Every business, large or small, needs a quality accounting firm to help them manage their finances. While this creates a lot of opportunity for accounting firms seeking new clients, it also creates plenty of competition. In order to stand out among your competitors, your firm needs a well-developed lead generation strategy.
Of course, finding new accounting or bookkeeping leads can be a challenge, especially if you’re used to relying on client referrals. To help you mix things up, we’ve compiled this list of lead generation tips for accounting firms. Put these tips into practice and you may be pleasantly surprised by the amount of new, high-quality business you’re able to drum up.
1. Focus Your Lead Generation Efforts
Far too many accounting firms take a generalist approach when it comes to targeting new clients. However, most clients in search of an accountant are going to be looking for a very specific set of services. If you can target your lead generation efforts to focus on specific industries or specific problems that your firm is able to address, you’ll have an easier time convincing potential clients to hand over their contact information.
Depending on the services you offer and the type of clients you want to attract, you can create any number of targeted campaigns to achieve your desired results. Each campaign should have its own dedicated marketing materials, such as blog posts, emails, or pay-per-click ads.
For example, you might create one campaign aimed at small business owners in the restaurant industry who need payroll services and a separate campaign targeting self-employed individuals who need help with their taxes. The goal is to let your prospective clients know that you understand (and can help with) their specific pain points.
2. Create Effective Landing Pages
On the whole, digital marketing is an area that is underutilized by accounting firms. However, putting together compelling landing pages remains one of the most effective ways for businesses of all kinds to generate new leads.
Ideally, you want to create landing pages that excite visitors about the benefits of your services. You should also encourage visitors to take a specific action while on the page, such as filling out a contact form. Offer a clear incentive for visitors to provide you with their information, whether that’s a follow-up phone call or a special discount upon signing on with your firm.
Once you have your landing pages in place, use targeted advertising through services like Google Ads to target your ideal clients and drive them to the relevant pages. Keeping the previous point in mind, develop specific ads and landing pages for each type of client you want to attract. This classic lead generation strategy may not be new or groundbreaking, but it’s still one of the most effective ones out there, particularly given that many accounting firms fail to take advantage of it.
3. Engage in Content Marketing
In addition to using paid ads to drive traffic to your landing pages, you should also make use of organic forms of digital marketing. Content marketing is one such example. This type of marketing involves creating and distributing relevant content to your target audience, with the ultimate goal of bringing in new business.
Accounting firms are well-positioned to take advantage of content marketing. After all, most small business owners aren’t accounting experts, but they need to learn more about managing their finances. This leads them to search online for helpful resources. If you can provide those resources in the form of blog posts, you’ll attract plenty of visitors to your website. These visitors can then be directed to your landing pages and contact forms.
What you write about will depend on the time of year and your firm’s expertise. For example, you could write about how to prepare for tax season, commonly overlooked deductions for small businesses, how to find the right accounting firm and more. The possible topics are nearly limitless – as are the possible rewards of effective content marketing when it comes to attracting traffic and generating new leads.
4. Build a Presence for Your Firm on LinkedIn
Social media marketing is an incredibly effective way for companies to generate new leads. But if you have limited time to devote to social media, choose your platforms wisely. As a B2B company, your accounting firm will likely have an easier time reaching its target clients on LinkedIn (a highly business-oriented platform) than it will on, say, Instagram.
Create a detailed LinkedIn profile for your firm and start connecting directly with small business owners. You can also incorporate LinkedIn into other aspects of your lead generation strategy. For example, you’ll want to develop a regular posting schedule to drive your LinkedIn audience to your blog posts. You can also make use of paid advertising on LinkedIn (in the same way you would use Google Ads or Facebook Ads) to drive prospective clients to your highly targeted landing pages.
5. Give Something Away
Giving away freebies is a common method used by businesses to convince visitors to hand over their contact information. After all, people love free stuff! However, this tactic isn’t often employed by accounting firms…for obvious reasons. Compared to a product-based company that can offer free samples, it’s a little more difficult for an accounting firm to come up with a relevant freebie to draw in potential clients.
If you get a little creative, though, there are plenty of ways for your firm to entice website visitors. In exchange for signing up for your mailing list or submitting your web-to-lead form, you can offer these leads access to an exclusive blog post or webinar, a downloadable resource like an ebook, preferred pricing on certain services and more.
Don’t be afraid to test different strategies to see what gets results. Once you have a well-received offer, promote it frequently: on your landing pages, on your blog, and on social media.
6. Make Use of Lead Management Software
There’s no denying that once you ramp up your lead generation strategy, it can be difficult to keep your prospective clients organized. This is especially true if you’re targeting different groups for different types of services. The last thing you want is to miss a follow-up or send the wrong message to the wrong person. But with so many prospects in your pipeline, simple spreadsheets are no longer going to cut it.
Lead management software goes hand-in-hand with the lead generation strategies described above. For instance, using a contact form that syncs directly to your software allows you to easily capture web leads from your landing pages. Meanwhile, automated reminders ensure that you never forget to follow up with potential clients. By streamlining repetitive tasks, you can convert more of your leads to paying clients with less time and effort required.
Conclusion
Don’t rely on referrals alone. In order to grow your accounting firm’s client base, it’s important to develop a multi-faceted lead generation strategy. By following the six tips outlined above, you can start generating high-quality leads that ultimately become loyal, paying clients.