CPA & Accounting Practice Marketing

Trusted Confidante

As an accounting firm that partners with businesses, you serve as a trusted confidante and long-term strategic partner. A business makes a critical decision when they decide on a CPA and accounting firm to partner with. As an accounting firm, you must ensure that your firm is being marketed properly. Trust, professionalism and credibility are all important brand messages you must convey as a CPA or accounting firm.

What makes your Accounting practice truly unique?

However, almost all accounting firms attempt to market their firm as a trusted, credible business partner. When marketing your accounting practice firm, it’s important to focus on what truly makes your firm different. Why do clients remain with your firm long-term? Does your firm have unique qualities? Does your firm focus on certain industries? Is there a unique process your firm has implemented? It is important that these unique practice characteristics are “front and center” in all marketing communications.

First Mover Advantage

Aggressively marketing your accounting or CPA firm is an excellent way to gain a “first mover” advantage over your competition. Most accounting and CPA firms do not allocate many resources to marketing. By focusing more on differentiating your firm and targeting your ideal customer, your accounting firm can be far ahead of the competition.

Position your Brand

Clients can be judgmental and you must ensure that all marketing collateral convey your firm’s brand positioning. This means all brand messaging, logo, business cards, stationery, brochures, website, social media profiles, etc.

As you meet potential clients or strategic partners at networking events, you are constantly handing out your business card. Something as simple as a business card conveys a message about your accounting firm. Your business card along with your attire and “elevator pitch” will create the first impression about your practice.

Lead Nurturing

As you market your CPA or accounting firm, your firm’s website is key to nurturing leads to customers. If they are referred to your firm, they will almost always visit your website before contacting you. What is your current website saying about you? Does it convey the right image? It is important that your website includes customer success stories, white papers, webinars and podcasts to showcase your firm’s thought leadership and serve as a resource center to both current and prospective customers. You want people to be continuously visiting your website because it consists of current information that is relevant to your ideal customer segments.

When selling accounting services, there are many times you are not speaking directly to the decision maker and instead working through intermediaries. A print piece such as a capabilities brochure is an effective “leave behind” to help receive buy-in internally. The brochure helps champion your company and gain a positive decision from the management team.

Holistic Approach

Other marketing tactics also help to generate and nurture leads. These tactics include email marketing, social media marketing, blogging, etc. The key is to create content and resources that interest your ideal customer profile. An integrated marketing strategy combining numerous tactics will help identity more ideal leads and turn them into current customers.

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