your blog or follow your practice on social media, you can maintain interest with compelling posts and timely news updates. Make sure your Twitter handle, and Facebook URL are all over your marketing media and website, but also make certain people are linking to you – that’s the more challenging part of this suggestion. As much as you would like to, you can’t hack your client’s FB account and force them to be your friend, but you can let them know that you are going to be dripping valuable tax insights, reminders, and even special discounts periodically. Check H&R Block’s Twitter feed. They are leaking content every few days, and it’s not all boring content. Post some fun stuff & people will engage with you. I know as accountants, we aren't good at marketing, but keep it simple and have some fun.