Social Media

Explore expert insights into social media trends with Croydon’s leading web design and digital marketing company. Tailored for SME business owners in South London and Surrey, our category page is the go-to resource for enhancing your digital presence and engagement

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Accountants – are you looking to grow your practice?

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If you’re looking for growth in your accountancy practice then considering investment in marketing could be the approach to bring prospects to your door. But, with the host of marketing tactics out there, where do you start and what’s the best approach?

Unfortunately, there’s no one answer. But there’s a whole host of tools at your disposal to get awareness of your practice out there. Here’s the lowdown on what you need to consider.

Website

First and foremost – is your website doing its job? What we mean by this is that you need to look at your website and question whether there are succinct facts about what you do? Is the content relevant to your target audience? And, are there clear calls to action to get that contact coming your way?

Google My Business

Then you need to make sure your website is seen. Make sure you’ve populated Google My Business with details of your firm. This is free to do and at the very least get the basic information up there about your company, such as website, telephone number, contact email and opening times, as this all helps with SEO and it’s another place that you can be seen. Once you have the basic company details uploaded, explore other options available such as adding offers, your news and imagery as well as asking for clients to leave reviews. Again, this all helps with your organic search rankings.

Pay Per Click

Pay Per Click (PPC) is a great way to help increase traffic to your website. If you are trying PPC – of which Google Ads are the most popular – then getting your website up to date and populated with relevant content is so important. For a PPC campaign you will want a dedicated page on your website so that when people you are targeting click on an ad they land on a page with relevant content and because it is relevant this will help lower the cost of the ads.

Content

Regular and relevant content through blogs on your website, email marketing, social media posts etc., will help position you as thought leaders and build your brand. But don’t forget images and video content. Be factual with content offer tips, industry statistics and insight. Search engines also trawl through your website pages all the time looking for fresh and relevant content so this tells the search engines that you are the place to go to.

Social media

Then there’s social media. Do you have presence on any social channel? Now you may think that Facebook is just for seeing who ate and drank what but actually having a Facebook page for your company that is up to date, even if you don’t post much from it, means that you have visibility on one of the largest search engines.

The best channels for accounting firms are LinkedIn and Twitter. With LinkedIn it’s worth remembering that you’re networking. It’s not about selling it’s about creating that business relationship. You connect with people to then be able to engage in the future to talk about products and services.

With a Twitter account your bio is a quick opportunity to showcase what services you offer. It’s worth having presence on this channel as your competitors will and it allows you the opportunity to share industry insight from accounting resources such as Accountancy Age.

Read our blog on the different social media platforms and how to use them for more insight.

Practice growth sessions

If you’re an accountancy practice looking to grow then why not book a practice growth session with us at Smart Cow.

Get in touch today via our online form or call on 020 3137 1826 or via saymoo@smart-cow.com

How to use different social media platforms

The different social media platforms and how to use them

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Social media is one of the many tools of digital marketing. It is a quick way to get your message out, cost-effective and an efficient way to promote your business to potential clients and consumers. You’re able to reach out to prospects at the click of a button. Social media also helps you to engage with your audience through an open line of communication. But with so many social media channels out there it is important to utilise the right social media platforms relevant to your business to get the most out of it.

Take a look through some of the most popular social media platforms and see if there’s something for your business:

Instagram

Via Instagram you can discover new trends, people, and businesses through sharing images to followers. You can use hashtags to spread the reach of your messages to people who are interested in the type of content you produce. Ensure you post regularly with hashtags and note what posts get the most likes or comments to guide you in future posts. Think visually and create a themed Instagram feed to really help showcase what your business is about. Instagram is very popular with engagement on Instagram 15 times higher than it is on Facebook!

Facebook

Facebook, some might say, is slowly coming to the end of its popularity, but this doesn’t mean you can completely overlook it, especially if you are trying to appeal to a slightly older audience. You can easily add links to blogs or upcoming projects or create events. You can also use Facebook messenger to interact with your audience and fill them in on any news they may find interesting. You are able to create live videos to further engage your audience. It’s more consumer focused so getting that tone right for your audience is key.

LinkedIn

Now there’s no excuse not to network. Linkedin is a business2business channel with networking at its core allowing you to connect with other professionals, clients, colleagues, prospects and employers. You can promote yourself by showcasing your achievements and what your business is about. Produce engaging content to encourage likes, shares and connections. LinkedIn helps boost your business brand and profile.

Snapchat

Snapchat allows you to post live photos or videos instantly to your audience. These stay online for 24hrs, so it is important to upload every day. You post via ‘Stories’ which can be viewed by anyone subscribed to your Snapchat. Snapchat is great if your target audience is slightly younger as 71% of Generation Z (born between 1995-2015) use Snapchat daily. To ensure a successful Snapchat following, promote your Snapchat account on other social media channels.

YouTube

YouTube can be used to discover new things going on in the local area, nationwide, or even globally, so it is perfect for whatever audience you have. To get views you need to have an enticing title and thumbnail. You also need a continuous flow of content, perhaps once or twice a week. You are also able to use tags, keywords and categories to help your video appear higher up in YouTube searches.

Twitter

With a Twitter account your bio is a quick opportunity to showcase what your brand is about in 160 characters. Track when is the perfect time to tweet. Twitter peak hours tend to be around 1-3pm on weekdays, the worst times to post are after 8pm and after 3pm on Fridays. Content needs to be regular and more often than other channels. Like other channels, spread your reach with relevant hashtags – but not too many on this channel.

Keep it relevant

The most important factors to consider when it comes to using social media marketing is to post frequently, connect all your social media channels together through links, and engage with your audience. Utilise all the channels at your disposable, as long as they are relevant to your business, and set aside time in your day to work on your social media platforms.

Social media marketing agency

If you need help and advice on using social media and a successful marketing tool, then get in touch with Smart Cow Marketing. Digital marketers based in Croydon, we can help create a professional marketing plan tailored to your business. Call us on 020 3137 1826

The Social Media Success of the #Veganuary Campaign

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January saw many of us signing up to the #Veganuary challenge. Statistics are showing the movement to have monumental growth with a rise from 1,500 people signing up in 2014 to 52,500 in 2018. Its popularity is changing the way we shop for food, grocery stores such as Waitrose, Aldi and Sainsbury’s are all increasing their vegan ranges. Whether your reason for joining be for animals, health or the environment we take a look at how social media has helped fuel this vegan phenomenon.

The Veganuary campaign grew by 183% last year and much of this growth can be put down to the success of social media as a huge platform for people to easily spread the news of Veganuary. Not only can the charity organisation Veganuary share news and information about the cause but those partaking are able to tweet their favourite recipes on Twitter or share photos of their vegan dinner on Instagram.

The use of hashtags throughout the month also helped increase visibility of the cause. A good and catchy hashtag, such as #Veganuary #PlantBased or #VeganRecipes, help increase social media engagement with users.

Social media can be a huge part of growing your business and giving it the boost it needs. In your digital marketing campaign make sure to include social media as part of your plan. It can promote a new product, service, or even to raise awareness of a charity organisation your brand is involved with.

Smart Cow Marketing can help you put an effective social media campaign as part of your digital marketing strategy to get your business off the ground. Get in contact with use today at: simon@smart-cow.com or call us on: 020 3137 1826

Inbound marketing in 2019

Digital marketing trends 2019

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With the new year fast approaching, here’s a round up of some of the top trends for digital marketing in 2019.

Video

As was the case in 2018, the year ahead will still see video content used prolifically for digital marketing. With the growth of Facebook and Instagram live and story functions, videos are the norm and a go to for all.

Marketing Automation

From business development tools through to automated tailored responses to specific emails, when used correctly, marketing automation can free up time, reduce certain admin tasks and highlight potential business opportunities. For an accounting practice it can monitor both outbound and inbound activity. By monitoring activity and aligning systems an overall view is presented thus enabling you to enhance engagement with clients and potential prospects. Ultimately marketing automation is here to stay, the tools available will grow so perhaps it’s time to explore the opportunities out there for your business.

Social Media

If you’re not on any social platform, then 2019 marks the year for your business to embark on the social media marketing journey. Why? Put simply, the channels will continue to grow. Statistics indicate that there’s over 3 billion social media users globally*, so we’ll say it again – join the conversation!

But, what will be the difference to entice you this year? Well, gone are the days of bulk following to get anyone to follow you back, it’s all about quality, not quantity. It’s also about the right content for your audience and each platform will have a different demographic. Audiences pick and choose which they prefer. So, start to target and tailor your content to get it right.
LinkedIn is also one to watch. If you’re working in B2B then you should really have a profile. Social media research has indicated that the biggest user increase in 2018 was LinkedIn, with 145% user growth.

Immersive

Getting potential customers to get really immersed in a brand will see augmented and virtual reality being in the digital marketing trends mix for 2019. We’ve certainly seen property developers using the VR headset to their full advantage with a trendy, yet practical, way to virtually visit properties at fit out stage to help push interest and potential sales through at earlier stages. VR can give additional product detail to customers.

Content is still king

We said it in our 2018 trends and we’ll say it again – keep your content fresh, relevant and engaging to not only aid Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) but importantly to attract and retain customers. Most blog content is suitable at up to 500 words, but long-from content will also become key. Why? When Search engines scour the internet, they value longer posts higher and see it is a trustworthy source. Don’t think you can write anything though. It still needs to be relevant, quality content. Think about developing a lengthier white paper or e-book for prospects to download. While this takes longer to create and will be more costly, you will then have a huge bank of information that you can then break down into smaller bitesize blogs thus repurposing content for your website.

Authenticity

And last, but no means least, be authentic so that your brand resonates with your true audience.

A London based inbound marketing agency, we’re happy to lend you a hand with your digital marketing strategy for 2019, get in touch.

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