Is your marketing actually helping your firm grow?

Marketing isn’t in the zone of genius for most accountants, but it’s hard to grow a successful firm without a clear strategy. This week’s interview is jam-packed with actionable steps from Claire Waters, a fractional marketing director who specializes in helping accounting firm owners develop content and brand positioning. She shares why it’s risky to rely on referrals, plus how to prioritize your marketing efforts based on what's doing the most damage to your business.

—Interview by Lauren Ward, edited by Bianca Prieto

Many accounting firm owners know they should invest in marketing, but it often falls to the bottom of the priority list. Where should firms start to make meaningful progress without taking on too much at once? 

Before investing in any marketing, the first question to ask is whether you're clear on who you work with and how you help them. If I removed their logo from their website, could I tell the difference from 20 other firms in their city? For most, the answer is no. 

There's also a tendency to lead with services rather than problems, like "We do tax, accounts and payroll.” If they lead with what the client is thinking about (the unexpected tax bill they received, whether they can scale their business, etc.), the services become the answer rather than the pitch. 

Once you've worked that out, look at what you already have before adding anything new. Always start with the thing that's doing the most damage, which is almost always the messaging.

For firm owners who are hesitant to post on LinkedIn or publish content, what's a small first step they can take to start building visibility? 

Before publishing anything, make sure their profile works. 

Most accountants I come across have a LinkedIn profile that reads like a CV. They're usually full of credentials, written for other accountants. Instead, think of it as a landing page that talks directly to a prospect and explains how you can help them. 

After that, the easiest way to build confidence is by commenting on other people's posts. This also helps to get you seen outside of your immediate network. Don’t say something meaningless like "great post!", but add your opinion, a different perspective or a relevant observation from your client work.

What role does consistency play in building an online presence, and how can accountants realistically maintain it—especially during tax season?

Showing up consistently is essential because you have no idea when someone is going to need you. On the practical side, the only thing that works during busy periods is preparation. Content needs to be treated like client work, planned and batched in advance, not created in a panic on a Thursday afternoon when everything else is already on fire. A few hours in the quieter periods, writing content for tax season, is a much better use of time than trying to generate ideas during the busy periods.

My main tip is repurposing. If you've already written some great posts, reuse them! You will get bored of your own message long before your audience does. Not everyone sees everything, and even if they do, saying the same thing in different ways, through different posts and different angles, is how you build that familiarity. 

The most important thing is to be realistic about what you can maintain. If once a week fits into your schedule, start there. Posting sporadically for years and wondering why nothing's happening is the problem.

Once a firm owner gains online visibility, how can they turn that attention into real business opportunities?

Once you get visibility, you have to make it easy for them to act on it. A common mistake I see is people putting a lot of effort into creating content and then making it incredibly difficult for an interested person to take the next step. Be specific about what working with you looks like, what's included, what the process looks like from first contact to becoming a client. 

My challenge to anyone reading this is to try making an enquiry with your firm, as if you were a complete stranger. Where do people do this? How many clicks does it take? Is it obvious what happens next? Fix the most complicated step first.

Looking ahead, how do you see marketing for the accounting industry evolving over the next few years?

Referrals are still incredibly important, but the way they work is changing. Millennial and Gen Z business owners are already the majority of the market, and they research online and form opinions before they ever get in contact.

The biggest opportunity right now is the personal side and people connect with other people on LinkedIn. Showing an element of personality online is one of the biggest advantages a firm can have right now. Most aren't doing it, which means the ones that do stand out immediately. 

There's also AI. More people are using AI tools to answer questions they'd previously have Googled or asked their accountant. If a website, LinkedIn and social media profiles aren’t structured to show up in those results, that's a gap that will only grow. Treating content seriously now, rather than as an afterthought, is what will make a firm successful online in the next few years.

The Net Gains is your one-stop shop for fresh, FREE accounting insights. You can reach the newsletter team at thenetgains@mynewsletter.co. We enjoy hearing from you.

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The Net Gains is curated and written by Lauren Ward and edited by Bianca Prieto.