Digital Marketing Strategies for Accountants

When it comes to getting noticed online, digital marketing strategies for accountants are hugely important. Without them, it’s hard to get picked up by search engines, create bustling social media communities or advertise to the right audience. The right approach will help you to stand head and shoulders above competitors while increasing your credibility. So here are 15 marketing strategies for accountants you simply can’t ignore.

1. Develop a Mobile-Friendly Website

As of the fourth quarter of 2021, it was found that mobile devices accounted for 63% of organic search engine visits. So it’s absolutely crucial that you develop a mobile-friendly website for your brand. If you’re not at all techy, worry not, as there are plenty of web developers out there that’ll ensure your site welcomes consumers professionally from any device. Things that need to right include any visual or graphic elements, navigation options, user-friendliness, site speed (which is now very much a ranking factor) and content – more on that later.

2. Be Aware of Mobile-First Indexing

When it comes to digital marketing for accounting firms, you must also be aware of mobile-first indexing. This means that Google predominantly uses the mobile version of your content for indexing and ranking. Historically, the index primarily used the desktop version of a page’s content when evaluating the relevance of a page to a user’s query, so making this switch is essential. Mobile-first indexing best practices include:

• Make sure your mobile site has the same, if not better, content than your desktop site. But beware of user experience. Content may need to be broken down into smaller chunks or divided with more bold headers for easy scrolling. All headers should still be clear, meaningful and optimised for SEO purposes. Any clickable buttons should be easy to see when scrolling too but designers should take care of this for you.
• Check all images. Don’t use images that are too small or have a low resolution on the mobile site.
• Check all videos. Don’t use URLs that change every time the page loads for your videos. Google won’t be able to process and index your resources properly if you use constantly changing URLs for them.

3. Optimise Your Website

Creating a website for your accountancy firm is a great place to start. After all, over 50% of consumers do not trust companies without one. But you’ve got to push harder for attention. Google’s aim is to deliver the very best content for each search query. This means your website needs to be fully optimised, so that Google knows what you have to offer. The right SEO strategy will help you to rank higher in the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) and generate more traffic to your site. Here are several things you must prioritise.

• Keyword optimisation. Keywords help to tell Google what your content is all about and should be used throughout your content – particularly in URLs and headers. You can generate keywords by thinking about the services you offer, looking at what words your competitors rank for, and by using keyword generation tools. Look at the search volume for each to see which are most popular. You should also use a mixture of short keywords, which are often commonly searched, and long keywords, which tend to have lower search volumes but much higher conversion rates. Beware of keyword cramming. This is a technique that could result in a penalty.
• Link Building. Google looks to rank sites of authority. The more links you have from high authority sites, the more your site will be valued by the search engine which should lead to higher results. So focus on producing valuable content that’ll be picked up by high-end sources. Top ten lists packed with information that others can’t be bothered to source always proves popular. Or you could delve head-first into a particularly niche subject. You should also make sure you perfect your internal link-building strategy as new pages are indexed quicker if they’re linked to a more dominant page. This is because they become easier for the Google spider to find.

4. Embrace Blogging

Blogging is a great marketing strategy for accountants as it allows you to create content with plenty of keyword opportunities. This content can be shared on your website or promoted via social media channels. The more you blog, the more you’ll establish yourself as industry thought leaders and this will help to build trust amongst clients. Don’t forget to publish longer-form blogs to platforms such as LinkedIn. These will be viewed by industry professionals and can help with brand awareness as well as the recruitment of top talent hoping to work for your brand. Long-form blogs also allow for more keyword and linking opportunities.

5. Have a Go at Guest Blogging

As well as blogging for your own site, it’s also a good idea to form links with other brands and to provide content for their blogs. The key here is to get blogs published on authoritative sites with a link back to your company site because this will improve the Page Rank of your platform and result in better SEO results. More often than not, you’ll be requested to pitch blog titles and follow some kind of brief. The most important thing is to ensure your content is of the highest quality so that you get further content requests.

6. Repurpose Top-Performing Content

Make your blog work harder by keeping track of metrics. If a particular piece of content performs well, turn some of the statistics from it into an infographic for social media. You can also update the title for continued relevance. For example, if “Top Ten Marketing Tips for 2022” got a whole bunch of likes, shares, comments and mentions then repurpose it for 2022 with fresh statistics. A top performing blog can also be turned into an in-depth blog series.

7. Produce a Mix of Timely and Evergreen Content

Content marketing plays a huge role in getting your name out to potential clients, but you must get it right. While producing timely content such as information about tax returns can result in a spike of viewers, it’s also a good idea to create evergreen content alongside the more urgent articles. This is because people will not always be searching for ‘tax return help,’ and such like, so you need to find other ways to stay relevant. Creating a blog around ‘saving tips’ or ‘managing your small business finances’ is a good way of remaining in the spotlight outside of important calendar dates.

8. Optimise for Local SEO

Did you know that 30% of all mobile searches are related to location? Or that 28% of searches for something nearby result in a purchase? 78% of people who search for something nearby on their phones also visit the business within a day. So if you’ve not optimised for local SEO, you could be missing out big time. To ensure you capitalise on local searches, be sure to claim your Google Business Profile, updating it with the correct information. This will make it much easier for you to rank in the ‘map pack’ and for organic listings.

You can also produce location-specific content pages for the services you provide. This allows you to specifically target people in your local region who are in need of an accountancy firm. Keywords such as ‘Accountancy services in Maidstone”, for example, or “Bookkeeping in Kent” work well. Another top tip is to focus on local news or events and to create content around these things. If you’re exhibiting at a local EXPO, for example, write about it and post it to your site and your social media pages using the right hashtags. Be sure to also tag the relevant organisers for increased exposure.

9. Improve Your Social Media Presence

Having a social media presence is a great start. But are you using each channel in the right way? Firstly, you need to know your audience, as this will help you to nail down which channels they’re using. Gen-Z, for example, is much more likely to be on Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok than Facebook, and this knowledge will help you to spend your marketing budget correctly. Once you know where to focus your efforts, take a look at the tools offered by each platform. Could you Go Live on Facebook or create an Instagram Reel? What about creating a channel for a company mascot or brand character on TikTok?

10. Post Helpful Content

Social media is a fast-paced environment packed with content. So to stand out from the crowd you need to give people a reason to come back. Providing relevant, up-to-date and helpful content is a great place to start. Regular posts that guide people through the taxation year, for example, could work. Or you might want to do a Motivational Monday post every week with useful money saving tips. Whatever you do, be consistent as this will help people know where they stand and what they should be looking out for. You can get inspiration for such posts by researching what people type to find your brand online.

11. Embrace Corporate Responsibility

Consumers want brands to be socially responsible and are willing to go elsewhere if their needs aren’t met. So it’s a good idea to embrace some kind of corporate responsibility initiative or a collaboration that boosts your profile. If you do this, however, keep in mind that less than half of brands are seen as trustworthy, and only 34% of consumers think companies are transparent about their commitments. So don’t promise you’ll do something only to let people down.

12. Try Email Marketing

Another great strategy for accountants is email marketing. This allows you to talk to consumers directly, address specific pain points and push them further along the sales funnel. But you need to gather information about consumers as well as comply with GDPR regulations. You might also need to segment your mail-outs so that you target the right people, and this requires careful tracking. Email marketing in 2022 also benefits from personalisation. Consumers want to feel valued, so consider using their first names or making several versions of an email that are aimed directly at different audiences.

13. Offer a Newsletter

If you want to build your consumer database for other activities such as email marketing, then it’s a good idea to create a newsletter. This can be offered in exchange for consumer details and should include a wide range of helpful information about you as a brand and the accountancy sector as a whole. It’s also wise to include exclusive content that’s not easy to find elsewhere so that people feel inspired to sign up. You can tease your newsletter through blogs and social posts.

14. Offer Free e-Books

Another great way of getting contact information and generating leads is by creating and offering free e-books based around specific topics. You could create an e-book dedicated to saving in 2022 – an issue many people are currently concerned about. Or one about small business finances. Again, promote this through your channels and ensure the sign-up process is as easy as possible.

15. Sponsor and Attend Events

If you want to be recognised in your sector, you should sponsor and attend relevant events. Physical attendance is important, but the digital communication leading up to these events is gold dust too. Talk about your presence, why you’ll be there, who you hope to meet, what you expect to gain and how people can get in touch with you. During the event, you can also go live and generate a buzz via your social channels. The more accounting events you attend and promote, the more marketing opportunities might appear, such as media partnerships.

If you’re looking for a marketing agency for accountants, contact Whitefish Marketing today.

About Chris Surridge

Chris is our marketing director. He comes from a split background in automotive and accountancy marketing, having worked with such brands in the past as Lookers PLC, Mercedes Benz and Vauxhall, as well as working with governing bodies such as ACCA and CIMA in the accounting world.