How to create a new marketing plan for your accountancy firm

The lockdown may have smashed a gaping hole right through your marketing plan for 2020. You may serve sectors that have been particularly hard hit. Some of your prospects or existing clients may have already gone to the wall.

Many of the assumptions, aims and actions set out in your previous marketing plan may no longer hold water. Your marketing plan may not have been working anyway. And, whether through lack of time or knowledge, some smaller accountants don’t have a marketing plan, which may be limiting their growth.

Although many are understandably feeling slightly dazed and confused at the moment, doing nothing isn’t an option. All businesses must act if they are to get back on track, and creating a new marketing plan could really help your recovery.

“Planning is bringing the future into the present, so we can do something about it now”

Why create a marketing plan?

As once explained by celebrated American time-management author, Alan Lakein: “Planning is bringing the future into the present, so we can do something about it now”. Lakein is also credited with the often-quoted adage:  “Failing to plan is planning to fail”.

This is a slight over-simplification, because businesses without marketing plans aren’t necessarily doomed to failure. Moreover, marketing plans don’t guarantee success, because things don’t always pan out as expected. But planning can increase your chances of success, while enabling you to make the most out of available opportunities.

You can develop a marketing plan for your entire business or just a specific product, service, market or customer type. Your marketing plan need not be long or intricate, in fact, the shorter and simpler the better (the KISS principle certainly applies). Most marketing plans are for periods of one to three years.

Marketing plan basics

In essence, marketing is how you get prospects and customers interested in buying your products or services (after that, you’re into selling). The marketing process involves research, creating a service or product (sometimes), promoting, selling and distributing your wares.

According to Susan Ward: “When you’re putting together a marketing plan, concentrate on four key components – products/services, promotion, distribution and pricing.” Success rests on offering the right things for the right price in the right way, while ensuring that enough people know who you are and what you sell. Ward says creating and implementing a marketing plan can help you to keep your marketing efforts better focused, so that you ultimately make more sales.

If your market knowledge is out of date or lacking, your marketing plan will be flawed. If necessary, undertake up-to-date market research. Your plan must also summarise your offer (including your USP) and your market (ie its size, value, trends, etc), your target customers, your competitors and your market position. All of the above should also be up to date.

“The most crucial marketing plan aims are linked to sales, expressed in numbers or percentages, linked to those detailed in your business plan ”

Setting marketing plan aims

Take enough time to consider your marketing plan aims, which should be SMART (ie specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound). If they’re specific, you know exactly what you’re trying to achieve. If they’re measurable, you can assess your performance.

Ambition is a great thing, but there’s no point in setting unrealistic marketing plan aims, because you’ll only fail. You should set milestones and a deadline for your marketing plan, because then you’ll be able to assess your progress.  

Your marketing plan goals could include increasing awareness of your brand, launching new services and targeting new customers and entering new markets. However, the most crucial marketing plan aims are linked to sales, expressed in numbers or percentages, linked to those detailed in your business plan.

“If you spend time creating a sound marketing plan, it could make a big difference to your ability to survive and thrive in these challenging times”

Marketing plan strategy

Now you must decide your marketing tactics or marketing strategy, in other words – how you’ll achieve your marketing plan goals. Key options include search engine, email and content marketing, PR, social media and advertising, while word-of-mouth recommendations remain important to many small accountancy firms. Most businesses use a mix of tactics, and if don’t know which ones work best – test, measure and learn.

Once you’ve decided your marketing tactics, calculating their cost allows you to set and allocate your marketing budget. Closely monitoring which marketing tactics are delivering the required results will enable you to assess your return on investment. Over time, you’ll be able to allocate your marketing spend where it’s most likely to deliver your marketing and business plan objectives.

Finally, creating a marketing plan that you never use is pointless. If you spend time creating a sound marketing plan, it could make a big difference to your ability to survive and thrive in these challenging times. To quote another popular business adage, action without planning can prove fatal, but planning without action is futile.

• With 15 years’ experience as a leading writer of small-business content, Mark Williams is the founder of Dead Good Content, which specialises in writing bespoke and ready made SME blog and news content for accountancy firms and others that want to market their services to small businesses.

Six things every accountancy firm should know about content marketing

Content marketing is far from new, of course. As long ago as 2008, revered American author and digital marketing expert, Seth Godin, made his much-quoted declaration that: “Content marketing is all the marketing that’s left.”

But content marketing has really risen to prominence in more recent years, with much traditional marketing simply not worth the effort or investment.

What is content marketing?

The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) defines content marketing as a “strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

The key to success is to become a source of free, relevant, useful content that helps your prospects and customers to solve their problems. Take away their pain or help them to be more successful and they’re more likely to buy your products or services, because they know, like and trust your brand.

Content marketing has become a highly cost-effective way to attract and retain customers, with businesses of all sizes now using it to good effect, including many successful accountancy firms. If you’re still not entirely sold on content marketing, here are a few important things to consider…

1 Everyone’s doing it

Well – almost everyone. About 90% of B2B marketers use content marketing. About three-quarters of those who don’t use content marketing soon plan to. And CMI research suggests that almost two-thirds of users remain “very or extremely committed” to content marketing.

Key take-away >> If your accountancy firm doesn’t use content marketing – you risk losing customers to those that do.

“Each year in the UK, some £5bn is spent on content marketing and research suggests that a quarter of organisations using content marketing found it to be extremely or very successful”

2 Content marketing works

Businesses throughout the world use content marketing because it works. Each year in the UK, some £5bn is spent on content marketing and CMI research suggests that a quarter of UK organisations using content marketing found it to be extremely or very successful, while a further 42% found it successful.

Key take-away >> Content marketing can be a particularly effective way to reach small-business owners, who are notoriously difficult to reach.   

3 Content marketing is highly cost-effective

For a third of the cost, content marketing can generate more than three times as many leads as “outbound marketing” (ie advertising, promotions, PR, etc), while lead conversion rates are reported to be six times higher than other options. And up-front costs can be significantly lower, while providing much better long-term benefits than, paid search advertising, for example.

Key take-away >> Written content can be cheap to buy or produce and it can deliver a far better return on investment.

“Since the Covid-19 lockdown, there’s been a surge in demand from UK SMEs for practical financial advice. If you don’t communicate regularly, your customers may feel unloved and soon go elsewhere”

4 Content marketing can help you to attract and retain customers

It’s much cheaper to sell to existing customers. Content marketing enables you to communicate regularly with them and you can give them helpful information when they need it. Since the Covid-19 lockdown, there’s been a surge in demand from UK SMEs for practical financial advice. If you don’t communicate regularly, your customers may feel unloved and soon go elsewhere. You have been warned.

Key take-away >> Content marketing can enable you to build stronger, longer-lasting relationships with your customers.

5 Content marketing can boost your Google search rankings

Keyword choice and density is, erm, key, of course, but Google also favours website content that displays expertise, authority and trustworthiness. Getting backlinks from other websites makes a big difference, too. Content marketing can also raise your profile on social media, which can also increase your website visitors and ultimately boost your sales.

Key take-away >> If you want to boost your website visitors, content marketing can really help.

“To safeguard your brand, extend your reach and ultimately sell more – never compromise on the quality of your content”

6 Content quality is key

What impression you are left with when you read badly written or presented information? What if there are errors or the advice is poor? Would you share it via your social media channels? Would you buy from such a source? No? Me neither. If you want to succeed, be a source of high-quality content that provides unique value.

Key take-away: To safeguard your brand, extend your reach and ultimately sell more – never compromise on the quality of your content.

In conclusion

Seth Godin’s proclamation isn’t strictly true. Plenty of accountants get work from word-of-mouth recommendations and networking. Paid search and social can also generate leads. But content marketing should be central to how your accountancy firm markets its services, especially in our post-Covid19 world, where businesses are hungrier than ever for regular, reliable advice.

Many accountancy firms (particularly the larger ones) “get it” when it comes to content marketing and some do it very well. But other accountancy firms, usually small ones, don’t do it as well or don’t do it at all, often because they lack time, expertise or don’t believe in content marketing. Who knows how much opportunity they’re missing out on?

• With 15 years’ experience as a leading writer of small-business content, Mark Williams is the founder of Dead Good Content, which specialises in writing cost-effective bespoke and oven-ready content for accountancy firms and others that want to market their services to small businesses.

Why small businesses need accountants more than ever

About five years ago, I first began to read predictions that traditional accountants could soon find that their number was up. According to reports, accountants were literally living on borrowed time, because of technology’s relentless advance. I’ve even had accountants tell me this recently.

In 2014, it was estimated that almost half (47%) of job categories could be automated within two decades, with accountants and auditors high up on the endangered list. Technology would be able to complete most of their duties and tasks, faster, better and at a far lower cost, some sources predicted.

End game

In the coming decades, some believe automation will kill the accounting profession as we know it. Accounting software companies continue to add more automation to their wares, impacting manual accounting processes and slowly but surely removing the need for accountants and bookkeepers to take care of many simple tasks.

With little knowledge, freelances, contractors, sole traders and micro-business owners can now use apps that allow them to conveniently manage their expenses, invoicing and tax from their smartphones. Such apps provide data that makes filling out tax returns much easier.

They can be connected to current bank accounts and credit card accounts – while some apps even offer their own business current account. And they target accountants, encouraging them to get their clients to become users, so that accountants are freed from mundane tasks and can contribute value in other ways (well, that’s the marketing spiel, anyway).

“Many business owners may not be as tech-savvy as you believe. According to ONS data, only 48% of UK businesses have a website. ”

Cause for comfort

Some say it’s inevitable that in the future, tech rather than accountants will advise business owners on finance, funding, tax and other matters. Small-business owners may be able to use chatbots, for example, to have their questions answered in real time, for free or at low cost, rather than having to meet or call a flesh-and-blood accountant (and pay for the privilege).

Accountants are offered some crumbs of comfort in this brave new future world, because although there will be fewer accountants and accountancy firms, those still standing will take on more strategic and analytical roles, we’re told. Time will tell.

No one knows the extent to which technology will impact accountancy or how soon significant change will come. And many UK business owners may not be as tech-savvy as some would have you believe. According to the most recent ONS data, only 48% of all UK businesses have a website. The figure for micro-businesses is just 45%.

“Many people – especially older business owners – aren’t going to be using chatbots to have their business queries answered any time soon”

Vital role

Although research suggests that 100% 16-24 year old use their mobile phones to get online, more than a quarter (27%) of 55-64 year old do not use their mobile phone to get online, while neither do 40% of mobile phone users aged 65-plus. About 14% of people in the UK aged 60-plus now run their own business, either full time or part time, with a further 9% freelancing. So, we see that many people – especially older business owners – aren’t going to be using chatbots to have their business queries answered any time soon.

Clearly, accountants still have a pivotal role to play in ensuring that the UK’s 5.9m SMEs are kept well informed and expertly advised. Never more has that been truer than this year, of course when many micro and small businesses have relied on their accountants to help them negotiate their way through furloughing and tax and business rate changes. Small businesses also needed to know about government grants and loans, as well as how to cut costs and keep their cash flow healthy.

Throughout the UK, the best accountants and accountancy firms reached out regularly to their small-business clients, to give them life-saving guidance in the most challenging of times. With the economy in an alarming state, things still far from stable because of Covid-19 – and with the Brexit transition period ending early next year – small businesses need their accountants more than ever. Who else can they rely on?

• With 15 years’ experience as a leading writer of small-business content, Mark Williams is the founder of Dead Good Content, which specialises in producing cost-effective bespoke and readymade content for accountancy firms and other organisations that want to market their services to small businesses.