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How digital marketing can help accountants grow their firm

05/23/202305/19/2023 by scmarketing

As the business world continues to evolve, so does the way we market our services. For accountants, it’s no longer enough to rely on word-of-mouth referrals and repeat business. In today’s digital age, an effective online presence is essential to attract new clients and promote growth. But where do you start?

In this article, we explore some of the most effective digital marketing tactics for accountants and how they can help to grow your practice.

Create a user-friendly website

The first step to a successful digital marketing strategy for your accounting practice is to have a professional and user-friendly website. Your website should clearly outline your services, your expertise, and your contact information. It should also be optimised for search engines, ensuring that potential clients can find you online. A user-friendly website can help improve your search engine ranking, and make it easier for visitors to navigate your website.

Take advantage of our Free Website Review or get an estimate of the cost for creating a new website with our pricing calculator.

Search engine optimisation (SEO)

If you’re looking to gain more visibility and attract potential customers, then incorporating search engine optimisation (SEO) into your marketing activity is a must.

Utilising SEO tactics can help improve your website’s search engine rankings, ultimately resulting in increased organic traffic and higher conversion rates.

Investing in SEO can yield significant returns on investment. By implementing strategic keyword research, creating high-quality content, and ensuring technical site optimisation, you’ll be able to improve rankings and stand out from your competition. Don’t underestimate the power of SEO, as it can make a significant impact on your marketing efforts and overall business success.

Create a persona

Understanding your target audience is crucial to the success of any marketing campaign. One of the best ways to achieve this is by creating an online persona, an imaginary character that embodies your target audience and current client base. By giving this fictional persona a name, age, occupation, and hobbies, you can truly get to know your ideal customer. This enables you to personalise your marketing messages and choose the right language and channels to reach them effectively.

With a clear understanding of your target audience, you can fine-tune your marketing strategy, making it more efficient and ultimately driving better results.

So, start building your marketing persona today and transform the way you reach out to your customers.

Set up a Google My Business page

Google My Business enables you to manage your online presence on Google, including search and maps. By having a complete and accurate Google My Business listing, you can improve your visibility in local search results and attract more clients. Your Google My Business page should include your business name, address, phone number, hours of operation, and customer reviews.

Email marketing

Email marketing is a cost-effective way to stay in touch with clients, promote your services, and stay top-of-mind with prospects.

One of the great benefits of email marketing is its versatility: you can repurpose existing content, highlight updates to your services, inform clients of any changes in tax laws, and offer helpful tips and advice. However, to truly succeed, it is vital to personalise your approach. Take time to understand your target audience, consider their specific needs and interests, and then tailor your messaging accordingly.

By sharing relevant news, insightful statistics, and other valuable content, you can elevate the effectiveness of your email marketing campaign, build trust, drive tangible business outcomes, and increase the likelihood of repeat business and referrals.

Pay-Per-click advertising

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a great way to reach potential clients searching for accounting services online. By using targeted keywords, you can have your ad displayed on the search engine results page (SERP), driving traffic to your website.

With PPC advertising, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad, making it a cost-effective way to attract new clients.

Social media marketing

Managing your firm’s online reputation is essential nowadays, as potential clients are likely to find you through search engines. As two of the largest search engines in the world, Facebook and Twitter can help to increase your visibility and brand awareness significantly. Even though these social media platforms may not always lead to direct sales, they are still an impactful way to reach your audience and build your brand.

LinkedIn is an invaluable tool for accountancy firms that should be taken advantage of. However, it’s essential to remember that LinkedIn is a networking platform, not a sales pitch. Connect with potential clients, partners, and peers to create a strong business relationship rather than merely pushing products or services. By establishing your presence on social media and observing what competitors are doing can ensure your firm stays relevant and noticed. If you’re not already actively maintaining your social media platforms, it’s time to start.

Digital marketing for accountants

In today’s digital age, a comprehensive online presence is essential for accountancy firms looking to grow their practice and attract new clients. By creating a user-friendly website, setting up a Google My Business page, leveraging social media, email marketing, and pay-per-click advertising, you can enhance your online marketing efforts and reach a wider audience. By incorporating these tactics into your marketing strategy, you’ll be well on your way to online success and growth.

Unlocking the Benefits of AI for Small Businesses

05/16/202305/16/2023 by scmarketing

As a small business owner, you know that the digital landscape is constantly evolving, and it can be challenging to keep up. However, one technology that you should not overlook is the current rapid rise in artificial intelligence.

At Smart Cow Marketing, we recognise the potential of AI to be able to help us create content that is engaging, structured and effective. So, I’d like to share with you our insights into the benefits of AI for small businesses and how you can utilise these tools to grow your company.

One way that Smart Cow Marketing utilises AI is as a writing assistant and its important to note that it is an assistant for copy writing and not a replacement. We are certified users of Jasper AI, and as such we leverage this technology to help us generate ideas, structure content and improve the overall engagement of content. By using the tool in this way, we can play on our strengths and utilise AI to produce excellent content.

It’s essential to understand that AI is not a solution in itself but rather a tool that can amplify human efforts. However, even the most effective technology can prove to be detrimental if misused. For example, copying Chat GPT content to your website may actually be harmful in both user experience and Search Engine Optimisation. This is why it’s essential to work with professionals who have the expertise and experience to utilise AI tools effectively.

At Smart Cow Marketing, we are firm believers in the power of AI. Even so, we urge business owners to exercise due diligence when integrating AI tools into their operations. A professional team can provide strategic guidance, assess your needs and leverage AI to help you achieve your objectives.

There is an old adage of garbage in, garbage out and without good direction from using and structuring the AI prompts correctly, you can end up inadvertently harming your business.

At Smart Cow, we are here to help you through the minefield of using new technology to help you grow your business, attract new customers, and increase your revenue.

If you want to know more about the dos and don’ts of AI then contact us today to learn more about how we can support you to achieve your growth objectives.

Why are video testimonials so powerful for your business?

12/18/202405/10/2023 by scmarketing

In today’s digital age, businesses have a variety of different marketing tactics they can use to engage with potential customers. From social media marketing to email campaigns, businesses are always looking for the next best way to promote their products and services. However, one tactic that is coming to the fore is video testimonials. Here, we discuss why video testimonials are so powerful for your business.

Video testimonials build trust

Video testimonials are powerful because they help build trust with potential customers. When a customer sees and hears another person’s positive experience with your business, it feels more genuine than a standard advert or social media post. Customers are more likely to trust the opinions and experiences of their peers than they are to trust what a business says about itself.

Video testimonials provide social proof

Social proof is the concept that people will adopt the actions of others in an attempt to reflect correct behaviour for a given situation. In other words, people are more likely to do something if they see others doing it. Video testimonials are social proof in action. When potential customers see a video testimonial from a satisfied customer, they’re more likely to believe that your business is reputable and worth their time and money.

Video testimonials showcase your product or service from a unique angle

Video testimonials often showcase your product or service from a unique angle that traditional advertising cannot. A customer’s video testimonial can highlight creative and unexpected ways to use your product, making it more appealing to potential customers. A testimonial can also help show potential customers the real value of your product or service by highlighting specific features, benefits, and outcomes that they may have otherwise overlooked or not fully understood.

Video testimonials increase engagement

Video is a highly engaging medium, helps to increase brand awareness and is perfect for sharing customer testimonials. According to Hubspot, videos get more engagement on social media than any other type of content because they are eye-catching, and are more likely to be shared than text-based content. By creating high-quality video testimonials, you can share them across your social media platforms, website, and other marketing materials to increase engagement and interest in your brand.

Video testimonials are versatile

Video testimonials can be used in a wide range of marketing campaigns, including email marketing, social media, and website content. They are a great marketing tool as they can be edited and repurposed for multiple campaigns, or used standalone. Video testimonials can also be used on third-party websites, such as Yelp, or via your Google My Business page, or industry-specific review sites, where they can increase a business’s reputation and visibility online.

Creating video testimonials for your business

The power of video marketing cannot be underestimated. While there are different types of video that you can explore, video testimonials in particular are incredibly influential for any business looking to build trust, establish credibility, and engage with potential customers.

They showcase honest feedback from satisfied customers which increases authenticity and highlights the real value of your products or services. Through the power of social proof, video testimonials can help encourage more people to watch which in turn increases new customers. These testimonials also help to establish authority in your industry, and increase engagement across all your marketing channels.

If you haven’t already, now is the time to start incorporating video testimonials into your marketing strategy.

Video Marketing Croydon

Download our hints and tips for creating video testimonials.

If you need a hand creating video testimonials let’s chat and we can help you create a video marketing strategy tailored to your target audience.

9 web design tips

12/22/202405/04/2023 by scmarketing

Your website is your shop window for your prospects and existing clients. It should attract and engage visitors to keep them on your website for as long as possible.

Clear and bold call to actions with simple messaging and an easy to navigate menu is a solid foundation to build your website on.

If you’re looking for a new website to be designed and developed to help grow your business as part of your wider marketing strategy, here’s our top web design tips for businesses to consider.

1. Build your website with a good CMS

You need a good framework to build your website on. These days that means using Content Management Systems (CMS). Once the website is designed and developed, it enables easy upload of information so that content updates can be managed by you or a digital marketing agency.

2. Simple and engaging content

Review all your company information including your ‘about us’, case studies, product information, contact details and pricing. No is the perfect time to update everything. Read your content and ask yourself is it clear, accurate and informative. If you think of who your target client is, then write content that speaks to them.

Make sure that your URL for these pages says exactly what’s being talked about on the page as this help with SEO. So, if you’re an accountancy firm talking about Corporation Tax or Self-employment tax, name the specific URL just that.

3. Easy website navigation

When you design the menu and site map, think about the layout and whether it’s relevant and easy to navigate. You want visitors to find things quickly to help reduce the bounce rate and to keep them looking through your website for longer.

4. Calls to action

It’s not just about a clear menu, but it’s also about adding clear call to action buttons. These are often used for inbound marketing campaigns to drive visitors to: ‘download ebooks’; ‘sign up to a newsletter’; ‘book a consultation’.

5. Images

This forms part of your content too. It makes the website more engaging and easier on the eye. But don’t forget to upload the right size as too large and this could impact on the speed of your website loading and affect your SEO. Resize images so they are under 1200pixels wide. You can also install a plugin that means that whoever uploads an image to your CMS website it will automatically be resized.

6. Should websites have a blog?

Absolutely! A blog is vital for a business website to be seen in organic google search because it provides a dedicated space for uploading fresh content regularly. This keeps the website up to date and engaging for prospects, current clients and also the search engines.

The one job of a search engine is to get the best result for the person searching for a particular term. Therefore, providing content with helpful tips, advice and links, will help your website rise in the search rankings.

7. Be targeted

Your website needs to appeal to your target audience. We refer to this as an online persona which is a made up stereotypical customer. So, this is where a blog page can allow you to create specific content which answers the challenges of your audience.

8. Optimise your website

Any digital marketing agency you work with will tell you about Meta Descriptions, Alt Tags and H1/H2 headings. A web designer can provide you with simple training on this once your website has been developed. Or you can engage a digital marketing agency to manage this for you moving forward.

9. Back up your website

Most CMS websites provide modules to allow you to back up and to make safe against hackers. Do what you can to make it safe. A digital marketing agency that designs websites will usually incorporate regular backs ups into their ongoing management fee, so make sure you ask about this when you look to engage a web developer.

Web Design Consultant Croydon

If you’re a Croydon business and need help with your website design and development book a free consultation with the Smart Cow marketing team. As an inbound marketing agency in Croydon, we create and design websites for accountants and the local businesses.