According to the recent research of Bizink, more than 50% of accounting businesses get 1-5 leads per month, and 25% shows even worse results – they get no leads at all!
There are lots of things to think about for getting leads in any business. But what boosts digital marketing of accounting service? Let's find out.
Make yourself helpful! Start an accounting blog and post recent news, surveys, or handy articles. Content marketing strategy is a must. This way, you could also copy the content to social media and get even more visitors. Another advantage of blogging is SEO. You could write on the themes related to keywords needed for improving your website's Google ranking. And voila – you get followers – your audience. Keep in mind that modern society doesn't pay attention to the content lacking visuals. Use histograms, pictures, photos, and videos.
Make yourself visible outside
Having social media is a must, Social Media Marketing (or SMM) could be done within the previously mentioned content marketing strategy. But it’s not enough! Head for question and answer sites like Quora and Reddit. Answer questions within the accounting area and get even more leads. These two websites are extremely popular so be sure your efforts won’t be in vain.
How effective is your communication?
Different people prefer different ways of communication. In a noisy office or the subway, it is more convenient to write via chat. For intercity connection - a call back is the best fit. When a purchase decision is made, they want to fill an application form, not to call. A phone is not enough for effective sales.
The more communication methods a company offers to a client, the more applications it receives from the same number of visitors. And what awaits visitors of the accounting firms' websites? According to the recent research, 99% of these websites contain a telephone number, 74% contain e-mail, 62% have an application form, 29% have social media handles, 28% have call-backs, and only 8% have a live chat.
There are almost no fast and low-cost methods of communication on sites. The client will have to make an effort to contact the accountants. The advertising budget of accounting firms can often be wasted, so customers write and call in vain if they try to communicate after business hours.
Referrals
After finishing the job for your client, don’t hesitate to ask for a referral. Moreover, you could look for referrals from lawyers, real estate agents, bankers, etc. Give your business cards to colleagues, friends, relatives, and happy clients. Don’t make them forget about that nice experience when they had a chance to cooperate with you. Still, referrals are the main source of leads for more than 80% of accounting firms.
Recommendations
So you need to:
- Offer more ways of communication to the website visitors and increase conversion rates.
- Disable ads and communication channels after business hours. This way you can save up to 40% of the advertising budget. Usually, the client who is ready to complete the agreement will wait for the start of the working day.
- Use marketing services and find out exactly what kind of advertising gives the real customers: calls (call tracking), chats (chat tracking), applications or even emails (email tracking). It is not difficult and can be done in 15 minutes. But in the future, you will be able to invest only in working advertising and get warm leads at a low price.
- Start a blog and add social media, be active at Q/A websites – interact with the community.
- Ask for referrals and remind of themselves on any occasion.
Try these simple tips mentioned above, and in a month I promise you will get excited by the results! Your leads, sales, and website ranking will get a significant boost – and your company will get an unexpectedly high profit.
Author Bio: My name is Hannah Sharron and I'm a Lead Editor at Spreadsheeto. I am fond of writing Excel guides and how-tos. Besides, I am interested in digital marketing and SEO tools. In my leisure, I adore hiking and reading. Follow me on twitter @SharronHannah.