(Advertisement) As tax season kicks off each April, so does panic among many tax advisors and accountants who suddenly realize they don't have an effective marketing plan and vow to do better next time.
In fact, having a clear and comprehensive marketing strategy for your tax services means that you will have many good clients on a regular basis and you will not have to worry about the performance of your business every year.
But what is the best way for accountants, accountants, and tax experts to approach marketing? Here you will find all the answers and detailed information.
When you need to create a marketing plan for a tax corporation
Marketing to tax professionals is often a major concern in the month or two leading up to the April tax return deadline. But this is wrong. Many clients have already decided to choose an accountant and don't want to switch providers at the last minute.
It's important to focus on your marketing strategy before tax season because once tax preparation season is over, you likely won't have the time or brain space to create a truly effective marketing campaign.
Investing in a year-round marketing plan ensures that you will have a steady flow of customers and you won't have to go through the busiest times of the year to attract more business. Ideally, you should begin implementing your marketing strategy in the fall, giving you plenty of time to see what works, make necessary adjustments, and attract new customers before the next tax season.
9 marketing strategies for accountants
1. Understand your target audience
Before considering your marketing tactics, you need to determine your target market for tax preparation and accounting services. With such a wide range of people seeking tax services for all sorts of reasons, finding the perfect client profile will help you reach the right people to make your marketing more effective.
For example, if you focus your tax preparation services on small business owners, you should check where they spend their time. Email marketing, LinkedIn posts, and ads are likely to work well. But these same channels don't work well when targeting middle-class taxpayers in your area. So the important first step is to decide who you want to reach and what messages will resonate with them.
Source: Chahal and Partners
2. SEO
Search engine optimization (SEO) can seem daunting if you don't know it. But it boils down to a simple concept. Ensure that search engines and the people who use them can easily find your work and understand what you do.
SEO for tax professionals means having an informative and easy-to-use website that describes your services and approach to tax preparation. Update your website and its content to support your SEO efforts and remember to focus on your technical SEO. Content marketing (more on that below) is a great way to boost your SEO.
3. Social, organic and paid
Social media is a tool that many traditional businesses, such as tax authorities and professionals, avoid. However, you should explore at least one or two social platforms to increase your brand awareness and consider investing in both organic and paid content. You don't have to be a TikTok influencer, but running some ads on Facebook or building a professional presence on LinkedIn can be a great way to attract new customers.
Social media can also be a great source of marketing ideas for tax firms and accountants. Get inspired by seeing what other tax professionals have created on the platforms your clients spend their time on. Copywriting is bad business practice, but it can be helpful to know that others in the industry have come up with creative approaches.
Source: Integrity Financial Group, LLC
4. Email marketing
Email marketing is a powerful tool for accountants and tax firms. It gives you the opportunity to reach your target audience with reminders of upcoming deadlines, service descriptions, and tax season offers.
But for accountants and professionals, a good email marketing strategy should include year-round messages. You can also include links to blog posts from your content marketing strategy, social media posts, or behind-the-scenes employee reviews to build customer relationships throughout the year.
5. Print the advertisement
Direct mail and newspaper ads have been around longer than email marketing, but they're still great ways to reach potential customers locally.
If your tax advisory firm is focused on serving people in your area, direct mail is a great way to build brand awareness and send leads to your business. You can also send reminders about upcoming tax season and deadlines.
Print marketing is also a great addition to your digital marketing. They work well together. Contact us to learn more about the San Francisco Chronicle's direct mail and newspaper ads.
Source: 99designs
6. Content Marketing
Content marketing is an underrated marketing tool for tax professionals. You can create blog posts that provide information and advice in the tax district of your choice so that potential customers looking for similar information can find your website.
Of course, tax advice is very personal and individual, so there is no need to provide complete solutions for each position. But you can write about general topics, provide insights to educate potential and existing clients, and show off your overall expertise. Don't forget to include a great call-to-action at the end so curious readers can contact you about using your services on the site.
Source: 1040.com
7. Reputation management
A strong reputation is important to financial service providers such as tax offices and auditors. Clients give you the most confidential information about their lives, putting their financial future and reputation in your hands. For this reason, your online reputation must be impeccable to get the most out of your marketing.
Managing your online reputation is a must. You should at least create your Google My Business profile and respond to negative reviews immediately. You can also try some of these marketing tips to build trust. And ensure that any content you share on any platform is free of bias, exaggeration, and clichés. Only educational and accurate content, although of course it can have personality and creativity.
8. Checkpoint
If you need to quickly acquire new customers or if your tax or accounting practices are completely new, you may not have enough time to build brand awareness through content, social posts, and an organic blog. PPC advertising can give you real results almost instantly because you pay for your content to appear instantly. You can target your ads to specific demographics, geographies or interests to ensure that your content is seen by your ideal audience. Make sure your ad is credible and reliable so potential customers know they can trust you.
9. Redirection
Potential clients who see your content but need more time to be ready to hire a new tax professional right away won't be lost forever if you use retargeting ads. These ads are served by Facebook or Google and will show ads to people who have already interacted with your content.
This means that you only spend your advertising budget on the people who are most interested and who have a high chance of becoming customers quickly. Retargeting is ideal when your marketing strategy is generating a lot of clicks and points but not converting as expected.
Taxpayer Marketing Strategies
Marketing to tax professionals may seem complicated and intimidating, but it doesn't have to be.
- Start by taking a good look at your ideal customer . What are your tax needs and what solution are you looking for? Answering these questions will help you find avenues and messages that will inspire them to take action and hire you.
- Combine two or more channels for best results. For example, try investing in content writing and email marketing so they can work together to get the best results when emailing your latest blog posts. But don't try to do everything at once. Better to start slow and build up because every channel is good.
- Confidence is everything. Your marketing needs to show potential customers that they can trust your company with their confidential financial information, so your marketing needs to take that trust as seriously as your business.
How can you help the Hearst Bay Area
If you're a tax professional and need help creating and executing an effective marketing campaign, you're not alone. It takes time and experience to get it right while you are busy building your business. Hurst Bay Area is here to help you. We take care of your marketing strategy and execution so you can focus on taking care of your customers.
Contact us today to find out how we can grow your business with print and digital advertising and other marketing solutions.