Top 10 Content Marketing Tips For Accountants In 2017
Sharing your knowledge and expertise is a great way to raise your profile, and for gaining new clients.
But how do you do this?
It is done through content marketing.
Content is the information that you and your firm create and share. This is primarily done on your website in the form of articles or blogs. This is where you market your services to your existing clients, and where your prospects come when they want to find out more about you.
Content marketing is also called education or authority marketing. This is because you are sharing your expertise to inform the reader/viewer of your content on a particular subject.
Just as this article is informing you on content marketing!
When done well content marketing can improve the ranking of your website, turn cold leads warm, increase brand awareness, raise your profile with peers and prospects and reduce the time spent on sales.
Valuable and interesting content will encourage readers to return to your website over and over again, converting them to warm leads and increasing the likelihood that they will become paying clients.
Sounds pretty good so far doesn’t it?
The problem with content marketing for many accountants is not that they have no knowledge to share, it’s just that they can’t think of ways to share it.
So here’s my top 10 tips for content marketing for accountants in 2017.
1. Write An eBook.
The purpose of an eBook is to share some valuable information that will provide the reader with an advantage or opportunity they wouldn’t otherwise have.
It allows you to share information completely and in depth, much more so than you could if covering the topic on your website.
A good eBook is:
- Specific. Don’t try to cover everything. Just discuss one topic in enough detail that the reader can take action.
- Different. There is a lot of information available to people so try and write with a unique angle, style or perspective.
- Relevant. It must be relevant to the reader. International tax advice won’t interest or retain the attention of a plumber trying to decide if he should become a limited company.
2. Share Insights
It is easy to have a website and write a couple of articles. But it is more difficult to share information that will keep readers captivated and returning. By sharing industry insights and analysis you establish your place as an expert and a source of unique information. Write about topics like:
- Legislative changes and their short and long term effects.
- Trends in the industry of your ideal client.
- Products or services that compliment your own
- Tips and advice relevant to your clients and their business goals.
3. Case Studies Or Client Spotlights
By sharing the experiences of your current clients you demonstrate an understanding of the challenges that your potential clients are currently experiencing.
- Ask your current clients (ones that fit the profile of your ideal client) if they are happy to talk about their experiences in business, in general and in working with you.
- Focus on them. This is not about you but rather about demonstrating how you have helped these clients to overcome challenges and achieve their goals.
- Case studies are great on video, and perfect for your website and social media sharing.
4. Host A Seminar Or Talk
These are a great way to bring people together. You can make the event as large or small as you like and this will provide you with an interested audience. By adding some time for an informal chat at the end you can also gather immediate feedback from the guests.
You can organise these anywhere, or you can outsource the organising. Just make sure that everything matches your firms’ brand and reputation.
5. Create An Infographic
- The world has quickly evolved to favour consuming information visually. This can be through images, graphs or infographics.
- They are easily shared on social media, work well on your website and can be used over and over.
- Be sure to have your web address or logo discreetly visible somewhere so it brings viewers back to you.
6. Use Surveys
Surveys are quick to complete and can be a powerful marketing tool. It allows you to gather focused data very quickly from your existing and potential clients.
When using surveys be sure that you:
- Don’t ask for too much personal information. It will put people off.
- Keep them easy to complete. They should only take a few minutes and be very focused. This also allows the best results.
- Offer some kind of incentive for completing them. It might be a report, ebook or entry into a prize pool.
7. Create A Business Template
Many of your clients will be struggling with a task that you can help them with.
Create an excel spreadsheet, a checklist, framework or template that they can use to time and time again in their business. An example might be a cash flow forecast template. Have it on your website where they can download it and use it.
Once created this type of content can be used and downloaded many times without any additional output from you. When done right, this is a brilliant piece of marketing.
8. Host A Webinar
Very simply a webinar is a seminar that is delivered online instead of in person, and there are many advantages to them.
Your audience doesn’t have to travel to you is the first big advantage – or you don’t have to travel to them. You can reach people from all over the county, or different parts of the country.
It may take time or training before you feel completely comfortable in front of a camera. Webinars also take time to setup, organise and market to your audience, but once you have done a few they will quickly become a valuable part of your firms marketing.
The recordings of your webinars can also be used. Upload them to YouTube, place them on your website, or send them out to prospects and clients.
9. Vary Your Article Style
Writing articles or blogs for your website is the primary way that you can communicate to your prospects and clients. They should be kept topical, relevant and interesting.
Articles should ideally be written at least once a week. This means that there is always something new for people to read, and something new for search engines to share.
By varying the style of article that you write you keep it interesting for your returning readers. You can try:
- FAQ’s. By answering the most frequently asked questions on a particular topic you become an expert in the mind of the reader.
- Book reviews. This is a great way to comment on the work of industry experts, and for you to be associated with them in the mind of your prospects and clients.
- Expert Interviews. Are there influencers and experts relevant to your ideal client that you can interview? Many people will be interested in what they have to say, especially on targeted information. This will also elevate you in the readers mind.
- Fact Sheet. Are there some facts on specific questions or challenges that your clients face that you can share? Fact sheets are easy to consume, great to share and position you as an expert.
- Industry Guides. Your ideal client will most likely come from a particular industry. Producing a guide of useful information is something that they will value highly. Keep it specific to their particular niche or field though, never make these too general.
10. Online Training Sessions
You can create a short video on a particular topic or challenge that your ideal clients face. This can uploaded to your website or YouTube and watched over and over again.
Ideas could be:
- Demonstrating how to use book keeping software.
- Showing how to easily track the time spent on a particular project
- How to store and report on miscellaneous costs.
Try and incorporate a few of these ideas into your firms marketing and you will see the effects build up over time.
You will be positioning you and your firm as an expert in the minds of your prospects and clients, enhancing your reputation and increasing the number of leads you receive.
To download our ebook and get a list of 100 marketing ideas for your accounting practice click here for the 100 Ways To Market Your Accounting Firm
What do we do at TwentyTwo?
At TwentyTwo Agency we specialise in helping you create a strategy, attract ideal prospects, convert them into clients and get remembered and referred. Our specialities include content marketing, blog writing, email newsletter management and social media management. We are a content marketing and digital experience agency for accounting firms. We ensure you get remembered, recommended and referred.
To find out if we can help you, reach out to our team by emailing [email protected]
