We see you, accounting marketer. We understand that the pressure is on to figure out new ways to set your firm apart from competitors. We also know that you are constantly expected to do more with less, as though you were a magician pulling rabbits out of your hat!
If you’ve been feeling like your marketing magic wand has been on the fritz lately, maybe try a few new tricks and the right magic words: Industry Intelligence.
The success of Industry Intelligence is no illusion
Industry Intelligence helps companies use specific, timely industry data sources to build relationships and increase sales. In fact, used effectively, Industry Intelligence can unlock the success of your entire strategic marketing approach.
Industry Intelligence allows you to speak the same language as your clients and prospects. By incorporating industry-specific content into your marketing, you can create tailored communications that address the unique opportunities business owners are trying to capitalize on, as well as the challenges that are keeping them up at night.
Pick a tactic, any tactic…
Most marketers, regardless of industry, have a few go-to tactics in their bag of tricks. Here’s how accounting marketers can keep the crowd cheering for more by incorporating Industry Intelligence into marketing campaigns.
Low-cost email campaigns are a common way to reach out to prospective clients and are a touchpoint tactic with existing clients as well. But with impersonal eblasts, a 25 percent open rate is considered a success, and the average click-through rate is a fraction of that — usually around 2.5 percent. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for the medium.
However, if you effectively tailor your email with Industry Intelligence, you can make a real splash. Choose an industry niche to target with your email campaign, then focus on trends within that industry and the tailored products or services you bring to the table to address those trends.
Social media
Social media can be a mixed bag for marketers. Unless the audience is well-targeted and the content is customized, most social posts or ads will get scrolled through without a “like,” a click, or even a glance.
While “likes” that are converted into actual new clients or upsells of existing ones are easy to quantify, thanks to the social platforms’ analytics, the truth is that social campaigns take time, money, and targeting. Unless you find the sweet spot of presentation and offer, the return on that investment is often low.
That’s where Industry Intelligence can really help. Promoting industry-focused online resources in your social media posts — assets like whitepapers, ebooks, and blog posts — can boost clicks, and in turn, drive traffic to your website where you can further showcase real-world applications of accounting and advisory concepts.
This tailored approach to lead generation can make for great conversation-starter pieces that will hopefully convert into new business relationships.
More traditional marketing tactics like print advertising are tough to target or by necessity generic, expensive, and too often end up in the recycling bin. With marketing budgets shrinking, these buckshot hard copy approaches may literally mean throwing away money.
But print media can hold its own when properly targeted and created with effective calls to action. For example, using Industry Intelligence, you can analyze industry trend lines, as well as local economic data, offering you the insights you need in order to properly allocate your firm’s limited resources to the right print advertising channels.
For branded print collateral pieces, thoroughly researched Industry Intelligence, including financial benchmarks, allow you to offer up the insights that clients and prospects crave (including how your clients compare to similar companies).
A new trick up your sleeve
Incorporating Industry Intelligence into your marketing tactics provides more than mere razzle-dazzle. It gives you an edge over your competitors by offering clients and prospects exactly what they want: messaging that is tailored to their business’s challenges and opportunities. And once prospects are in the door, your partners will be better equipped to offer customized advice based on their industry knowledge.
It’s no sleight of hand; Industry Intelligence is the differentiator you need to make your marketing tactics more effective at winning new business. Get started today by downloading our free ebook, 8 Ways to Use Industry Intelligence to Grow Your Accounting Firm.