Want an edge? Get bigger online
With the recent launch of the enhanced MGI Worldwide website and a plan next year that recognizes the importance of Social Media to our organisation moving forward, Maxine Brock, International Marketing Director, shares an opinion piece by Steve McIntyre-Smith on why getting bigger online is important for all member firms.
By Steve McIntyre-Smith, an independent consultant to public accounting firms.
What? You’re not using Twitter or Facebook? And you’re not blogging? Well, if it’s any consolation, 90 per cent of your competitors are not either. But that means that 10 per cent are, and they’re getting a competitive edge over those who don’t.
Last time I wrote about some basic principles of marketing. This time, I thought I would look at the impact technology has had on how we go about promoting our firms.
Websites have had an impact on how we pass information about our practice on to an unsuspecting public. They are a 24/7 virtual shop window, a tireless recruiting machine, a portal for the secure exchange of confidential documents and also the “hub” for other online activities such as Twitter, Facebook and our blog.
What? You’re not using Twitter or Facebook? And you’re not blogging? Well, if it’s any consolation, 90 per cent of your competitors are not either. But that means that 10 per cent are, and they’re getting a competitive edge over those who don’t.
How? Let’s assume that you want to attract owner-managed clients to your firm. Let’s also assume that you want successful ones at that. What do they usually all have in common? Yes, you have it right: when it comes to taxes, they all want to pay as little as possible. So why not put on a seminar called “Honey, I shrunk the tax bill” or something similar?
We could promote this on our website, tweet about it on our Twitter account, blog about it and include it on our Facebook page and on our newsletter – all for the grand total of zero dollars.
We can get much more sophisticated about it if we segregate our clients by industry or size for location or any other criteria we desire inside an inexpensive online newsletter tool Constant Contact – a tool I use myself. It is a great example of using the cloud, as the software is totally Internet-based and you can use it from anywhere in the world as long as you have Internet access.
I use this technology to allow me to work from anywhere. One of my clients uses Skype and he takes this with him to Mexico and spends the majority of our winters working from the beach. Now we are starting to really leverage the power of IT to market smart.
Finding good people is a permanent challenge facing our profession, yet without a website you are cutting yourself off from the majority of students looking to join the accounting profession upon graduating.
They spend a large amount of their time online – using Facebook, Twitter et al and if your firm has no online presence you might as well not exist as far as they are concerned. Now I know as well as you that students are not 100 per cent of our workforce. But they sure are 100 per cent of our future.
That’s one reason why I am still flabbergasted by the number of accounting firms which do not even have a website today – some even tell me, “What do I want a website for? I’ll only get more clients if I do that.”
To me, such firms are rolling the dice with their own extinction, as younger firms snap up all the young and ambitious clients, and get the best staff through their site’s recruiting page.
More and more clients are on Facebook and Twitter and other social media platforms and they’re starting to expect their accountants to be using them too.
Why miss out on some wonderful opportunities because you don’t do these things?
I am writing this column from Washington, D.C., on my cell phone for goodness sake – if I can leverage technology to my advantage, I’m sure you can too.
So put on that tax-saving seminar and promote it using the tools mentioned – and reap the rewards you will so richly deserve.