How do CPA’s Reach New Clients?
Accountants, CPA’s, financial services firms and financial consultants live to “get found!” Those accounting firms that have already embraced inbound marketing are experiencing significant growth in lead generation, lead capture, internet marketing “buzz” and have differentiated themselves from their competitors in new client development.
Let’s face it, the traditional model of marketing and advertising is broken. Prospective customers are sick of being “sold” and have switched to commercial free radio, use caller id, get their news online, DVR television programming to speed through commercials and have shunned traditional sales techniques. Now they search for products or services online. Those firms that embrace internet marketing are winning, leaving their out-dated competition in the dust. Through the use of inbound marketing (sometimes referred to as content marketing) new client development has become a win-win strategy for customer and company alike. Rather than being sold, consumers are seeking out companies that demonstrate they can make their lives better.
The use of internet marketing, or inbound marketing as it is better known, can help you in a number of ways, specifically:
¨ Gain an increased brand awareness
¨ Get found by those in need of your services or products
¨ Create competitive differentiation between you and your competitors
¨ Capture leads and convert prospects to customers
¨ Gain measurable results and identify real return on investment
¨ Raise the rankings of your website in the search engines
How can this all happen by switching to inbound marketing?
Well, it cannot be summed up in a sentence or two. It takes a dialogue with your web master (outside agent or internal department) about additional advantages and action steps necessary to achieve higher results.
CPA firms, accountants, financial firms and most consultant websites lack an interactive site. Other than social media follow buttons, a quick scan of sites reflects a lack of blogs, calls to action for free information, surveys, offers or any other form of interaction by prospects with the business. Today’s marketing concept is relationship oriented, and unless there is a dialogue with potentials, they just might remain nothing more than suspects. Interactivity is key to converting visitors to a site to a lead.
Even further effort remains to convert a lead to a customer, but that is why we all have web sites after all, isn’t it? New client development is the crux of any business, and inbound marketing for accounting firms, financial services and consulting firms in the financial services field are in much need of a comprehensive internet marketing strategy.
If you are still unsure of what inbound marketing is and what it can do for your firm, consider these bullet items. An inbound marketing firm can assist you with:
¨ Setting up a blog and perform blog posting
¨ Aligning social media sites and your web site and blog interactively
¨ Build back links to bolster your website’s awareness with major search engines
¨ Create Call to Action Campaigns
¨ Design Email Campaigns for lead nurturing
¨ Provide keyword building for web site and on-page optimization
¨ Produce pay per click campaigns
¨ Increase the number of leads generated
Inbound marketing grows new client development, and more leads means more clients. More clients mean greater ROI, and bringing top line revenues in affordably is key to success in the digital world we live in. Inbound leads are more than 60% less expensive to generate than traditional advertising.
There are dozens of other tactical and analytical advantages to becoming involved with an inbound marketing agency. The only decision that is pending is not if, but when, you will decide to get involved.
