9 Marketing Tactics to Scale Your Bookkeeping Services
Generally, bookkeepers are in demand. Most businesses work with an accounting firm for years since switching to a new one is often complicated and costly.
But because of technology and the Internet, moving to a new bookkeeping services provider has become easier and less expensive. With more choices available, how can you stand out from the rest? The answer: an effective marketing strategy.
Here are nine tactics to edge out the competition and gain new clients for long-term growth.
1. Create Engaging Content
If your business has a website, publish blogs your potential clients are interested in. Or, if you have a YouTube channel, make easy-to-understand videos. Brainstorm ideas for possible topics, say, answers to frequently asked questions on complex accounting principles or new guidelines.
Whatever content you create, ensure that it adds value to your target audience. Establish what you want them to walk away with, and define steps they should take when they’re done. When you do this regularly, you can position your firm as an authority or a go-to resource.
Always align your content ideas with what your audience wants and what you can offer to be effective. Suppose your clients are mainly into construction. Write a blog on why regularly updating books is a crucial industry practice.
For instance, Sterlinx Global focuses on e-commerce, so you’ll find several blogs about bookkeeping services for online sellers on our site.
2. Make Your Site SEO-Friendly
It’s essential for businesses to have a website that clients can look up and visit for more information. But no matter how amazing your web design is, it won’t get as much traffic as expected if it isn’t search engine-friendly.
If you want your bookkeeping services to get noticed, make sure your web page applies search engine optimisation (SEO). An SEO-friendly site ranks higher in search engine results, driving more traffic to your site and, by extension, exposure to potential clients.
Make your site technically sound with keywords, meta descriptions, quality links, and good content. Or, you can leave the optimisation to an SEO agency.
3. Harness Social Media
In today’s business landscape, social media is more of a necessity than a nice-to-have. That’s because potential clients for your bookkeeping services are likely using such platforms, and you have to be where they are. Engaging with them on these channels puts your firm on top of their minds.
Since most consumers visit a business’s social pages first before its website, set one up to reach your target audience. Plus, you can use social media channels to repurpose content, share page links, and drive traffic to your site.
4. Be Involved, Online and Offline
By now, you should realise that online presence is important in promoting your bookkeeping services. Besides having an optimised website, you should also learn how to network.
Build valuable connections by joining online communities and actively participating in conversations. Establish your credibility and authority in the field through well-thought-out posts in relevant forums and blogs.
But it isn’t only online where you should be present. Join offline events like trade shows to get your accounting firm out there—after all, many decision-makers attend these in-person events to know potential business partners.
5. Consider an Email Marketing Strategy
Here’s a surprising fact—email marketing is still effective. That’s why companies continue using this strategy to promote, and so should you with your bookkeeping services.
Emails can be an excellent medium for nurturing relationships with potential clients and maintaining a connection with them, even if they aren’t ready to work with you straight away.
If you want to stay top-of-mind, create well-written, properly targeted emails to be useful to the recipients. Write about tax return deadlines, new guidance, laws, relevant accounting policies, and other topics of interest for your audience.
Don’t forget to add a compelling CTA in your email signature to encourage recipients—existing, former, and potential clients—to take action.
6. Seek Referrals
One of the most effective techniques for promoting your business is referrals. Personal recommendations by your existing clients have far more worth during decision-making than ads and messages from strangers on the Internet.
Ask your clients to refer their business partners or associates to you when they need bookkeeping services. For every successful onboarding, offer vouchers for free or discounted services—one for your client and another for their referred business.
7. Ask for Reviews
Next to referrals, reviews also carry a lot of weight when companies decide to use your firm for bookkeeping services. Positive feedback from your customers establishes your business’s credibility and competence. Just look at what our clients say about working with Sterlinx Global.
Potential clients are more likely to trust your business after reading about other people’s successful working experiences with you. Plus, adding reviews to your website may boost your rankings on the results page since search engines recognise the value of customer feedback.
However, don’t be fixated on getting positive reviews only. Encourage clients to leave an honest assessment of your service. And if they’re dissatisfied, ask why, address the issue, and offer to compensate them for the less-than-stellar experience.
8. Offer Discounted or Free Services
Free consultations and introductory discounts are effective in attracting new clients. Offering these deals won’t result in a substantial loss to your firm. Instead, you have a lot to gain by taking market share.
Prospective customers can try your bookkeeping services minus the heavy financial commitment with discounted rates or no-obligation initial consultation. This slowly builds trust on your potential client’s end since they’re virtually exposing their operations to you, an unknown party.
9. Advertise
If you want the fastest way to market your services, consider paying for ads. Advertising via different channels and media gives your business much-needed exposure and a wider reach.
This strategy is effective when it’s targeted to specific audiences and their pain points—running ads can be costly, so ensure it gets to the right people to be worth every penny.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is it better to promote my bookkeeping services myself?
It depends on several factors like your time, expertise, and goals. If you’re patient in slowly building your customer base, you may find some of the tasks fulfilling and fun, like writing blogs and posting content on social media. Otherwise, it may be better to hand off marketing to an agency.
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How often should I engage in marketing my firm?
There’s no hard and fast rule as to how frequently you should actively promote your services. Seize every opportunity to put your firm front and centre. And whenever possible, update your website, publish new content at least once a week, and communicate with existing and potential clients regularly.
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When do I stop promoting my bookkeeping services?
There’s no end to marketing your firm—it is a constant activity. Simply because you’ve scaled your operations doesn’t mean you no longer have to exert effort in gaining new clients. Instead, continue understanding your clients’ needs, and act on this information to offer better services, which is the best kind of marketing.
Conclusion
Promoting your bookkeeping services may sound daunting, but all the hard work will be worth it when you see your business grow at an exponential rate. With the right strategies and enough time, your firm can gain better visibility and pull in more clients.
