Practitioners are enjoying better results because of a proactive marketing approach, but many still rely on random acts of marketing.
A tactical marketing plan will, of course, generate more leads and clients. However, when a practitioner has a squeezed time schedule, marketing doesn’t automatically bubble to the surface.
The issue of neglected marketing was the subject of a PracticeWEB webinar. Alex Tucker, PracticeWEB’s marketing lead, was joined on the webinar by Jon Baker, the co-author of The Go-To Expert.
A survey during the webinar highlighted how marketing for some practitioners is often treated as an afterthought. Up to 35% of attendees admitted to taking marketing opportunities as they come. Encouragingly, 27% of those surveyed schedule a calendar of activities throughout the year, compared with just 19% who don’t possess a marketing plan.
The webinar tackled the 'seven deadly sins of marketing'. A theme that emerged from each of the marketing transgressions was how the reactionary approach was not fruitful for practitioners.
Random acts of marketing
Illustrating the futility of a reactionary approach, Baker described a client he worked with who had a truncated marketing plan. The accountant put huge focus on marketing and different activities over a compressed amount of time and then they would do nothing for four months.
Although they would send staff out to networking events, send emails or focus on Google AdWords, they were inconsistent. Sudden social media spurts or blasting out two or three emails would amount to nothing. “When they were marketing it was taking up all their time. When they weren’t marketing, they weren’t thinking about it,” said Baker.
In the end, Baker was able to coach the firm into adopting a more focussed marketing plan. In fact, the firm cut out 25% of the time and money they previously assigned to marketing by planning three or four activities in advance. Amazingly, this renewed marketing effort translated into 30% more leads.
Ditching its erratic method, the firm allocated a theme to each month. So throughout March, they’d discuss Budget implications in their content marketing efforts, and then change the theme for April. “All of their team were very clear on the activities that they would do,” said Baker. “They actually spent less time and money on the marketing.”
Not prepared to follow up
The same complaints directed at why accountants don’t devote enough time to marketing are also true of why practitioners let leads slip through the net: They’re too busy or don’t measure the results.
“I’ve met people who are fairly sceptical about marketing because they’ve been sold on the idea that if you run an ad in this publication, this is going to be the answer. This is going to give so many sales leads. And then there’s disillusionment when it didn’t pay off,” said Tucker.
“So if you run an ad in a publication once I wouldn’t be surprised if nobody called you. And how do you know nobody called you because of that ad? You need a plan to understand how that worked for you. You need measurements systems in place,” he added.
Be virtuous in your marketing
So if you don’t respond to referrals or enquiries, those prospective clients will likely move on to next person on their list.
To do this, you will need a sufficient marketing solution – 10 minutes mastering TweetDeck is not going to cut it. That’s why Tucker and Baker advised practitioners to build their own tactical marketing plan. If you’re a little stuck where you should start, Tucker said you should consider:
- SWOT: What are your internal strengths and weaknesses?
- Marketing goals: What kind of growth do you envision? What type of clients do you want? How do you want to be perceived?
- Capability assessment: How many clients do you currently have? Do they use everything you offer?
- Client research: Have you researched your ideal clients? What are their needs?
- Marketing message: Have you developed an elevator pitch? Can you communicate with confidence what makes your firm different?
- KPIs: How many clients do you want to win?
Once you stitched all this data together you should have a better understanding of how much time you will need to dedicate to your marketing efforts.
You can listen to an On Demand version of the recording and discover the six other deadly sins of marketing and what you need to do to convert your sinful marketing approach into a virtuous one.
Have you got a marketing plan? Is a scheduled calendar plan or is it a flexible approach? Is marketing even at the top of your priority list?
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Richard is the editor of AccountingWEB. If you have any comments or suggestions for us get in touch.