How accounting firms fail at marketing

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Accounting firms are not renown for marketing, and other than the big 4 accounting firms, very few companies in the accounting and financial planning space, truly stand out from the crowd.

There is a reason why this is the case, and it's simple... accountants think the same, not differently (in general).

When you look at the psychological makeup of a high performing accountant, creativity and standing out from the crowd are not key traits that a majority of accountants possess.

Accountants hold back when it comes to marketing. They;

• Stick within the lines: Taking professional ethics to a new level, accountants are reluctant to "sell themselves" in the way that other companies do to show potential clients their value. They hide under the disguise of needing to play by the rules when it comes to marketing and often find themselves blending into the crowd.
• Don't market: Many accounting firms rely on clients being too lazy to change accountants, rather than putting in the extra mile to keep customers.
• Bore clients: When you receive an email from an accounting firm, they tend to be the same. Riddled with new laws and regulations, the communications that come from accounting firms tend to be not conducive to what clients are most interested in and how they want to be communicated with.
• Blue and green: They say "blue and green should never be seen" and that runs true when coming up with a rebrand for an accounting firm, or developing a new logo identity. If every accounting firm falls into the category of blue and green because they are safe, trusted colors, then any accounting firms with a little difference - even gold as this forms the third most likely color for an accounting firm -- will result in standing out from the pack.
• Complacency: Accounting firms are less likely to have a social media and email marketing cadence in place whereby they market to customers and prospects on a monthly basis than other industries. The reason for this is that they believe that clients won't leave their companies as they hold historic data on the company and foolishly believe that no other firm can pick up the pieces if a client was to leave.

What Marketing Eye does that we provide accounting and legal firms with the ability to regularly communicate with the market, challenge old-thinking and be proactive in marketing rather than fall back on bad habits and be reactive. 

We help accounting firms re-define their brand, create a unique value proposition and communicate with customers the way that resonates with their thinking. Whether you work with companies or individuals, how you market needs to be better aligned to what is most important to them. 

A typical cadence for an accounting firm's marketing includes:

• Development and maintaining a marketing strategy: We do this through using Robotic Marketer marketing strategy technology platform that allows us to re-adjust any marketing strategy as and when needed. In addition, this technology allows for the marketing strategy to be managed in real-time across all areas of the marketing mix ensuring that a proactive approach is always the center of any marketing tactic.
• Email marketing: Communication to with clients is essential and ensuring that they don't "bin it" before you get your message across is imperative on many fronts. Segmenting databases and ensuring that when communicating with clients, we are focused on only ploughing them with information that relates to their specific needs is critical. We suggest that a small or medium sized accounting firm markets to their clients through email marketing at least one communication piece per month.
• Lead generation: Driving new clients to the business should be part of every marketing cadence. Developing a lead list or database of potential leads and communicating with them regularly, showing them the value that your accounting firm can add to their business, will help you be top of mind when they are reconsidering their accounting firm.
• Social media marketing: At the bare minimum, pushing out information on LinkedIn will help your firm stay relevant. However, your accounting firm should not believe that this is the only way in which they can connect with their audience. It is true that most clients can be found on LinkedIn, but it is also true that Facebook, YouTube and Twitter can be game-changes for accounting firms taht are seeking to really connect with their audience and stand out. The reason being is that most accounting firms forget that potential employees or influencers to making the key decisions on accounting can be found on other mediums outside of LinkedIn.
• Website: Your website is not "one and done" like so many accounting firms believe. In fact, the expectation is that you will continually drive new information and knowledge through your website that educates your audience. Most importantly, companies quite often need to be reminded on what you do, how you do it and why.
• Search engine optimization: Check out your digital performance on alexa.com and if your accounting firm is higher than 1 million, then you need to search engine optimize your website.

Accounting firms fail because they don't use the same principals that are utilized in managing finances and accounts when it comes to marketing. Very few accounting firms have a marketing strategy in place, and whether you are a small accounting firm or a large one, having a marketing strategy is now so easy with platforms like Robotic Marketer.