Five Steps for Marketing Your Firm

Take a Consistent Approach

Marketing an accounting practice is not an easy task. Strong efforts must be made to ensure the firm is getting the proper exposure to prospects, clients and referral partners, not to mention juggling this with the client service responsibilities each professional must maintain. A key mistake many firms make is to be inconsistent in their marketing activities. It is very common for small practices to stop marketing during tax season and other busy times. Why? Because it is very easy to lose track of marketing activities when there are paying clients waiting for deliverables. Unfortunately, inconsistency in marketing can often reduce effectiveness and adversely impact ROI.

“Your marketing plan must be consistent and monitored on an ongoing basis,” said McCutchen. Although it is tempting, especially during the busy season, it is important not to turn your marketing efforts on and off. You will not get the results you want and may end up feeling frustrated by the outcome.”

Tepastte agrees: “It is difficult to be successful in marketing if you are inconsistent with your approach. While our firm may be busy that does not mean marketing should be put on hold. Yes, it can be challenging to maintain client service responsibilities and conduct marketing during the busy times, but ultimately having a consistent approach will lead to much more desirable results in the long run.”

Keep Things in Perspective

In creating and executing your marketing program, it is important to remember that every accounting firm is different. Sales and marketing skills vary from partner to partner, and from manager to manager. One firm may have a key rainmaker that provides work for others in the practice, while another firm may have several marketing-minded professionals that drive marketing efforts. Regardless, you need to administer your marketing activities by the specific time, place and circumstance of your practice and the market you serve. Marketing is not “one size fits all,” so trust your instincts and take advantage of the best practices outlined here.

Mr. Swanson is a Principal with Flashpoint Marketing, a marketing and lead generation company focused on serving the accounting profession. He is certified by the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization in Internet Marketing and as an Advanced SEO Specialist. His firm focuses on providing traditional and digital media marketing and lead generation services exclusively for the accounting profession. Brian can be contacted at 888-428-6524 or via email at bswanson@flashpointmarketing.biz.