What Every Accounting Firm Needs To Know About Digital Marketing

Digital marketing for Accountants & Financial Advisors.

At Helium, we specialise in helping small businesses grow into large ones through digital marketing. We do this across all industries, but particularly enjoy working with businesses in the finance sectors.

And it turns out, we’re pretty good at it.

In an industry saturated with tough competition, it’s essential for accountants to keep marketing efforts at the forefront of their business plan. While many Accountants and Finance Advisers have relied on word of mouth, there is a growing recognition that this can be supplemented with paid promotions (like Google Ads) to strengthen the stability and control of the revenue of the business. Leverage these digital marketing activities to stand out from the crowd, attract the attention of potential clients, and convert them into loyal, long-term clients.

How exactly can you do that? Here’s what every accounting firm needs to know.

Digital Marketing Beats Word of Mouth

As technology and software (like Xero) continue to evolve and become more accessible, it’s vital to stay at the digital forefront when it comes to marketing solutions, too. Digital advertising (like Google Ads or Facebook Ads), Search Engine Optimisation, and an optimised website are only some of the new-age elements that influence your accounting firm’s brand awareness and attraction-factor.

We’re not saying word of mouth marketing is inherently “bad”. It can be extremely powerful, but it’s something you have almost no control over. Even if you give your clients an outstanding experience, there’s no guarantee they’ll spread the word. And if they do, they may misrepresent your offerings or over-promise on your behalf. Word of mouth can be useful, but it shouldn’t be your focus.

From budget to audience reach, keyword selections, and a whole lot more, digital endeavours give you full control over. You can track and tailor it from day one. Then, with near real-time data, you can adjust and strengthen it depending on how your initiatives perform.

At Helium, we recommend accounting firms use a blend of long-term strategies and short-term ones to maximise the online impact and digital footprint. 

Choose a Cost-Effective Long-Term Strategy

What is SEO?

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the process of improving the quality and quantity of website traffic, to a website, from search engines. In other words, the goal is to get more of the “right” people to your website through internet searches, the majority of which come through Google. The results on the first page of a Google search get over 90% of traffic, so you really can’t afford not to be there. Especially when your accounting competitors are…

Without question, SEO is one of the most effective long-term strategies — a slow burn that yields powerful results when done correctly.

Pros of SEO

The biggest drawcard of SEO is obviously the potential to appear on the first page of a Google search, above other accounting firms. This will direct more traffic to your site, and likely means you can spend less on paid strategies, like Google Ads (because you’re already at the top).

SEO is considered an “organic” digital strategy. This means it doesn’t cost you anything (but time), unlike paid advertising. Aside from the digital agency you choose to pay to manage SEO, there are no costs. If you decided to take on SEO in-house, it would be free. Being a free initiative, successful SEO has a huge ROI.

When your site ranks high on search engine results pages, it’s considered high-quality and trustworthy by search engines. This boosts the credibility of your business. Plus, businesses that invest in SEO often outrank the competition in search engine results and gain a competitive advantage.

Cons of SEO

A drawback of SEO is the time commitment. On average, results take anywhere from six months to a year to show — the very earliest would be three to four months. If you’re looking for results quickly, SEO won’t be a priority for you. This time period is the same whether you manage SEO in-house or decide to outsource it. Be aware of any agencies promising quick results — it simply isn’t possible.

Another factor to consider is the learning curve. If your accounting firm never done SEO before, there is a lot to learn, and SEO is constantly evolving which means ongoing learning is also required. It’s extremely time-consuming to initially understand the numerous SEO strategies, as well as implement them. Additionally, SEO isn’t a “set and forget” strategy — it requires continual implementations and tweaks. This, along with the in-depth knowledge required, is why the majority of businesses choose to outsource it.

SEO Tips for Accountants

• Build credibility with clients, prospects, and search engines with an online presence that demonstrates your accounting professionalism and capabilities.
• Establish yourself as a thought leader by providing advice relevant to your clients, which can also get picked up by other businesses searching for that content in places like Google.
• At least 33% of Internet users only use the web via smartphones, and this is expected to reach 75% by 2025 — ensure your site loads fast and is mobile-friendly.
• Continually add content through blogs, and focus on providing an enjoyable user experience.
• Spend time improving and adding relevant accounting content to your site, increasing your site speed and researching keywords to help your site rank higher.
• Have your website professionally designed and written so the navigation, visual layout, and written content can be SEO-optimised during the build (or rebuild).
• Regarding blogs, try to write about timely issues that will receive high traffic around certain periods. For example, throughout May and June, you might like exclusively write blogs about tax time, since many individuals and businesses will be searching for advice, steps, and tax tips.
  

What is Google Ads?

In a nutshell, Google Ads is a paid advertising initiative that brings your website to the top of search page results whenever relevant keywords are searched. These appear above organic search results and are recognisable by the small Ad text next to each ad that appears. Google Ads is a fast and effective way to drive qualified traffic, or good-fit customers, to your website — and hopefully, your business.

With billions of Google searches each day, implementing Google Ads might just be the best promo decision you make for your accounting firm.

Pros of Google Ads

Google Ads start working almost immediately, usually within a matter of minutes. If you’re looking for fast results, Google Ads is for you. These ads provide near real-time data, which you can use the improve your campaigns and attract even more of the ideal searchers. Plus, no matter how good or bad your website and SEO efforts are, Google Ads bypass any type of SEO-ranking requirements and place you straight at the top.

Ads can be tailored to your accounting services, drive traffic to specific pages of your website, promote offers, target audiences in particular geographical locations, and more. Rather than cast a wide net, you can have multiple campaigns at one time (as many as you like) so you can create different ads with specific intents. For example, an ad targeting people who search for a Tax Accountant in Perth, and an ad for people seeking tailored accounting SMSF advice. 

Cons of Google Ads

Google Ads requires a solid financial commitment to be effective. In our experience, Google Ads isn’t really worth it unless you can invest at least $1,000 per month. For some accounting firms and financial advisors, this amount simply isn’t viable — in this case, we suggest focusing on SEO until Google Ads can be achieved.

Like SEO, Google Ads can be complex if you’ve never done them before. Although Google Ads suggest edits and updates you can make to your ads, there is still a lot of manual work required. Additionally, Google is constantly evolving, which means your ads must also evolve to keep up with the way people engage with Google searches. There’s also no point in implementing Google Ads if you have no intention (or time) to review the results and optimise your campaigns accordingly.

Google Ads Tips for Accountants

• Know your audience. Google Ads has many targeting options beyond keywords. You should consider your website content, past website users with Google Analytics, similar audiences, in-market audiences, and remarketing audiences. Demographic targeting such as age, gender, income, and education, can also be considered. Your most dominant audiences may not be who you expect!
• Use Google Keyword Planner to identify relevant keywords for each specific accountant and advisory service. This takes the guesswork out of identifying keywords — people may be searching for accounting services in ways you haven't noticed before.
• Consider negative keywords — these are words you don’t want your ad to show for. For example, you can tell Google Ads not to show your ad when someone searches “accounting jobs Perth”, but still appear for “accounting Perth”.
• Where possible, avoid competing with industry software companies like Xero. They have much larger budgets and are probably more well-known, meaning users are less likely to click on your ad if both options appear. Xero probably have ads targeting the search phrase “outsourced bookkeeping”, so try to create different a tangent with your ad if this is something you also offer. For example, “local outsourced bookkeeping” or “bookkeeping near me”.
• Ensure the webpage you direct people to from your ad is relevant to the ad, and create landing pages if necessary. For example, if you have an ad for “business planning consulting”, don’t lead users to a generic home page or contact page. Take them to a page specifically about your Business Planning Consulting service with more information.
• Implement conversion tracking so you can see how many people signed up / contacted you as a direct result of a Google Ad.
• Check your stats and data weekly, if not daily. Make adjustments as required with the goal of optimising your campaigns and maximising your budget.

Other Digital Marketing Avenues

SEO and Google Ads are just two ways you can engage with digital marketing. There are also Facebook Ads and Linked in Ads, social media interactions (posts, stories, lives), email marketing, content marketing, mobile marketing (mass texts), and affiliate marketing (also called influencer marketing).

Many of these overlap. For example, content marketing mainly revolves around writing blog content, which is a huge part of SEO. However, it can also encompass social media posting, video content, and email marketing — but these can also be standalone strategies. Confused? Don't worry. It’s really about finding the best digital marketing mix for your business, audience, budget, and marketing goals — an experienced marketing agency can help you pinpoint and maximise the right blend.

ROI

Digital Marketing and ROI

Digital marketing yields an attractive return-on-investment across the board. Here are some stats you can get excited about:

• Based on Litmus report, email marketing ROI stands at 4,200% — for every dollar businesses invest in email marketing, they receive $42 in return.
• Companies who regularly blog high-quality content are 13 times more likely to get a positive ROI. Small businesses that have a blog, and regularly contribute to it, will see an average of 126% more lead growth than those that don’t.
• Companies generate an average of $2 in earnings for every $1 they spend on Google Ads, doubling their investment. 
• According to HubSpot, at least 64% of individuals will buy an item or engage a service once they’ve watched a video explaining more of the details.
• Videos incorporated on landing pages (which you can direct Google Ads to) boost the conversion rate by up to 86%.

Digital Marketing Metrics for Accountants

We’ve got the stats above, but it’s important not to rely on these as everyone’s ROI will look different. Determining your digital marketing ROI is important because without measuring this, you’re essentially marketing blind. This is easier said than done as different strategies have different goals. For example, not all accounting advertising campaigns are designed to convert — some might be just to spread brand awareness, which is more difficult to track.

In any case, there are three useful metrics we recommend following to determine ROI. When you engage Helium Marketing for digital services, we track these for you (and heaps more). Otherwise, you’re welcome to tackle these on your own:

1. Conversion Rate. This is how many people are converting from each channel. E.g. Google Ads, Facebook Ads, email campaigns, etc. You’ll probably discover that one or more of your channels convert better than others and want to invest more in these avenues to boost your ROI.
2. Cost Per Lead. To calculate the cost per lead, divide the total ad or campaign spend by the total number of leads attributed to that campaign. If the cost of each lead is more than what you can produce when closing the leads, you are not getting a positive return on investment and something about your campaign needs to change.
3. Customer Lifetime Value. This tells you what the average client is expected to spend over their lifetime with you. For example, if it costs you $100 to acquire a customer, and they spend $100 with you, you’re breaking even. However, if they spend $100 a month with you for three years, that’s a very positive ROI, and that initial $100 investment was well worth it.

Is Your Current Marketing Working?

If you have to ask whether your current efforts are working, they’re probably not. This could be because your initiatives aren’t diversified enough, you’re targeting the wrong people, you aren’t actively tracking and checking the data and insights available to you, or relying on guesswork and gut feel. Rather than continually taking a stab in the dark, work with an agency that’ll turn on the lights.

Need a Small Business Digital Marketing Agency to Help?

Accessible Marketing Essentials for Accountants and Finance Advisors

Based in Perth, we’re Helium Marketing. We’d love to start a conversation about how we can help you reach more people and increase your revenue with powerful, data-based digital campaigns. We’ve worked with a number of Accountants and Finance Advisers, and know the intricacies of your industry as well as the common challenges you’re up against.

With our Marketing Essentials service, we specialise in helping small businesses grow into large ones. As the name suggests, Marketing Essentials covers what we consider to be the essential marketing activities for a small business to generate quality enquiries — and revenue:

• Analytics to Assess ROI.
• Advertising (Google Ads, Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads, etc).
• Search Engine Optimisation.
• Website Optimisation.

We strive to keep our costs as low as possible and currently offer this service for just $1,199 + GST per month. We believe this is a negligible cost compared to the cost of a fulltime in-house marketing person, as well as the income we can generate for you!

Get Started with a 30-Day Free Trial

Our Marketing Essentials package comes with a 30-day free trial to make it viable for accounting firms and financial advisors to give us a shot. There’s no lock-in contract, minimum term, or anything legalistic like that. We’re aware a lot of businesses have had negative experiences with marketing agencies, so we’re putting our money where our mouth is with this unique offer.

If you are looking for an agency committed to caring for small businesses, then we’d love to hear from you. Get started here.