How to Turn Content into Meaningful Conversations

Are you struggling to attract new clients with your content? Here’s how to take your content marketing from hopeful to purposeful and leverage content to start conversations with prospective clients.

Content marketing allows you to show up as a superhero for your prospective clients. The power of content marketing enables you to break free of commoditization and position your accounting firm as VITAL to the success of your prospects’ businesses.

VITAL stands for:

Valued
Impactful
Trusted
Agile
Lucrative

However, a BIG mistake that I see amongst many firm owners is hopeful, rather than purposeful, content marketing.

What I mean by this is that many accountants and bookkeepers publish content and hope that prospective clients will come forward, rather than employing a purposeful strategy to actively engage those prospects in meaningful conversations. Essentially, you forget about the ‘marketing’ part of content marketing.

The truth is that content doesn’t get clients; conversations do.

This means that you need to employ a purposeful strategy to transform your audience into paying clients through starting conversations.

The covid-19 pandemic means that more businesses than ever need a superhero accountant or bookkeeper to show up, and firms are catching on. Your competitors are out there right now securing clients that could have been yours. If your content isn’t converting into conversations, it’s time to take a look at your strategy and put the following steps into practice.

#1 Build Your Audience

Your content marketing is only as effective as the number of people you reach. As you create content, you need to think about building your audience – the bigger, the better. Content makes you visible, but having an audience is what ensures that your firm is actually seen.

The bigger your audience, the more people that you reach, and this creates more opportunities to start those all-important conversations. Of course, it’s essential that you don’t stop here and actively leverage those opportunities, but we’ll get to that in a moment.

Building an audience doesn’t happen overnight. It can take up to 90 days to gain traction on most social media platforms, and up to six months for your blog to start receiving significant search engine traffic. It requires patience and consistency.

In order to build an audience for your accounting firm, you need to be publishing content every single day.

Every day, I wake up and ask myself “what do I need to do today to share value to help my clients?” because when I do that, my business grows bigger and stronger.

I’m present on social media every single day, posting updates, asking questions and even sharing the occasional selfie. I go live four times a week, I publish blogs and I create YouTube videos. I honestly don’t care about likes and comments; I do this to remain front of mind.

I show up across many different platforms so that my message reaches as many accountants and bookkeepers as possible. You need to do the same in order to build your audience. It may take time, but more content ultimately leads to more eyes.

#2 Prospects, Not Peers

The above step has a very important caveat: in order for your content marketing to be successful, your audience must be made up of your prospects, not your peers.

Your fellow accountants and bookkeepers aren’t interested in becoming your clients, so keep them as far away from your content marketing as possible.

In fact, if your audience consists of your peers, you may even find yourself being side-tracked into helping them and losing sight of the real reason that you started your own firm in the first place.

Above, I said that content marketing is only as effective as the number of people that you reach, but perhaps I should amend that. Content marketing is only as effective as the number of prospects that you reach. It’s meaningless when it falls upon the wrong ears.

You don’t just need an audience. You need the right audience.

In order for content to attract clients to your accounting or bookkeeping firm, your prospective clients actually need to see it. They are the ones you want to start conversations with, so they are the audience you should be speaking to in every update, post and live video.

Whilst it’s great to leverage as many platforms as possible to build your audience, concentrate on the ones where your ideal clients mostly hang out. Instagram is great, but if your ideal clients don’t spend a lot of time there then it shouldn’t be your main focus because you won’t see a significant ROI.

Furthermore, it’s important to be aware of when your prospects are most likely to be online so that you can schedule your posts accordingly.

#3 Speak to Your Ideal Client

An important part of purposeful content marketing is speaking directly to your ideal client. If you try to be too general with your content, you’ll totally miss the mark. You need to dive deep into the psyche of your ideal client.

We all know that you can’t please everyone in life. The same principle applies in content marketing. You can’t be all things to all people, but what you can do is be the superhero that your specific ideal client needs.

Content that’s too general won’t stand out. Tailoring your content to the particular wants, fears and aspirations of your ideal client is how you cut through the noise. Your content should not be a floodlight. It needs to be a spotlight shining on the precise needs and problems that your ideal client has right now.

In order to gain a crystal clear understanding of your ideal client, you need to sit down and speak with them. I’m not talking about sales conversations. You need to sit back and listen to their frustrations, pain points and goals.

Of course, this takes time. You can’t have one conversation and then expect to be an expert. It takes around 28-30 conversations to gain enough understanding to effectively appeal to your ideal client.

You’ll continue to learn and grow throughout your career as an accounting firm owner. I’ve been working with accountants and bookkeepers for over a decade now, and I learn something new every day simply by taking the time to listen.

#4 Always Include CTAs

Creating value-packed content that engages, educates and appeals to your ideal client is essential, but it’s not enough.

This is content marketing, not content publishing.

You need to engage your prospects in conversation. Conversations are what get you high value clients, so you need to leverage your content to get your prospects talking.

You should include a call to action (CTA) in every piece of content that you publish. This is usually a short sentence that encourages your audience to enter into a conversation with you. Some examples include:

• Asking questions
• “Message me for more information”
• “Book a call with me today”
• “Take a look at the link below”
• “Click here to sign up for my webinar”

Whilst I don’t focus on likes and comments, if there is someone who continually interacts with your content, send them a message thanking them for their support and use it as an opportunity to start a conversation.

For short form content, such as Facebook and LinkedIn updates, include one CTA at the end of the post. Longer form content should include multiple CTAs throughout.

For example, if you make a point that’s relevant to one of your services in the first paragraph of a blog post, don’t wait until the end to include a call to action. Insert the appropriate CTA right after the paragraph so that you engage the reader right as they’re agreeing with you, and thus in a buying mode. They may not buy right there and then, but they’re in the right mindset and they like what you’ve said.

Content marketing is all about starting conversations, so include a call to action in every piece of content you publish.

A Good Content Marketing Strategy is All About Starting Conversations with the Right People

Your content is your arrow. Your ideal client is your target. When you hit the mark, conversations begin. Remember that this is content marketing, not content publishing. Putting great content out there is essential, but it’s not enough. You need to ensure that your content is reaching the right audience and then take action to start conversations with your prospects.

1. Build a big audience
2. Connect with prospects, not peers
3. Get clear on what your ideal client needs
4. Always include a call to action

When you follow the above steps correctly, you’ll be rewarded handsomely for your efforts. With an effective content marketing strategy in place, your business will thrive and your ideal clients will come knocking. Content marketing does the heavy lifting for you so that by the time those all-important conversations begin, 70-90% of the decision has already been made.