How do I Get More Clients After Tax Season?

Are you already kind of freaking out about how to get more clients after the shock of 4/15 wears off and you're back in your office in May?

You wouldn't be alone. If you're the rainmaker or a partner of an accounting firm, new business is always on your mind, especially when the storm of busy season passes. When I was in business development for a tax advisory firm, April was a bittersweet month. It marked a period when I could breathe again because I wasn't juggling firey torches anymore, but I would get heart palpitations just thinking about how I was going to develop anything new in May through July.

Beyond, I was also thinking about how to finish the year off strong, not just with September and October, but November and December as well - two months that are typically slower for the kind of work we did. Well... slower for some. 

The seeds you plant today will take root before the end of the year if they were ever meant to be, and since you may be starting from scratch in a lot of the areas I'm going to hightlight, "off-season" is the absolute BEST time to get started.

Here are 10 things you can change about your firm TODAY so that by the time 2016 comes a-knockin', you'll have put behind you one of your best years to date complimented with a highly pregnant pipeline of new business opportunities. (More on Inbound Marketing Best Practices for Accounting Firms HERE)

Part 1: Rethinking Your Website

On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your website from a purely asthetics point of view? Is it interesting and unique, or does it remind you of just about every other accounting firm's website you've ever seen?

Okay, well let's say it looks great... Are you actually generating leads from it? If so, how many per month? Are any of those converting into clients and/or referral sources?

If you're not sure or the answer is simply, "no," let's diagnose the problem even further. Do you have calls-to-action (CTAs) placed throughout the website and blog? Do you have a blog? At the end of your CTAs are people finding a "contact-us" form, or are they met with opportunities to share their contact information in exchange for valuable content they can download?

Your website is the portal into your business' soul, and shouldn't be thought of as just a place where people who already know you find you, but rather, an active tool in your lead generation strategy. A truly functional website will be interwoven with blogs, social media, content downloads, and portals EVERYWHERE for lead conversion.

Part 2: New-Age SEO Strategy

Are you optimizing for search engines to fit the new definitions that Google and its brethren are imposing on their search queries?

It starts with understanding how your future customers search for answers to the problems you solve. The path isn't as simple or linear as it once was, so you're going to get people looking for ways to diagnose their problems, and those who are considering different solutions. You must think about them from the perspectives of both and everything in between.

"Keywords" are the phrases people will use to find you, and the longer and more specific the strings are that you rank for, the more accurate your site will be when you surface in that organic query.

So, build out a keyword list that considers all stages of your buyers' journeys and that fit needs specific to your clients and industry niches. I suggest using an SEO tool like MOZ Pro or Hubspot to measure them. Google analytics can help you here too, but I have found it to be cumbersome, and not as effective for measuring long-tail keywords, which are your real treasure troves of opportunity.

Do this early, and update it often. SEO applies to EVERYTHING you do online, including social media curation and blogging.

Part 3: Social Media & Blogging Strategy

The purpose of blogging for business is a lost concept for accounting firms everywhere. Heck, it's lost on most people I speak to, but it's not as obscure or cryptic as many would have you believe. The same goes for social media. (more HERE)

But this goes right back to the core principals I'm trying to impart to you, which is that we should consider these components in their natural habitats.

BLOGGING: This is your chance to share stories that your clients and prospects will understand and care about that are tied to helpful solutions AND deeply engrained with your keyword strategy. In fact, if you blog around long-tail keywords, you're going to attract the perfect audience. (Want help from a blog writing services agency? Click HERE)

Do it often, and don't skimp on the details. Studies continue to show that long-form content of 1,500 words or more are more desireable for your readers, and because of that, for Google and friends too. Speaking of Google... Blogging is how you REALLY drive your SEO ranking, and its built to last. People will find you on Google and Bing through posts you published 3 years ago just as often as the ones you post last week.

SOCIAL MEDIA: Be social. Don't spammertize. Join discussions, curate 3rd party content, react when people mention you. Monitor what they say, and try not to push your agenda. 

Also, make sure to curate YOUR content... your blogs - your landing pages with gated downloads - and the occasional ad. But remember, this isn't about you. It's about community, so make sure you find a solid balance. I like the 10/4/1 rule (their blogs & content / your blogs & content / ads).

Part 4: Re-purposing, Not Reinventing

I know that starting a new blogging strategy in itself may seem daunting, but if you're telling stories that come from real life experiences and that highlight your abilities and knowledge, it will actually come to you a lot more naturally than you may think. It's probably a good idea to hire a blog consultant to do the heavy lifting with the writing, but communicate your ideas clearly to them, and watch your inbound traffic come to life with every new post.

Use your existing marketing materials to develop your content. Get granular with your blogs to promote the content, and distribute through social media.

This isn't about reinventing yourself... but about shifting your delivery model.

Part 5: Fusing Marketing & Sales

The line between sales and marketing, particularly in a B2B environment like business accounting services, is blurring. Social media has made it so, because for the first time in history, marketers are being forced into live, interactive, public-facing roles, and sales are being forced to market and develep their own online branding.

But really, what is the benefit from keeping them separate anyway? I was in b2b sales for a decade and never understood it when marketing chose to ignore those of us in the trenches. Industry reports tell you what happened yesterday so you can predict what happens tomorrow. Your sales force tells you what's happening RIGHT NOW.

Fuse these teams by implementing all-in-one marketing tools that integrate with sales. Okay, so with my fluid lead conversion model, I am attracting visitors to my website with SEO, blogging, and social media, and I'm converting them into leads with content downloads accessible through conversion forms. Let's identify their behaviors and assign point values to them with the help of sales, and once they reach certain thresholds or exhibit certain behaviors, like downloading bottom-of-funnel content offers, set up mechanisms that alert business development to reach out.

I know it sounds like a lot, but it's more about implementing the right technologies than climbing Mt Everest.

Part 6: Going All-In with Proper Tools

Investing in the proper marketing tools will make everything I discussed today possible. There are two routes you can take - piece it together through a variety of software programs like MOZ Pro, Hootsuite, & Mail Chimp, or implement an an all-in-one solution like Hubspot, Marketo, or Infusionsoft.

I have done both, and I much prefer the latter. The amount of time you save is enough to warrant the higher initial expense, but it's the overall value that makes it a no-brainer to me. With an all-in-one you don't have the same reporting challenges from trying to piece it together manually, so you can see the journeys your prospects take from the first time they set foot on your website to the point of client conversion. 

Most of the all-in-ones will integrate with Salesforce, although some better than others, but in that sense, you're still running two platforms. I use Hubspot exclusively because of how well it integrates, but my agency actually uses their free CRM to manage the transition from marketing to sales. Contacts are integrated and updated live, and any touches I make on one platform immediately translates to the other. I waste NO time on reconciliations and emailng back and forth between departments to ensure everything lines up between the two.

Use May & June to build the foundation for your firm's best years ever. White-hat methodologies associated with inbound marketing are here to stay, and by engaging in these behaviors today you'll stand out to your clients and prospects like a beacon of expertise, value, and caring 3 months from now, 6 months from now, and beyond.

Interested in getting a free inbound marketing assessment for your accounting firm? Request a consultation today!

For a comprehensive guide to inbound marketing for accounting accountants, check out our free ebook!