The 3 Most Shocking Oddities of CPA Firm Marketing!!

Are Firm Marketing Directors and Managing Partners Working Out of the Same Marketing Playbook?

The answer to this question: sort of...  One of the areas we investigated in our recent Survey of CPA Firm Best Lead Generation Practices was to see if – and where – differences existed between Managing Partners and CPA firm marketing directors when it came to lead generation. I’ve always operated under the premise that when a firm’s management and their marketing department are in lock step, the payoffs in terms of superior firm growth are possible. But when management marches to the beat of a different drummer, marketers are generally relegated to a role of being order takers.

The good news from the Survey is that management and marketers agree that networking and referrals are the most effective lead generation tactics, and that eNewsletters, email and the firm’s website are the most effective ways to promote offers for the firm’s thought leadership.

But when it corms to where partners and marketers disagree about lead generation best practices, there’s a few troubling results.

Biggest Gaps in Lead Generation Program Strategies and Tactics

There were three critical differences in attitudes and perceptions about what works and doesn’t work for generating leads that we found to be very odd:

1. Importance of whitepapers

Even with the huge amount of advice on the importance of content marketing for the professional service firm as a way to use thought leadership to generate leads, NOT ONE … that’s right, 0% - of Managing partners cited whitepapers as one of the most effective types of offers.

2. Search engine Marketing

With prospects turning more and more to the web to find answers to issues or problems, investments in search engine marketing have been climbing at a phenomenal rate. However, less than 1 out of 10 Managing Partners believe this to be an effective lead generation tactic, as compared to the 2 out of 3 Marketing Directors who say it is one of the most effective tactics.

3. Using Seminars for Lead Generation

Using seminars for displaying the firm’s thought leadership has always been a hallmark of building a firm’s brand, but today, seminars are increasing being used as a lead generation tool, for either starting or maintaining relationships with prospects. However, by over a 3 to 1 margin, marketing directors say that seminars are more effective for generating leads.

There are a number of other similarities and differences that you can read about in the Executive Summary that you’ll find to be very interesting.

Why the Big Differences and What to Do About Them

There are a couple of possible explanations for why these big differences exist. It could be that partners are comfortable with their new business achievements and do not see a need to work out of a different playbook. It could be risk aversion. It could be that both marketers and Managing Partners have a lack of understanding and a fear of the unknown when it comes to online marketing. It could be age differences between partners and marketers. It could be that marketers in the firm don’t have a large enough voice at the strategic planning table.

My sense is that it’s a combination of all of these factors.

So, how can managing partners and marketers work out of the same playbook? We’d like to offer a simple playbook that can be the foundation for a CPA firm marketing effort – or any professional service firm program for that matter – that can help your firm score more points:

It is possible to work out of the same playbook and to score more points. Now it would be terrific if I could create a simple decision tree for my beloved Buffalo Bills so they could all work on the same page.

Don’t laugh. It could happen. Maybe next year, or the one after. Maybe.