As stay-at-home orders are extended and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic stretches on much farther than most originally anticipated, many accounting firms are finding themselves scrambling to fill a marketing hole created by a lack of events and other in-person meeting opportunities. Fortunately, there are some easy things you can be doing to adjust your marketing strategies for our current remote world.
By now, many entities have placed most, if not all, of their focus on digital marketing, which is a great first step. However, it’s important that you think strategically about your message, as your audience is likely distracted by current events and there are many other people like you competing to capture their attention.
Marketing during COVID-19 needs to be more personal and relevant for your audience than it maybe was in the past – you need to know exactly who you’re talking to and be sure you’re talking about the things that really matter to those people. Here are five quick tips for improving your marketing during the pandemic.
1. Clean Data and Up-to-Date Tools
The first step to effective marketing is being able to reach your intended audience. Now is the time to review your database and update your contact information. Making sure everything is accurate will allow you to reach more people and get more meaningful results from your marketing efforts.
This is also a good time to review your marketing technologies. Are your solutions integrated and do they offer the functionality you need, or are you overlooking marketing automation capabilities that exist within the solutions you’re already using? It’s also worth considering whether there’s room to bring in new technologies. Most cloud-based marketing tools are very cost-effective and accessible these days, and while they may take a little time to set up now, they’ll make marketing much easier as you weather the pandemic and put you ahead of the competition when things start returning to normal.
2. Revisit Your Messaging
Given these unprecedented times, the marketing you developed even two months ago might not be entirely on point any more. Take this time to take a close look at your marketing to make sure it’s still relevant and not tone-deaf to current realities. It’s also important to look for missed opportunities – ways to position your company or product that are particularly helpful, relevant, and intriguing for your prospects right now. Think about SBA, PPP and EIDL. Promote what you are doing to help your clients navigate these uncertain times. Tell a story!
Revisiting your marketing should involve not just your current content, but also looking at your funnel of past content and how prospects are led to your older materials. All your old content likely is still accessible, and much of it might now be irrelevant or slightly tone-deaf. At the very least you want to know what’s out there so you can adjust it if necessary.
3. Analytics
When it comes to determining your marketing strategy and content, analytics are your best friend right now, because they’ll tell you what’s working and what’s not. Pull up your data from six months ago or a year ago and compare it to what’s happening right now. This will help you to identify the current strengths, weaknesses, and challenges in your marketing efforts. With analytics, you can effectively identify changes that need to be made and course-correct if necessary or redouble your efforts on marketing that’s successful.
4. Mix Up Your Content
Each of your clients consumes content in their own way, so it’s important to give them choices on how they engage with you if you want to reach a larger audience. Look at your current content marketing and library and see what additional assets you might want to add. Now is a great time to consider new formats like video, infographics, eBooks, or quizzes in order to create more options for clients to engage with your firm and to reach new audiences.
5. Experiment and Have Fun
No one can predict for sure what’s going to happen in the coming months, and we’re all learning how to handle new challenges as we go along. Experience means that we’re not completely blind in approaching marketing, but these unprecedented times are learning opportunities for everyone. Don’t be afraid to experiment, take chances, and even fail.
Think of your marketing wish list – things you couldn’t do before but might be possible now. If you’re looking for a way to fund some new marketing experiments, look at your event budget and see if you have funds that are currently earmarked for events that have gone virtual or been canceled. These funds aren’t currently being used and likely won’t be used soon, so you can afford to redirect them into new marketing efforts like social media advertising, creating new partnerships, entering new practice areas or building thought leadership.
We’re all understandably fixated on the current state of uncertainty in the world, but you should try to look beyond it and determine what you can do now that will help your firm survive and thrive in the future. By taking the action steps outlined above, you’ll be in the best position to continue growing your business when we emerge from the pandemic.
Author Bio: Amy Juers is the founder and CEO of Accounting Edge Marketing. She is the team leader and handles the executive duties, operations, finance and sales. Through her strategic approach and visionary leadership, Edge has become and remains the largest and most influential agency in the accounting channel. With the combined knowledge of 20 years of marketing experience and global practice, Amy offers a consultative voice that drives her team and clients to the next level.