If you are thinking of starting your own accountancy practice one of the most pressing questions you will have is likely to be ‘where will I get clients from?’. In our experience there is no single way to do this. The truth is that you need to do lots of things well at the same time to see your client base build.
In our new marketing series, we look at our first in a series of tips on how to build your practice. Here are our first 5 to start you on your marketing journey.
- Think about your brand
Whether or not you employ a professional is up to you but do take the time to consider what your brand will be. Who are you targeting and what do you want those people to think and feel when they interact with your business ? Are you targeting tech companies? Perhaps then you want to convey a brand image that is forward thinking and modern. What colours and themes best achieve this within your brand? Even if it will be just you to begin with, thinking about who you want to do business with and what your brand sat to them is important.
- Get your website live
One of the first items you will want to tick off your list is launching your website. Whether you decide to develop it yourself using one of the many self serve tools such as WordPress or Wix or you pay a professional; spend some time on it. This is the first investment you should make in your new practice. It will be the first thing people see about your business and if done right will be a constant source of new business to you over the long term. When it is finished, don’t assume you have nailed it. Ask a friend or colleague to read your text and give you honest feedback; could they find out what they needed? Was the language used easy to understand or is there too much jargon? Could they work it on their mobile phone?
- Make sure your website is found
Once you have gone through the process of getting your website up and running don’t fall into the trap of leaving it sit. Your website needs to be found every day when someone searches for a local accountant. This will involve ongoing work and this is called search engine optimisation. You will need to either learn a little bit about this or pay someone to do it for you but either way; having a great looking website is no good if people cannot find you so you will need to make an ongoing plan as to how you will make that happen.
- Get used to writing content
Whether you chose to manage your own marketing or pay someone one of the best ways to get visibility for your brand and your website is by writing good content. Think of it is as giving your customers something before they decide to join you. Step into their shoes and ask yourself ’if I were a potential customer what would I want to know’ and write with that in mind. Keep your content practical and easy to follow and customers will read it and spread it.
- Get comfortable with social media
One of the cheapest and most effective ways of getting the word out there about your brand is via social media. Your customers run businesses but they are people too so don’t fall into the trap of thinking social media won’t work for you. Assuming you are writing content you will have something to share with your potential customers so get your business social media profiles set up and learn about how to get your content in front of a targeted audience.
To read more about TaxAssist Accountants approach to marketing click here.
