88.5% of businesses state that social media forms an important part of their overall marketing strategy. It’s easy to see why: social media content can reach a huge audience, and the platforms are fairly simple to use.
Platforms such as LinkedIn and Facebook can be immensely helpful for accountants looking to broaden their client pool or increase brand awareness. By regularly posting quality content, firms can harness their online presence to convey knowledge and build a reputation that will help them achieve business objectives. However, it’s important to understand the best ways to use social media before you start creating content.
This guide will help accountants showcase their firm’s strengths and increase engagement on their existing social media pages. Continue reading to discover our key social media marketing tips for accountants, such as the most appropriate kinds of content and how to optimise your social profiles.
Establish Goals
Before launching any social media content marketing campaign, it’s vital that you understand why you’re using social media and what you hope to achieve. Establishing goals helps determine what types of content to use and what platforms to post on.
There are any number of goals an accountancy firm might want to achieve with social media marketing, but we’ve provided three suggestions to help you decide:
- Increase awareness: Before you can get clients to hire you, you’ll need to make sure they know your firm exists. Content that increases awareness of your firm should discuss what the firm has achieved and direct readers to further information on your website.
- Expand your client base: The most obvious objective of a marketing strategy is to attract new clients to the business. If this is your goal, your social media content will be sales-focused, highlighting the strengths of your firm and the services it offers.
- Become a thought leader: To be a “thought leader” means you’re an authority on a certain subject or within a particular field. An experienced CPA can become a thought leader by posting educational social media content that provides advice to readers or gives an in-depth explanation of a particular topic.
Optimise Your Profiles
Optimising your profiles helps place you in the best position for social media marketing success. There are a few different steps you can take to ensure an optimised profile.
First, pick an appropriate social media platform. An accounting firm will likely get the best results from using LinkedIn: of all B2B social media client leads, 80% come from LinkedIn. Prioritising LinkedIn doesn’t mean you should ignore all the other platforms, as there are still potential clients on Facebook and Instagram. However, since LinkedIn is a professionally-focused social media site, its users are more likely to be interested in an accountant’s services.
Once you’ve selected a platform, you need to make sure as much information about your firm is available on your profile as possible. The more information, the easier it is to direct clients to your website or contact details. It should be immediately clear what your firm specialises in — for instance, if you provide accounting services for a specific industry. Finally, high-quality images and branding help impress visitors while making your firm seem more reputable.
Consistency
One of the most effective social media marketing tips for accountants is to prioritise consistency. Consistent posts on your social media pages are essential to build awareness of your firm and encourage people to engage with your posts.
It’s likely a busy accountancy firm cannot make time for consistent social media posting. To remind you to post (or to schedule posts in advance) try social media management tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social.
With clear goals in mind, it will be easier to create content, since you’ll understand what you want to achieve with social media marketing. However, with so many options available, figuring out what to share online can still be a daunting task.We’ve provided a few appropriate content ideas for accountancy firms below:
- Blog articles: Articles are one of the most common types of social media content marketing, but they might not always be the most effective. If you want a blog article to attract new clients and improve your reputation, high-quality content is key. Both the social media post and the blog itself should be memorable and informative.
- Video content: 84% of people say they’ve been convinced to buy a product or use a service because of video content. Video is highly effective in marketing, but it can be tough to create exciting video content for tasks such as bookkeeping. Instead, consider taking the educational route and use your team’s expertise to answer common questions posed by your clients.
- Graphics: Graphics are a great way to catch the eye of your audience and get information across quickly. Focus on your achievements or recent developments within the accounting industry to drive brand awareness and share knowledge through eye-catching images.
Regardless of the type of content you post, it’s essential to include some kind of call to action (or CTA). A CTA is something that tells your audience what their next step should be — it might be a link to your website or more specifically to your contact information. Adding a CTA helps turn the people that view your social media content into paying clients.
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