What fuels accounting firms and financial professionals through good times and bad? Their long-term clients. Those who choose to work with you year after year significantly help increase your revenue. Still, you need new leads that will turn into loyal clients that sustain the momentum of your business. But attracting these new leads has become an arduous task — now that cold calling and other old strategies are no longer cost-effective.
The Disconnect: Outdated Marketing Tactics in the Modern World of Finance
Many accounting firms and financial professionals find it a challenge to generate leads consistently. For one, the industry is extremely competitive. Every business and many individuals need financial services, but many similar accounting principles and skills apply across sectors, causing firms to compete for every client. Furthermore, many of today’s financial professionals still stick to outdated marketing strategies.
Cold calling, direct mail, and newspaper ads may still have some potential. They, however, no longer match the buying behaviors of buyers nowadays, causing them to be a waste of time or resources, generally speaking.
Here’s a quick breakdown of why these traditional tactics are no longer as powerful in generating new leads:
Cold calling
Eighty percent of executives say they won’t take a call from an unknown number. Others who would accept the call would probably hang up right away, especially if they don’t need your services at the moment. You probably can no longer use the phrase “I am calling to tell you about product X that can help with problem Y.” In today’s digital age, information is readily available at the fingertips of almost everyone. Customers now prefer to discover brands on their own via social media or Google than traditional forms of marketing.
When combined with the hours needed to spend researching prospects and calling them up, that low success rate can lead to frustration and potential burnout, which isn’t healthy for you or your staff.
Direct mail
Direct mail is a form of marketing where brochures and other promotional materials are sent to the mailbox of your ideal customers. While it is a more personalized approach, direct mail may not target the right audience, which will likely lead to a low conversion rate. Its potential to work well today depends on how you’ve come up with the mailing list. If you keep on sending brochures to someone who has zero interest in your service or isn’t the decision-maker, then it’s difficult to hit the mark with direct mail.
Now that more and more people and companies are going paperless, emails would likely help you make a better impression on your prospects. This is also a less expensive, more convenient, and faster option for your business.
Traditional ad placements
Unless you are placing ads in niche publications, newspaper and magazine ads are not a laser-targeted form of marketing. You have to cast your nets wide to generate just a few quality leads. Given these ads can be costly and have a difficult-to-track performance, you are better off spending on online ads.
People are more likely to check their phones for news and articles, anyway. It’s better to promote your brand or financial services where your target audience is — and that is on the internet.
As accountants and financial professionals, finding effective ways to generate leads is crucial as you not only need to sustain your business but also maximize your time spent consulting. Getting quality leads without spending too much time or money allows you to take better care of your clients — both existing and potential ones. So if archaic marketing tactics are inefficient, what should you do instead?
This is where modern lead generation comes in. Boost your marketing campaign with search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, paid ads, and social media marketing. They improve your reach while targeting the right audience online, helping you generate, convert, and retain better leads.
Modern Lead Generation — Bringing Financial Professionals Closer to Clients
With modern lead generation, you no longer have to wonder each month where your next client is going to come from. Here’s why and how online marketing strategies can bring you closer to your prospects:
Search engine optimization
What if you had a 24/7 marketing channel that’s not confined to geographical boundaries and can cut your advertising budget, time, and effort in half while driving more potential clients to your business? This is possible — with the help of a website and a strong search engine optimization (SEO) campaign.
Eighty-nine percent of B2B buyers go online to look for their next vendor. Attract these leads by running a website that is optimized to appear for online searches relevant to your business. With this strategy, you don’t have to chase prospects proactively — they will come to you, instead.
Content marketing
Again, B2B buyers research online before purchasing a product or service. They read content — quality content. Before they contact you to request a quote or see if you offer any discount, they research online by reading blogs and articles about what accounting firms like yours provide or other related topics. To make sure you connect to them during that phase, you can run a targeted content marketing campaign.
A good content marketing plan populates your website (and other blogger sites) with relevant, informative, and engaging content that positions you or your firm as a credible source. This doesn’t only include blogs and whitepapers. Videos and infographics work well, too, especially with young executives.
Paid ads
Paid ads or pay-per-click (PPC) ads on the Google network or social media platforms like Facebook are a cost-efficient form of lead generation. For one, you only need to pay every time a prospect clicks on your ad. This is way more affordable than placing ads in newspapers, magazines, billboards, or TV shows. Also, it is easy to track PPC ads and adjust the budget or revise the ad copies to improve performance.
If done right, PPC or Facebook ads can deliver better ROI on cost per lead than other forms of marketing. PPC specialists and lead generation firms are available to help maximize your investment in paid ads.
Make Modern Lead Generation Work for You
Lead generation for financial advisors and accountants has come a long way. It is no longer about relying on lists of phone numbers and addresses or placing ads in local newspapers. Cost-efficient and wide-reaching (yet targeted), modern lead generation is the best option to grow your financial business.
Want to learn more about generating leads consistently? Let’s have a chat. We offer a free strategy session.