« View More Accounting Marketing Tips
Social Media Marketing – Benefits & Payoff
July 12, 2009 · 1 Comment
An important perpsective for accounting and CPA firms.
The emergence of social media marketing has left many accounting and CPA firm Partners scratching their heads trying to figure out if/how they should leverage these new technologies to drive business development and lead generation efforts. I believe many are sitting on the sidelines to assess whether this new medium will become a legitimate alternative to current marketing methodologies or if the bubble will burst like it did with the dotcoms. After all it is much easier to rely on what has worked in the past than to venture out into new waters.
I am a supporter of planned and disciplined social media marketing. Given this I am always on the lookout for information that documents and discusses how such marketing can benefit accounting and CPA firms. Fortunately, I came across an article on Fox Business News, The Cost (and Payoff) of Investing In Social Media, that discusses how social media marketing has impacted marketing efforts at companies in a variety of industries.
To give you a flavor of the piece,
“Twitter grew 3,000 percent in April. Facebook hosted 61.2 million visitors in March. LinkedIn counts 20 million users worldwide.
With a potential audience that big, its no wonder savvy entrepreneurs are looking to unlock the secrets of social media as another way to get the word out about their businesses. Free access to many social media accounts (and potential clients) just adds to the allure.”
But is social media right for your business? Could it be a free substitute for a traditional (read: expensive) advertising plan? How much time should be spent in the care and feeding of all those profiles? The answers may surprise you.”
If you are considering launching a social media marketing program for your firm or are in the rollout stages I urge you to review this piece. Pay careful attention to the last two paragraphs as it outlines the value proposition of such marketing and provides an explanation of how best to court prospects and referral partners.
Click here to read the full article.
As with any marketing or business development methods, success in leveraging social media in the accounting profession requires time to develop a strategy, some education about the various sites and opportunities provided by each site, and most important, consistency in these activities.
I find it telling that in the professions, the legal industry has produced a number of social media sites for lawyers, while the accounting profession has launched practically none.
Statistics indicate a lower percentage of accountants on Linked In than lawyers. Why is this?
On HubSTREET.com, a community site I launched recently for lawyers, accountants, and lenders (natural referral partners) I notice a higher registration and activity level among lawyers than cpas. (However, I concede it is early yet to draw conclusions from this trend)
I have been leading a number of courses on social media education for professionals and am very surprised at how few of even the younger accountants are participating in social media sites for business purposes. We need to find ways to motivate and educate the accounting professionals about the many opportunities social communities offer while at the same time ensuring that these efforts are pragmatic and time-effective.
Nancy Fox
Founder
HubSTREET.com
http://www.bizdevsuccess.com