Marketing for Accountants: A Comprehensive Guide with 14 Proven Strategies [Pro Tips included]

“Don’t push people to where you want to be; meet them where they are.” —Meghan Keaney Anderson, VP Marketing, HubSpot

If you are looking for accountant marketing, it means you have already established your business and are looking for ways to step up your game. 49% of companies have a primary objective of increasing customer acquisition, and this can be achieved by marketing. 

Marketing can be tricky, to begin with. If your services are excellent but you don’t know how to market them effectively to the right audience, my friend, you are losing a lot of business. Start smart marketing to overcome the dry patch in your business. 

It is often observed the more strategically you invest in marketing, the greater the returns you will see. Marketing is a way to establish your brand name and solidify your presence in the financial sector. It is important to note that you need to focus on what strategy is best for your business. Don’t forget to check out the marketing tips we’ve included at the end of each section!

1. Etch your Ecosystem
2. Work on Your Website
3. Set up SEO
4. Pin the Pain Points
5. Prepare Personalized Personas 
6. Concentrate on Content Marketing to Generate Leads
7. Make the Most Out of Social Media Marketing
8. Manage Omnichannel Growth 
9. Invest in Marketing Automation
10. Schedule Weekly Meetings and Follow-Up Strategies
11. Upsell Existing Clients
12. Get Referrals and Reviews
13. Initiate Co-Marketing and Joint Ventures
14. Not-So-Popular Strategies
15. Parting Thoughts

Expand your business and client list with these 14 best marketing strategies for accountants, but don’t forget, one step at a time. 

1. Etch Your Ecosystem

This is the first and most important step in the list of marketing ideas for accounting firms that people often overlook. In business terms, etching your ecosystem simply means mapping a business model that you think will work for your business.

Now comes the big question: how do we do it?

It is a 6-step process. Let’s know about them:

1. Know the problem you’re trying to solve and analyze if it’s big enough. If it’s big, you need to search for a solution as soon as possible!

2. Determine who needs to be a part of the ecosystem and their role. For instance, you are focusing on a problem you came across while marketing your services. The first step will be to identify the people who will be working to resolve it. After that, assign them their specific roles, and just like that, you’re done with your second step.

3. Establish standards, rules, and processes that define the ecosystem. This will ensure uniformity throughout the system, avoid confusion, and save time. 

4. Work on capturing the value of your ecosystem. Your business is your ecosystem. Find ways to incorporate your values into the value proposition.

5. Analyze which side of the market you should focus on. This step requires you to identify your target market and the services you want to provide them.

6. Configure steps to scale your business ecosystem. Come up with strategies that you’ll put into use to scale your business. Plan out every move and incorporate them into daily goals. 

Pro Tip: Map the possible paths that lead to your services (contact forms).

2. Work on Your Website

Think of it like this: your website is your home, and you want guests to feel welcome here. Websites help your target audience better understand your company and services. This is where accounting marketing begins.

Your website is your 24-hour advertisement, and you need to make sure it is up to the mark. People who are new to marketing don’t always know what to include on their websites, so here is how an ideal website looks:

1. It has a strong message that resonates with the customers.
2. It has a bold brand name that establishes the presence of your business in the market.
3. It has easy-to-read fonts, and the webpage is attractive.
4. It has a mobile responsive design as a lot of people visit the websites on their phones instead of laptops. 
5. It has a unique call to action, be it a sign-up option or a contact us option.
6. The “book a call or appointment” option is easy to find.
7. Contact details, including an email address, physical address, and phone number, are stated in clear terms.
8. If the website is not discoverable on Google, it is almost like it does not exist. Your website should be easily found on Google. 

Pro Tip: Post meaningful content and aim for user-friendly navigation.

3. Set up SEO

Without a doubt, SEO is the most powerful marketing tool for accountants, but mastering it can be difficult.

Let us start with the basics. What is SEO?  

In simple words, it is the process of getting the site or the content to rank higher on the SERP (search engine result page). Local SEO is the most popular way to target people in a particular area that are using search engines like Google to find public accountants’ information. 

You are probably wondering how we can optimize this. There are various tools to help you, but here are a few things to keep in mind:

• The domain name should be clear and direct with the least possibility of error.
• It should be easy to spell.
• The intent of the page should be established using the right keywords.
• Each page must include local keywords.
• Keywords should be included in the page title, URL, content, and image alt text.
• Meta descriptions should be 150-160 characters including spaces and should summarize the content on the page. Make sure your meta description is captivating.

Another important point to be highlighted separately here is the need for Google’s business profile. This makes it easier for people to find details about your business. 

Business listings (NAP: name, phone number, address) should always be constant across all social media platforms and search engines.

What exactly does a Google Business Profile include?

• Name
• Location
• Open hours
• Website
• Contact information
• Reviews
• Direct booking options for accountancy consulting firms.
  • Reserve with Google makes it easy for your target customers to find you on Google and book a consultation.
  • Along with your other business listings, a “book now” option will show up, allowing customers to select the ideal time and confirm their reservation.
  • Check out Appointy’s Reserve With Google feature to see how you can use it. 

Pro Tip: Add photos or videos to make it look more professional and legitimate.

4. Pin the Pain Points

If you’re aware, that means you’re ahead! 

You can’t come up with a solution unless you know the problem. If you know where the customers are hurting, you can smartly come up with a curated solution to boost your business. You need a strong accounting firm marketing plan to accomplish this so that you never overlook a need that could become a source of revenue.   

Once again, let’s answer the question: what are the pain points?

Pain points are very specific to individuals or groups of people. They are the problems faced by customers or prospects in the marketplace. 

What should you do? The answer is straightforward; address the pain and become part of the solution. Customers understand the business better when they see their pain points being addressed. Communicate with them and build strong relationships.

In this regard, intake forms are a tool for getting to know your clients better. Intake forms can be filled out by the customer at the time of booking a consultation. By anticipating their needs and having meetings that are properly scheduled, Appointy’s intake form feature makes it simple to concentrate on your customers’ pain points. 

Intake forms will help you prepare better and deliver better, because when you deliver better, you step forward to landing a happy customer!

Pro Tip: Conduct review/feedback calls/quick intake forms.

5. Prepare Personalized Personas

Before starting a new marketing campaign for your accounting firm, always know your customers. Personas set your target audience theoretically. They are fictional replications of your customers with the same set of needs and expectations.

How exactly will it help? Collecting data will help deliver personally crafted business messages related to your target audience.

When you collect the data, keep these things in mind:

• Past reviews
• Various interactions with your clients
• Future needs

For an accounting business, three of the most important personas are:

• Personas for users
• Personas for managers 
• Personas for CFOs

Pro Tip: Make detailed personas and analyze every aspect. Check out Make My Persona – Free Persona Template Generator by HubSpot. 

6. Concentrate on Content Marketing to Generate Leads

Content marketing is really like a first date. If all you do is talk about yourself, there won’t be a second date.

David Beebe, Founder & CEO, Storified Hospitality Group

You must have come across articles, blogs, videos, podcasts, or any other medium that provides us with information about a particular topic. The term “content marketing” refers to a variety of content strategies that are all intended to draw in, engage, and retain customers. 

But why content marketing? 

I) Statistics show that

• 60% of people are inspired to seek out a product after reading about it.
• Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing.
• 82% of consumers feel positive about the company after reading the content.
• 90% of organizations use content marketing.

II) The goal of content marketing is to:

• Increase brand recognition.
• Establish expertise 
• Build trust
• Aid in the generation of more qualified leads.

Now you know why it’s important to have creative marketing ideas for accountants!

Remember, sales and marketing go hand in hand only when the right strategies and plans are implemented.

A) Begin Blogging:

48% of companies leverage blogging for high ROI. People love reading high-quality content, and blogs quench their thirst by providing answers and new information.

Still unsure of where to start? 

Let’s see how you can master the skill of blogging.

Step 1: Come up with a topic, preferably a trending or unique one. Check out Google trends.

Step 2: Keep an eye out for your competitors, conduct an online search, and do extensive research.

Step 3: After you’ve completed all of the above, sit down and brainstorm a title. It should be catchy and not too mainstream.

Step 4: Write an outline. It’s essentially what you’ll write about in your blog.

Step 5: Use SEO tools to conduct keyword research.

Step 6: Include the keywords in your first draft.

Step 7: Make your domain name as short as possible while still incorporating primary keywords.

Step 8: Optimize your blog for search engines.

Step 9: Now it’s time to spread the word about your blog!

Are you still stumped for a topic for your first blog? Try to come up with a topic that relates to the proposed new guidelines or their impact on small businesses.

If you haven’t already begun, what are you waiting for? Start working on incorporating this creative marketing idea into your campaign.

Remember, blogs build credibility. Credibility is directly proportional to the quality of content you post. So, begin blogging today!

Pro Tip: Consistency is the key. Incorporate relevant images into your blog, mention your niche, and highlight your services.

B) Send Newsletter:

The money is in the list.

Billy Shall

Email marketing, which includes sending newsletters, is quickly becoming one of the most effective marketing methods. More than 50% of marketers use email as a way of sharing new content. Your subscriber list is literally holy water!

Emails are an excellent way to nurture leads. The ROI of email is higher as compared to other forms of marketing. One major advantage of sending out a newsletter is that you’re there in the minds of the prospects.

People like being in the loop about the new services and features that may help them. Sending and updating them regularly will make sure you’re the first name that comes up when they are in dire need of accountancy services. 

A newsletter is also a great way to keep high brand awareness among existing and potentially new clients. This helps in retaining the brand name in the minds of prospects.

Here are some do’s for newsletter marketing:

• Pick a theme, such as the top 5 business ideas, and stick with it.
• The newsletter should be consistent. Post content at the same time whenever a post is scheduled.
• Keep it short.
• Include catchy headlines.
• Including a CTA, this could be a share option where they can share the piece of information on other social media accounts. 
• Keep it simple.
• Focus on quality and not quantity.

Pro Tip: Curate stories and tips relevant to the finance industry and be consistent.

C) Engage with Prospects:

Marketing accounting firms can be challenging and requires you to engage with prospects. When you start engaging with your prospects, it means you’ve won their attention, and now is the best time to make yourself known. 

One way to do this is by live streaming on any social media account where you find more target prospects. While live streaming, build a relationship with your audience and clear their doubts. 

Remember, be consistent with your engagement. If they lose interest in you, they’ll lose interest in what you’re offering!

1. Talk to them about the trending topics. 
2. Open the floor for questions and discussions.
3. Include examples and videos.
4. Ask open-ended questions.
5. Put up a poll.
6. Start a Facebook or LinkedIn group if necessary.

These steps must be included in an engagement marketing plan for accountants.

Pro Tip: Use all your social media accounts to engage with clients.

D) Shoot Videos:

84% of all users were successfully convinced to use a service or a product after watching a video. It brings life to your brand! 

Videos stand out; we as humans instantly catch a movement if it’s in our vision range and are drawn towards exploring it. Videos are another great pick from the vast collection of accounting marketing ideas. Appropriate content and sound effects will surely make the user pause on them.

Reels are taking over Instagram and shorts are taking over YouTube. One aspect of video marketing could be the launch of a Youtube channel that mainly focuses on sharing valuable information to gain their trust.

Making a video gives the viewer a chance to see your face and hear from you directly, giving them an idea of what it might be like to connect with your firm.

Videos are a great source of information that targets people who prefer an audio-visual piece of content that you might miss if you just post blogs! They are also proof that you’re trying to adapt to modern technologies.

Here are some video ideas that accountants are using for their CPA firm advertising these days:

• Informal Video: It can be posted on LinkedIn, where no fancy lighting or preparation is required.
• Tutorial: They can be on any particular trending topic on YouTube.
• Animated: Ideal for camera-shy people who use animation software to appeal to people.
• Full production: these are great if you want to introduce your firm to the market. This might require a large investment.

Select your preference and don’t forget to incorporate your personality. This gives a sense of realism.

Pro Tip: Google Analytics can provide you with search terms being used to find a particular topic, and then you can easily make videos on them.

E) Give Them More:

Who does not like free stuff? It’s a silly question! Everyone is on the lookout for some free stuff that can aid in their business development. 

Give your audience something, and win them over!

Include lead magnets on your websites. Offer incentives to prospects in exchange for their email address or contact information, such as eBooks, PDF toolkits, video training, etc.

Various templates can be offered, as well as tools such as:

• Income tax calculator.
• Payslip template
• A tax withholding estimator

Pro Tip: Include CTA’s. 

7. Make the Most Out of Social Media Marketing

“The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself.” –Peter Drucker, founder of Drucker Institute

Social media marketing is an integral part of digital marketing. Social media is very fast-paced; people post pictures, videos, and updates almost every day. To emerge at the top of your industry, you need to be up to date with the trends and best practices, and for this, you need a CPA firm marketing strategy. 

Remember, follow the 80:20 rule where 80% of your posts are informative and only 20% are direct sales pitches.

A) Without Any Investment:

The attention span of readers is almost 7 seconds, and ask yourself, will you ever just sit and read about a pitch unless you are benefiting from it? Let’s go to the previous step. 

Identify the social media sites you want to be active on. For example, Facebook is effective for direct-to-consumer marketing. If you specialize in business accounting, LinkedIn is best suited to attract business professionals. Twitter is a good choice to connect with others for quick insights and updates.

Things to keep in mind:

• Always comply with SEC regulations while posting content about sensitive information such as taxes and regulations.
• Include thought-leadership content and knowledgeable information.
• Raise awareness of your firm and services by sharing customer success stories.
• Post about your blogs and new services.
• Make your social media handles more interactive by occasionally quizzing your followers on recent trends and news.
• Vary your content and make it personal.
• Inspire your audience and make them trust you.

Pro Tip: You can also convert your social media visitors into paying customers by adding book buttons to your social media accounts!

B) With an Upfront Investment:

We all hate it when money leaves our pockets, but in return, when the ROI is greater, it does not hurt that much. Start by marketing accounting services with a base investment and see if it yields your desired results. 

Upfront investment indicates paid advertising. When you’re investing in something, you have to be double sure. Make sure to be specific about your target audience and the type of advertisement you want to circulate. 

For instance, you can promote your blogs and posts by paying a minimum amount to Instagram. This is often referred to as advertising for accountants.

Paid advertising, which refers to digital ads that are mostly pay-per-click (PPC), is another type of investment. Google Ads are paid advertisements that appear at the top of the search engine results page (SERP).

The difference between Google Ads and Social Media Ads is subtle. People search for your services on Google Ads, whereas you target the audience on social media ads. Combining social media ads with Google ads yields the best duo with higher returns.

Pro Tip: Be consistent with the fonts and the theme color that resonates with your company. 

8. Manage Omnichannel Growth

If you have different accounts on social media platforms, it becomes important to integrate their growth. You can’t just be active on one and inactive on the other. Marketing for accountants requires all the accounts to grow together.

What do you have to do?

• Well, for starters, define your social media presence.
• Integrate all your different accounts into one company ID.
• Have a consistent color theme.
• Keep the fonts and logo the same.
• Know your target market and the channel you are using to market your service.
• The vision and goals of the company should be clear.

72% of the users prefer digital communication, and smooth integration can highly influence the customer satisfaction rate. Keeping this in mind, service-based businesses like yours need to capture all the leads and convert them into prospects by leading them to book an appointment.

Smooth scheduling software can help the business gain new potential customers with its omnichannel integration feature.

Pro Tip: Growth requires consistent effort and dedication. Be consistent with your posts.

9. Invest in Marketing Automation

Everything is becoming more automated in the twenty-first century because it saves time and money. There are various marketing services for accountants in the industry, but nothing beats marketing automation software that can automate manual work.

It not only helps in delivering automated messages on time but also allows users to effectively target prospects.

If you think carefully, managing the appointments and customers can be a task. Keeping track of all the meetings; getting in touch with the clients; reminding them; keeping track of payments; and so much more.

• It replaces manual processes with newly functional automated ones.
• It nurtures leads and integrates all the marketing channels.
• It creates one centralized system for creating and implementing programs.

The Customer Relationship Management System is being used by many firms. It helps in tracking client information and organizing various opportunities that can be used later.

• You can keep track of all consultations, payment history, and even refer to digital notes using Appointy’s built-in CRM.

Pro Tip:  If you invest in marketing automation, you save on your manual costs.

10. Schedule Weekly Meetings and Follow-Up Strategies.

Meetings!  Marketing!  More!

Marketing an accounting firm requires regular meetings. Weekly marketing meetings should be conducted with the sole purpose of discussion.

You must have come across leads that don’t get closed, right? It is fairly common. But it becomes important to dig deep and find out the exact reason why this is happening. 

One way is by staying in touch with leads. If they are facing any issue, you can work on getting it resolved instantly. Follow-up meetings aid in reducing client churn and fostering stronger bonds with existing customers.

Need topics for the meeting?

• Marketing tactics
• Troubleshooting running programs
• Audience engagement
• Regular marketing updates
• Guest lectures with meaningful insights.

Due to the pandemic, most of the meetings were shifted to online mode, and it’s not a piece of cake to coordinate with a team of people. Online meetings save a lot of time and are proven to be more productive.  

Still unsure of how to conduct meetings seamlessly without bothering to send meeting links and individual invites? Check out Appointy’s Zoom integration feature, which lets you stay connected remotely. 

Pro Tip: Have proper documentation so that it becomes easier to compare the last meeting and the trends discussed.  

11. Upsell Existing Clients

It’s the easiest accountant marketing strategy that exists by nurturing existing relationships. You can increase your revenue by simply asking your existing clients about the difficulties they are currently facing.

Come up with a solution to assist them, then suggest upgrading their plan to a premium one.

Pro Tip: Keep a close eye on your current clients to look out for a problem they might be facing. 

12. Get Referrals and Reviews

Referrals and reviews are stars on your website; they allure clients. WOM is an old and admired method of marketing, as 92% of consumers trust their friends over the media. 

It’s one of the best accounting firm advertising examples.

But what is WOM and when does it happen?

In uncomplicated terms, it means word-of-mouth marketing. When your clients are happy with your services and interactions, they talk about their experiences with their near and dear ones. This is how positive reviews about your company reach different ears. 

 Get started by:

• Getting in touch with your satisfied clients and asking them to spread the word about your offerings to their friends and family is a great way to start. Contacting your clients is the key to success!
• Creating a loyalty program to get clients to talk.
• Initiating a refer-a-friend marketing program and giving clients incentives such as free consultation services or discounts on their current services.

Gift cards are a great way to stay connected with your customers. Give them a gift card after they leave a review, and when they use it to redeem the service, tadaa! You’ve successfully reconnected.

Get client testimonials and include them on your website and other social media handles. Tell the world how you helped them with their problems and how others can also benefit from your services.

• Don’t ask them to write everything; understand that they also have work.
• You can, instead, draft it and see if they are willing to sign off.
• Clearly state the problem (financial reporting was improper).
• How did you help (improve the reporting)?
• And what was the result (proper financial reporting with documentation, audits, and records)?

Pro Tip: Include Google and Trustpilot reviews as well; it increases credibility.

13. Initiate Co-Marketing and Joint Ventures 

“Integrated marketing offers opportunities to break through to consumers in new markets.” —Betsy Holden, Senior Advisor, McKinsey & Co.

You must have come across influencers collaborating with brands on Instagram and promoting them. Get into a business where people are willing to reciprocate. This has to be some of the best marketing advice for accountants. An example of this could be that both the firms in the business will get the lead’s information when they fill out a form.

It’s your time now to build strategic alliances that will help both organizations involved. To begin with, partnering on webinars is a great way. You can slowly start your own webinar once you’ve gained the following. 

Things to keep in mind:

• Know your target market.
• Search for firms, associations, and organizations with the same client pool.
• Reach out to them.

Pro Tip: As an accountancy firm, partner with a law firm, a banker, or anyone relevant in your field of work.

14. Not-So-Popular Strategies

These are the strategies no one mentions, and hence the reason for their unpopularity. 

Nonetheless, they work like a charm. Try out these marketing solutions with a proper working plan.

A) Run a Giveaway!

Everyone likes the idea of winning something, right? I remember getting excited about lucky draws when I was a kid. Well, a giveaway is something similar.

Giveaway contests can be a great way to build a name for yourself. Firstly, partner up with a few others to extend your reach. 

Consider a giveaway on LinkedIn or Youtube in which you ask the users to simply follow or subscribe to your channel and, in return, offer them a bundled service for free. 

These services can be a one-time review of their tax return or a free consultation. This is a commonly used inbound marketing strategy.

B) Outsourcing

It’s cheap and easy. Look out for jobs and reach out to companies who are looking for the services you offer. 

Work for them and solve their problems. This will not only leave a positive impression after your service, but they will also consider you for future work. Undoubtedly, the best marketing approach for small business accountants.

C) Sign Up for a Directory

Signing up for a directory will help new clients find you. It can be old-fashioned and one of the local marketing ideas for chartered accountants, but hey! It still works.

Get on Google, search for the directories you want to register on, and let people discover you.

D) Affiliate Marketing

This is relatively popular among accounting firms, and the plus point is that it does not require any large fixed costs. 

Affiliates promote your services through their accounts on various platforms, and in return, you give them incentives only if they are successful in landing you a lead. Affiliates can be anyone, an influencer, a reporter, or a publisher.

Parting Thoughts

Well, well, well, that was a lot of content and strategies. Coming up with effective marketing strategies can be baffling, but with the right assistance, nothing is too tough. 

All these strategies might look a bit overwhelming at first, but once you get the hang of them, your business will start growing. We hope now you have an idea of how to market an accounting firm! 

Focus on expanding your reach and business and let Appointy’s online booking software for accountants & accounting firms handle the nitty-gritty of admin tasks. Let’s perfectly balance the business and administrative sides of things.

You work on your business while we have your back. We hope these specially curated strategies will help you and your business reach milestones.

Let us know which strategy got your most attention in the comments below!

About Appointy

We at Appointy, help business owners grow and run their businesses with our online scheduling software. This blog was a part of our ‘Manage your Business’ category, where we provide expert tips, and resources, or simply talk about the challenges that small and medium businesses face every day. 

If you have any thoughts on this blog or would like to chat about your business struggles and achievements, let us know in the comments below. 

We love a good talk!