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Start up in practice: Overcome social media fear

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22nd Sep 2016
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From those starting their own firm to seasoned veterans of the profession, many accountants struggle using social media because they have a real fear of how their clients will perceive them. But these accountants are missing out on an effective tool to increase brand visibility and attract clients.

According to Rhys Bateman, Sage’s senior product marketing manager, none of this is particularly new. “Mechanisms such as social media, getting on local community boards and ultimately looking for recommendations still hold true to what would have been for someone starting many years ago,” he said.

Practitioners starting their own practice should treat their practice like any core small business going out on their own, Bateman advises. “The easiest way to get to market is through digital marketing and social media.”

Sharon Pocock, owner of Kinder Pocock, knows a thing about social media. The Practice Excellence award winner built her local client network through using social media, in particular Twitter. She stressed to those starting their own practice how essential it is to be active on social media. “If you ignore it, it'd be like going to a networking event and standing in the corner with your back to everyone,” she said.  

However, many accountants starting their own practice fret over how they should represent themselves and their firm. Karen Reyburn, the Profitable Firm's founder, believes accountants shouldn't worry because of their ability to develop personal relationships with clients. 

“Almost every single accountant without fail says if I can get the lead in the door, if I can get a meeting, I tend to turn over 70 or 80% into clients,” she said. “Clearly, they have great relationship ability, but many just haven't twigged turning that into an online thing because many fear the public element of social media.”

‘Blurred line between the business and personal’ 

To overcome this, Reyburn encourages accountants to reveal their human side and not overthink their social media output. “The lines between business and personal are blurred now.” 

Reyburn emphasised the importance of having a personal Facebook page and Twitter profile as well as a company one during a recent talk at an international accountancy association.

"I could see this was a point of resistance for some," Reyburn said. Some attendees, predictably, dismissed this advice, claiming they were too important, lacking time, and believing social media to be teenage fodder. 

She recalled: “One of the partners, and he's got a very decent sized company with hundreds of staff and clients, said 'do people really care if I went for a walk with my wife, took out the dog and had a steak?” 

“That's the point,” Reyburn responded. “If you have a meeting with someone, you're going to chat about your steak, your wife, your dog, your holiday.”

Pocock echoed this advice. “The key point to remember with twitter is not to go out and out to sell your services, you need to come across as a real person, so engage with other users and just be you. 

“People buy people, so if they warm to the way you come across they are more likely to connect.  If you want to promote your services, do so with quick case studies (anonymous obviously) for example ‘saved my client this amount today by doing some cool tax planning’.”

Be clear what you’re about

Social media also provides the opportunity to be clear about your area of specialism for the start-up practitioner branching into a niche. Advising on the effectiveness of social media to claim your niche, Bateman said: “I think it helps if you have a clear view in your mind and telling them what you want.”

Bateman’s advice is clear: “Be clear about what you are about.” This means niche practitioners should use social media as a platform to let it be known your areas of interest and use it to follow people within this field.

Pocock started out on Twitter this way. “The best way to start with twitter is to start following some interesting profiles, and sit and watch, and see how it works," she advised. “See what people are saying, how they are connecting to others, and what engagement they are getting from their posts.  Follow profiles in the same industry as you, but also businesses you are interested in, and who you'd like to connect with.”

Kylie Fieldhouse, founder of practice excellence new firm nominee KFH accounting, recently told AccountingWEB how she targeted her chosen clients through Facebook and this has translated into referrals from the users. “If you can get people doing that for you, that's half of your marketing budget,” she said.

A recent holiday flight delay for Reyburn offers a lesson to anyone still dubious about the power of social media. Waiting out the delay, Reyburn fired off a string of tweets about being stranded at the airport. While the airline paid little attention, her tweets garnered a sympathetic response from her clients and Twitter followers. “I didn't get people saying ‘Karen's back, she needs to reply’. Instead, they were saying, ‘she's been through a lot in the last couple of days - I think I'll leave it a day or two’.”

 

What social media tips would you give to someone starting out? What have been your success stories through using Twitter or Facebook? Which social media platform do you find most useful?

If you’re interested from what Reyburn had to say, be sure to register to attend her Practice Excellence Live webinar on 25 October. She will explore how you can cultivate the habits of a marketing professional to equip you with the ability to make positive marketing decisions. It’s one not to be missed! 

Replies (2)

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Mark Lee headshot 2023
By Mark Lee
27th Sep 2016 10:42

Lots of good advice above but also some misleading suggestions too.

It's a mistake to assume that all of your followers will see all of your tweets. If you only tweet occasionally maybe none will be seen by the people you most hope will see them.

And if you're not being followed by the people you hope to influence they won't see any of your tweets.

Start up practices using twitter need to follow target clients and people who might know target clients. Engage with them on twitter and hope they will choose to follow you back. Many won't. And even those who do may not see your tweets.

How to find target local clients? Use the twitter search facility to find those who reference your local area. Also look at who is following your local competitors and other local businesses and follow them.

It's a long slow process. Do not think that twitter can be a panacea or a short-cut to securing new business, beyond possibly some new business start-ups in your area.

I speak as a long time twitter user with thousands of followers (many times more than I follow), a high klout score and a reputation for debunking social media hype for accountants ;-)

@bookmarklee

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Man of Kent
By Kent accountant
27th Sep 2016 15:11

I've seen your views before Mark and am inclined to agree about Twitter.

Back in 2010/11/12 I used linkedin extensively and it kickstarted my practice. At one point I could track about 75% of new business back to contacts I had made through linkedin.

My view is linkedin has lost its way and now its like 'facebook' for business. Similar to twitter, there are so many posts/updates its easy to miss the relevant/important stuff.

Nowadays new business comes from referrals/recommendations. If I was looking to grow quicker/ly I would focus on milking these recommendations/asking for more and would attend local networking events and perhaps advertise locally.

I wouldn't spend time on facebook or twitter as my target clients don't spend much time on there.

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