Flashpoint Marketing » Accounting Marketing

Accounting Search Engine Optimization

admin — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:51:55 +0000

In reviewing one of my favorite websites, Search Engine Journal, I found a great article entitled, 6 Ultimate On Page SEO Techniques, by John Britsios. This is a good resource article for those Marketing Directors trying their hand at SEO for the first time, or are working with an outsourced vendor and want to learn more about the mechanics of what is happening and why. To be honest, I sent this link to my client to help them understand exactly what Flashpoint is doing to their site and more specifically why it is important to our SEO efforts.

Key highlights from the SEO article include:

Title Tags. The Title tag is used to define the title of a web page, with the Title tag placed between the and tags in the html of the page. Search engines will recognize the Title tag as the title of the page. Each page should have its own distinct Title tag.
Description Meta Tags. Used to provide a brief description of a Web page, the Description meta tag should clearly describe the purpose of the page, for both the user and the search engines.
Keyword Meta Tags. This tag lists the words or phrases that are descriptive of, and found within the contents of the page. This tag provides some additional text for crawler-based search engines. However because of frequent attempts to abuse their systems, most search engines now ignore this tag.
Heading Tags. The “Header tag” is nothing more than a headline of the page, so it should be kept short. 45 characters, including spaces, is a good target. Each page should have a clearly defined
header tag, to identify the primary subject of the page to both the user and the search engine. Be sure to use the primary search phrase you are targeting within this tag.
Phrase Elements. Use the semantical tags and tags for targeted keywords within the visible content of your pages, but sparingly. Those tags are alternatives to the and tags, which can also be used, but are for visual presentation purposes only.

Alt Atrributes. Resist the temptation to stuff your alt. attributes with keywords. Keyword density is no longer as important as it once was, and doing so could subject you to penalties.

Increase Your SEO Knowledge.

As you become more familiar with the world of search engine optimization you will see how these on page tips are important to your site’s success in organic rankings with Google, Yahoo and Bing to name a few. In a futrue post I will discuss the benefits/mechanics of off page optimization which functions differently from the concepts mentioned here. However, off page is just as important to solid rankings as on page optimization.

CPA Firm – Drip Marketing

admin — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 01:22:23 +0000

If you have not already done so please visit the CPA Technology Advisor for August 2010 and turn to the column by Scott Cytron – Marketing Works. The title of this month’s piece is Conducting an Effective Drip Marketing Campaign and I am here to tell you that it is 100% accurate. The piece discussed how to effective contemplate, deploy and manage a “drip” campaign. I really like this specific installment because a few key points are covered in the piece that are essential to marketing in general, but specifically accounting marketing.

A key point in the piece which is only briefly mentioned is the Law of 29. This is a “law” that states a prospect must see, hear, or experience your brand 29 times before they are able to recongize your company, understand what it does and have a sense of why they should purchase from you. It seems that 29 times is a bit high, but the point is well made. A common mistake in marketing is to send out a few mailings or run one ad and then expect something to happen. This is simply just not how it works.

The article also details out the mechanics of a drip campaign including:

Audience – A company or firm may already have the audience’s e-mails captured in its database or CRM system. Or the company may want to purchase a list or construct a list using a service, such as Hoovers. Decisions must be made on who the recipients will be.

List Development – Decide how you’re going to physically construct your list. The strength of the list will significantly influence the effectiveness of the overall campaign.

Frequency – How often will you send your messages? Monthly? Weekly?

Message Development – You’ll want to plan out exactly what you’re going to say in each e-mail message. There are two schools of thought here. First, to establish continuity and create awareness, the message should be mostly the same each time. Second, the exact opposite is true.

Call to Action - Throughout the campaign, you will only know a prospect is interested in your product or service if he or she responds to the call to action. How do you measure that? While Scott is specifically referring to email marketing in this piece, the same concept is true for direct mail and other forms of communication.

These are EXACTLY the questions one needs to ask/contemplate before launching a drip campaign. Setting the appropriate expectations prior to starting the effort will allow you, the partners and others to appreciate the marketing tactic, how it works and the results to expect. If you are considering a drip campaign please read this article as it will be a helpful guide in your efforts.

CPA Firm Prospecting

admin — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:14:38 +0000

Over my career in marketing and business development I have identified one action as most important when prospecting for new business – follow up. Time and time again those who follow up and do so consistently are generally first at the table with a prospect. I was reminded of this lesson again today when I sent a follow up email to a prospect I had not heard from in a while.

The Situation

A company that manages several Family Offices came to the client seeking an audit. Seems easy enough. However, the tough part was they wanted a firm that understood the nuances of family offices. Fortunately, my client has deep expertise in that area. So I scheduled the appointment and off to the meeting we went. The meeting went well, our qualifications seemed to impress the prospect and she asked a lot of technical questions. All of this illustrating her interest in qualifying our experience and testing how deeply we really understood the topic. Upon leaving the meet myself and the partners felt we had a very good shot at winning the work.

The follow up actions from the meeting was that she was going to send us a copy of the financial to generate a fee quote.

What Happened Next?

Several days went by without any communication from the prospect. We waited a week or so and then started calling the prospect. How could we create a proposal if we did not have any financial information? For the next several weeks I called and emailed her on a consistent basis just to check in and ask for the financials. Nothing….very discouraging. So I decided that I would let the lead cool and try back in a few weeks. After all, perhaps she went on vacation, got sick or distracted by the quarter end.

The Result

Honestly I have to admit this opportunity fell to the bottom of my pipeline as I assumed we were just “blown off”. While it is rare that a company would not tell you if they went another direction, I know from personal experience it does happen. So last week I came across her name again and decided to reach out. I called and got the prospect on the phone. I reminded her of our meeting and asked if she was still interested in the audit/if we could still be of service. Turns out the CFO of the company had been fired two weeks after our meeting and was told to put the project on hold until a new CFO was identified. In our conversation she indicated they liked us the best the first time we met and she wanted to get us into to see the new CFO ASAP. Her exact words were…”Your timing is excellent”. That was music to my ears of course.

We have not yet closed the business but a second meeting did take place earlier this week. The lesson here is to follow up, follow up, follow up. Be professional but consistent. When a prospect says no or appears to not be interested there may be reasons other than the ones we first assume. By consistently following up you are telling the prospect you are interested and earnestly want their business. Besides…missing an opportunity is not a happy ending!

Accounting Firm Blogs

admin — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:00:49 +0000

Like all of my accounting marketing colleagues I spend a fair amount of time reading the literature available on a host of topics. Recently, I went to a favorite spot of mine, Golden Practices, by Michelle Golden. I doubt I need to introduce her to many of you. Recently, she added a post entitled Tell Tale Signs of an Amateurish Blog, which I found to be just great! This is not a surprise given how well known she is in the blogosphere. All accolades aside, this is a great post for any accounting marketing professional that is contemplating developing and launching a blog.

Some excerpts from the post include:

No indication of who the author is or about the author link/page

Too many or duplicative category names, or no categories set up (10-15 is good number)

Underlining of text that isn’t a link

Walls of text with no subheadings and paragraph breaks

Corporate speak, or text that seems “sanitized” by the PR department

Approved comments that are obvious spam

Calling their blog post a “blog” instead of a “post” (e.g. “in the blog that I wrote yesterday”)

White text on a black background – this is not readable! It hurts the eye.

Using Blogger.com but not removing the Blogger logo at the top of the professional firm’s blog

Ending posts with “For more information call or email me” or similar pitch. They won’t. That’s not how blogs work.

I have to admit before I decided to write this post I analyzed my own blog. I am happy to say it is doing okay although there is always room for improvement. If you are considering entering the blogosphere this is a great article to check out. It will provide you with a good list of actions to avoid and positive steps to take.

Content Management

admin — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 18:04:36 +0000

Most accounting firms look high and low for content for push out to clients, prospects and referral partners. The goal of the game is to be positioned as an expert in a specific niche. However this is easier said than done, as I suspect many of you know. The key is finding accurate content that meets with partner approval, but also is not too “salesy” or technical. Once/If you have been successful in accomplishing this goal the “downer” is that you can only use the content once and the cycle begins anew.

It does not have to! During my “daily reading” I found a great article entitled, 10 Ways to Use Recycled Content, by Lisa Barone. This article is great. It provides ten ideas for how to take existing content and expand or re purpose in a different format for use. Since this is something many of my clients struggle with on a regular basis I thought I would highlight the piece and share with you all.

Excerpts from the 10 Ways include:

Article directory sites

Your company newsletter

Change markets

Create presentations from articles

Create articles from presentations

Expand on interviews

Transcribe interviews

Tie it together as an eBook

Document sharing sites

Audio content

These are all excellent ideas for reusing/modifying content. The more meaningful content you can provide to the market the more well regarded your firm will be. Moreover, it will serve as a method for driving traffic to your website, which is the ultimate goal.

Client Retention Strategies

admin — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 14:03:50 +0000

The economy is slowly making a recovery from the issues and challenges experienced just 18 months ago. I can verify this because many of my clients are seeing an increase in business and reduction in number of days in receivables. These all are great signs. New business is awesome! Every firm wants it and loves to get it. However, it is important to remember that retaining existing clients is as important (and less costly) then seeking new ones. I believe this is a statement a lot of us forget in the “hunting” process.

I found a great blog post on the topic, Reach Out & Touch A Client, by Scott Cytron. For those of you who don’t know Scott he is a public relations specialist, but has skills that exceed far beyond that one discipline. In this blog post, he outlines key methods firms can use to stay in front of clients and keep open lines of communication throughout the year.

A brief overview of the strategies presented include:

Contact clients more than once a year. Most accountants are only in touch with their clients before tax season.

Pick up the phone and call the client. Most everyone wants to only communicate by e-mail.

Discuss what’s changed and what’s new. Tell the client the clock isn’t running, and you want to discuss what’s changed for the client.

Meet for coffee, lunch or some other social event. Schedule a time to meet with the client in person, away from the office.

Exchange referrals. This is perhaps the step most accountants forget; you want referrals for your practice, but you also should offer referrals to your clients.

These are excellent methods for client retention. The only item I can add from practical experience is conducting a client satisfaction survey with your largest clients to ensure any issues, challenges or opportunities are uncovered. This shows your firm is proactive, interested in the client beyond the billable hours and acts as a fail safe should an issue be festering with the client. The last thing you want to do is find out about an issue after the client has informed you they are going with another CPA firm.

I recommend reading this blog post by Scott Cytron and reviewing other such materials on client retention strategies as this is a critical marketing activity that most seem to “forget”.

Enhance Your Website

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:20:25 +0000

Many accounting firms spend a significant amount of time and resources creating, designing and implementing a new website. Hours and hours are spent pouring over the content to ensure the initial release is perfect. Then the day comes when it is launched. Partners, Managers and others are excited and love clicking the links to see how every page looks. Then the dust settles and everyone goes back to their “daily lives”. What happens to the website? If your firm is like most I have worked in the website is pushed to the back burner and only updated on occassion when an error or issue is identified.

In the article, To Succeed Websites Require Feedback, Gerry McGovern outlines how feedback on a website can help improve usability and increase attraction to users. “You’re a manager in a restaurant. It’s raining. A customer walks in and almost slips on the mat in front of the door. You’re very busy at this stage, but you make a mental note: “I must change that mat.” About 15 minutes later another customer comes in. She, too, almost slips on the mat. You rush up to her, apologize profusely and then change the mat. People are slipping on our websites right now but, because we don’t see them slip, we don’t change the mat. I’m one of the biggest offenders. Over the years I have left content and applications on my websites that had problems that I was vaguely aware of, but they didn’t seem important enough to warrant any action. Even when I became clearly aware of the issue I didn’t react with enough urgency.”

I really like this metaphor because it highlights what can happen on a firm’s website. Most do not have a feedback mechanism on their site where visitors can interact with the firm. This is essential as is other forms of soliciting feedback from internal and external shareholders and stakeholders.

As you contemplate your site design, I encourage you to read this article to get more information.

Accounting Firm Public Relations

admin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:44:19 +0000

A key aspect of marketing any professional service firm is engagement with the media, either digital or print. In my experience working with media there is generally a high sense of urgency to meet your internal expert and get the right information/quotes for the article. In my travels across the web, I found an excellent article on the preparation process every marketing professional should consider before sending out a press release. The article, 5 Tips for Engaging a Journalist Before Issuing a Release, by Jeremy Porter, provides a refresher on ways to optimize your public relations efforts with local media.

In the article he outlines 5 tips for bulking up your public relations efforts. These include;

Blog. Your blog is your own media outlet. Share everything you can think of about your industry, passion, company, products and services. Don’t make it too commercial, or nobody will care.

Meet. Seek out journalists at conferences and events. Attend networking events in your area that journalists are known to attend (a local press club or media freelance network, for example).

Listen. I’ve said it time and time again, but follow and engage with journalists through Twitter and other social media. You can learn so much about their interests and preferences by getting involved in the conversation.

NO. Don’t send out news releases that suck. This might not sound like advice on how to increase your coverage, but it is.

Target. Whether you’re pitching a story on the phone, via Twitter, at a cocktail party or via a press release, make sure you’ve got the right outlet and contact.

If you would like to read the entire article, which I highly recommend, click here. It is informational and will provide great perspective for those seeking to launch or optimize their firm’s public relations efforts.

Accounting Firm Blogs

admin — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 13:14:30 +0000

The practice of blogging is becoming more and more prevalent in the accounting profession. To validate this assertion simply visit Michelle Golden’s blog where she lists all the accounting firm and related industry blogs currently in “circulation”. The one thing you will notice is that the list is larger than at least I thought it would be, and that it is constantly growing every month. This is a good sign because it reflects some movement in the industry toward a digital approach to marketing.

In my travels across the web, I found a very interesting blog post on business blogs. The post entitled, 10 Subjects for Your Business Blog, provides practical advice on how to keep the content fresh, relevant and engaging. As a blogger, I try to follow these tips myself although it is not always easy to do so.

The ten pieces of advice provided by the author include:

Answer Customer Questions;

Aggregate Industry Information;

Think Beyond Text;

Seek Out Guest Authors;

Make Lists;

Offer Charts;

Think Like an Op-Ed Writer;

Review Analytics;

Review Industry Books;

Break News.

If you or your firm is considering launching or “reinvigorating” your blog, I suggest reviewing this article. It does provide good food for thought on how to openly engage your prospects, clients and referral partners attention.

Flashpoint Marketing » Accounting Marketing

Accounting Search Engine Optimization

Key highlights from the SEO article include:

header tag, to identify the primary subject of the page to both the user and the search engine. Be sure to use the primary search phrase you are targeting within this tag.

Increase Your SEO Knowledge.

CPA Firm – Drip Marketing

CPA Firm Prospecting

The Situation

What Happened Next?

The Result

Accounting Firm Blogs

Content Management

Client Retention Strategies

Enhance Your Website

Accounting Firm Public Relations

Accounting Firm Blogs