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Accountants have been urged to “touch” their clients nine to 12 times a year, and employ different marketing strategies for different audiences.
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Accountants must 'touch' their clients 12 times a year
14 October 2015
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9 minute read
Martin Pike, head of marketing and business development for Verve Group, a finalist in the best Marketing category at the 2015 Australian Accounting Awards, emphasised the importance of maintaining a relationship with clients throughout the year.
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“We value human conversation, so we’re having regular contact with our clients rather than just around tax season or BAS periods. I think we’ve got to be touching our clients 9 to 12 times a year,” said Mr Pike.
“The digital area provides a lot of opportunity to do that through social media and email marketing campaigns,” he added.
Mr Pike also detailed the process and importance of creating value-added marketing for existing and prospective clients, by sharing knowledge, ideas and insight into the tax industry.
“We ran a six-part YouTube series on tax tips with one of our tax partners, and so even though we haven’t engaged with a client, we’re sharing that knowledge – increasing what we call ‘value-added’ touch points,” he said.
Shannon Smit, director of SMART Business Solutions, also a finalist in the best Marketing category at the 2015 Australian Accounting Awards, urged smaller firms to adopt a niche in their marketing operations, and warned of “trying to be everything to everyone”.
“It’s about finding what you do, and doing it well,” Ms Smit added.
Ms Smit also reiterated the importance of ‘value-add’ marketing strategies, which often catch prospective clients during their “downtime”.
“I find the more you educate people, and educate clients and businesses, actually the more work you get,” she stated.
Mr Pike praised the acknowledgement of the role that marketing plays within an accounting practice.
“The nomination is shining the value and importance of marketing, and the overall running of a professional services practice. There’s this relationship building with the client, and our marketing department plays a very key role in it and it’s a very important part of our business,” he said.
Ms Smit also spoke of the potential benefits that a nomination and award can do for a business.
“The awards are important because it gives us credibility in the marketplace, and the awards give credibility to our technical expertise.”
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