9 Bold Statements CPA Firm Marketing Directors Need to Tell Partners

It’s all About Having Stronger, More Productive Marketing Strategies and Tactics

If you’re in charge of an accounting firm marketing program, there’s a pretty good chance that once or twice (ok, maybe more than once or twice) in the recent past, you’ve had to bit your lip when trying to push a marketing idea through to partners. There’s a pretty good chance that in the very near future, you’ll be taking another bite or two (ok, maybe more than a bite or two).

Since it might be tough to “tell it like it is”, maybe what may be helpful is a couple of discussion starters. So, cut and paste the next section of this blog post and pass it on to the partners in your firm along with a message that goes something like, “Can you believe what this guy Vitberg is saying ??!!?? We should kick this around ‘cause I’d love to get your reaction!”.

That way, you can blame me for being a troublemaker, but secretly, you’ll be happy that I served as the tip of the spear to get a frank and open dialogue going.

9 Things Marketers Need to Tell Partners about Making a More Effective Marketing Program

Let the dialogue begin:

“We need to do more than just depend upon referrals and networking for new business”

Sure, referrals and networking are still going to be the number one way the firm is going to get new business, but ignoring the power of inbound and content marketing will put the firm at a competitive disadvantage. Prospects are ignoring traditional marketing tactics and instead are using the web to search for solutions to problems or issues.

“We need to stop spending money on legacy spending and marketing that doesn’t work and reallocate budget to an inbound marketing program”

If getting a return on investment in marketing is important, it’s time to take a hard look at what’s working and not working in the marketing program relative to reaching the firm’s  growth goals. Get rid of the legacy spending and spend smarter.

Start with this guidance:

“We need stop interrupting people with our marketing and start making marketing that our prospects will love”

There’s been a huge amount of research showing that traditional marketing for things like paid advertising; direct mail and telemarketing don’t work very well anymore because people hate being interrupted. Instead, make marketing that people love and get their permission to market to them using strong content and smart lead generation programs delivered on and through the firm’s website.

“We need to stop using our website as an online brochure and start using it as a lead generation dynamo.”

Websites that are nothing more than online brochures need to be put to rest. Instead, firms are now creating valuable content around issues and placing offers on their website that require an eyeball to give their name and contact info in order to get the content. Essentially, websites need to be designed to convert visitors to leads.

“We need to be blogging.”

The power of blogging for CPA firms is undeniable. Blogs bring eyeballs to the site (where they can be converted to leads), grow the firm’s reputation and strengthen personal brands.

“We need to be nurturing our prospects, not just dropping them after one or two touches and hope they pick up the ball.”

One of the saddest stats you can read about professional services marketing is that 5 out of 5 leads are dropped after just one touch. Instead, firms need to be nurturing leads with subscriptions to newsletters and blogs, or drip email campaigns that put offers in front of the prospect that lead them through the sales funnel on their way to becoming a client.

“We need to get reluctant rainmakers involved in marketing through writing content we can use for lead generation and SEO”

There are partners in the firms that are great technicians and lousy sales people. The firm needs to leverage their strength by having them contribute to the marketing program by writing content like blog posts and whitepapers, or building and delivering technical presentations.

“We need to have strong marketing analytics.”

One of the funny (or maybe sad) ironies of CPA firm marketing is that even though accounting is all about numbers, when it comes to marketing analytics firms drop the ball. Using tools like Google Analytics, or even more powerful analytic tools like those in HubSpot, represent the path to finding ways to get more ROI from the firm’s investment in marketing.

“I need more money and resources and a larger staff!”

OK, truth be told is that I just threw the last one in as a favor to CPA firm marketers all over the world. But I counsel you to save this statement for last because after all, if you partners agree with all of the bold statements, then it’s only logical to ask for more money, resources and people for strategies, tactics and executions.

Partners, your marketing folks really, really, really want to help make the firm grow. They want to make a contribution, and they want to be recognized for that contribution. They want to give you a marketing program that’s innovative and entrepreneurial. They want to be cutting edge and not wait to do something the majority has adopted.

So, start an open and honest dialogue with these 9 bold statements. At the end of the day, you just might discover a path leading to more website traffic, more leads, more new business and more ROI from your marketing investment.