12 Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Accounting Firm

“I’m just starting an accounting / bookkeeping firm. How do I grow it? How do I win clients?”

People ask me this question a lot, so I decided to put my answer down here in this blog. I’m going to share 12 strategies that every accountant and bookkeeper should know to help build a bigger business…

You can watch the video here instead if you prefer.

1 - Referrals

This is nothing new. You should be actively seeking referrals. Make sure you have a process in place to systematically ask for referrals. If you don’t ask, you don’t get.

2 - Joint Ventures

Who else do you know that has a similar audience to you, but that you don’t compete with? It could be your local bank manager or local financial advisor. Having their clients would be great. You can start a strategic marketing alliance - you can help them, and in return, they send clients your way.

3 - Networking

You need to get out there and talk to people. There are some great networking events you can attend to find great quality clients.

4 - Exhibitions

Where do your ideal clients hang out? What exhibitions do they go to? Work out where they are and go there yourself so you can start to network.

5 - Advertising

Advertising used to mean putting an ad in the yellow pages - there wasn’t always a good return on investment though. Nowadays, we have pay-per-click, in particular, Facebook Ads. I use them extensively and have had great success. 

6 - Telemarketing

Telemarketing used to be very popular back when I started my accounting firm in 1996. These days, it’s much more established, there are a lot of businesses doing it, and the results are mixed. It’s worth exploring and adding to your list of ways to build your practice.

7 - Speaking

If you are more confident, speaking is one of the best ways of growing your practice. You could run your own events. For example, if you are in the UK, you might run a ‘budget update breakfast meeting’ when the tax changes every year. Or you could speak at other people’s events, perhaps your strategic marketing alliances run them. Speaking in front of a live audience can be scary at first, but, in my experience, it gets a lot easier the more you do it. Clients will see you as an expert if you speak at events.

8 - Content Marketing

Writing blogs or articles is a great way of showing potential clients the quality of your content, particularly if you have an expertise or niche. You can build up your profile and get people to see you as the expert if you share regular content.

9 - Video Marketing

Make a YouTube channel. We are in the relationship business. Your clients aren’t just buying your service, they are buying into a relationship with you - they want to know, like and trust you. You can convey your personality and passion better through video.

10 - Direct Response

Build your list. Have a database of prospects that you can send marketing material to. The bigger your list, the more conversions you will make. You can build your list by creating something valuable, like an ebook, then offering it to prospects in return for their email address through an opt-in page. This warms them to you and your content, and it pre-qualifies them because you know they are interested in the content in your ebook. 

11 - Build Your List

Linked to direct response, you should email your list regularly with valuable content such as blogs and articles, videos or ebooks. Then, every now and then, when you have events on, you can invite them to come and convert them there.

12 - Social Media 

This is a big one. When I started my firm, social media didn’t exist, but I wish it did. There are so many platforms you can use to win clients: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and so on. It’s a powerful way of taking your content and spreading it to prospects for zero cost. You can build your personal brand and your reputation by delivering value.

Those are the 12 marketing strategies I use to help constantly build my practice. Please have a go at using at least some of these methods and let me know how it goes by leaving me a message in my Facebook Group.

If you found this valuable and would like to learn more about value pricing, I run a free live online training session every month with a topic chosen by you. Attend live and you can ask me any questions you have. Click here to register and I will send you an invitation to the next session.

Wishing you every success on your pricing journey

Mark Wickersham

Chartered Accountant, Public Speaker and Author of Amazon No.1 Best Seller “Effective Pricing for Accountants”