5 Questions With ... Alan Vitberg

As part of LeadG2’s “5 Questions With” series, we interviewed Alan Vitberg, of Vitberg, LLC. We've now acquired Vitberg, LLC, and are very excited to have Alan's expertise onboard. Alan is one of the nation’s foremost experts on helping accountants, consultants, recruiters and other professional service firms get more visibility, leads and new business using digital marketing. Prior to founding Vitberg, LLC, Alan was the award-winning Chief Marketing Officer for a Top 100, mega-regional CPA firm (The Bonadio Group). During his tenure, the firm grew from a $12 million/110 person company to a multi-disciplined, $43 million/6 location firm employing 350 people. Alan’s experience includes developing integrated marketing strategies, lead generation, content marketing, marketing automation, brand building, niche building, traditional and e-based advertising, and PR activities.

1. How has professional services marketing changed in the past 5-10 years? 

Professional services firms are learning that it’s necessary to complement their 1:1 marketing (referrals, word of mouth) with a strong digital marketing presence anchored by a website that’s a lot more than just an online brochure. We’re seeing firms investing in a wide range of new marketing technologies, and recognizing the value of thought leadership and content marketing. Firms are now dedicating more resources to online lead generation than ever before. And they're getting more and more aggressive with social media channels for both branding and lead generation. And here’s something I find particularly intriguing: we’re seeing the more progressive firms venturing into marketing automation and aligning marketing and sales efforts though simpler CRMs.

2. Why do you think some professional services companies have embraced inbound marketing and others have stayed away from it?

Most professional services firms are risk-averse when it comes to trying new marketing strategies and tactics. Consequently, marketers get hamstrung by a mindset that’s been conditioned to believe that 1:1 marketing is the only way to grow their business or niche. When you add billable hour pressures into the mix, the situation becomes more complex.

However, those that have embraced inbound marketing are getting more visibility, leads and new business. That’s due in large measure to adoption of an inbound marketing methodology that’s built on using and showcasing their subject matter experts’ thought leadership for branding and lead generation purposes. At the end of the day, using thought leadership as a key point of differentiation is the true basis for moving a lead through the sales pipeline.

3. What are the common denominators of the professional service companies that you work with that do a great job with their marketing and use of inbound marketing?

Our clients that have seen success with inbound marketing share 8 characteristics. I think these represent key building blocks for doing an outstanding job with marketing in general, and inbound marketing in particular:

• Marketers and partners are committed to being a student of marketing especially and are willing to learn about digital marketing trends, strategies, technologies and tools.
• They define their marketing and sales objectives using a SMART Marketing Plan.
• They’re willing to go to the math when it comes time to get budget, resources and commitment to do inbound marketing.
• They don’t let partners or subject matter experts off the hook when it comes to getting content that they’ve agreed to supply.
• They have ways to measure progress against plan objectives, strategies and tactics using marketing technology instead of an Excel spreadsheet.
• They always have an eye on what competitors are doing, particularly in regard to digital marketing activities.
• They create action plans with implementation schedules for each task or activity and push, cajole, motivate and use any other means necessary to get partners and subject matter experts to execute their responsibilities.
• They work to align marketing and sales activities with processes and tools ranging from Service Level Agreements to marketing automation tools to CRMs that actually work.

4. Which type(s) of professional service companies do you believe have the greatest potential for using inbound marketing to get more visibility, leads and new business?

I can’t think of any type of professional service firm that wouldn’t be a great candidate for inbound marketing! The combination of their long sales lead times, annual client billing potential, opportunity to differentiate around thought leadership-based content, and the fact that most of their competitors will be asleep at the wheel when it comes to using the power of digital marketing are powerful recipe ingredients for success in inbound marketing.

Also, inbounding is a perfect complement to networking and the 1:1 referral-based marketing that’s been the hallmark of business development for professional services firms. For example, inbound marketing technology is now so powerful that it allows a rainmaker or business developer (or partner) the opportunity to see a track record of where a prospect has engaged with the firm’s digital assets–website, enewsletters, articles, etc.–and what they’ve viewed. This kind of lead intelligence can’t be gleaned from 1:1 marketing efforts, and is of enormous value when it comes to understanding prospect needs and issues.

5. What one piece of advice would you give the managing partner of a professional services firm about their marketing going into 2016?

“Carpe diem!” For most professional services firms, there’s a never-ending supply of new laws, regulation, standards, macro and micro economic trends, and a staggering amount of human, operational and financial issues their clients and prospects face that represent gold for top line growth.

Managing partners need to recognize these opportunities and be a catalyst for new marketing programs, strategies and tactics from creating a product or service to capitalize upon an opportunity to getting partners and subject matter experts publishing thought leadership that can serve purposes ranging from branding to lead generation.

Managing partners need to be at the forefront of creating a firm culture that includes a philosophy of carpe diem as the centerpiece of their marketing strategies. In the process, their firm will earn a reputation as an industry or market leader for being ahead of the curve when it comes to helping clients or prospects address the issues they face.