As of today, roughly 45% of the world’s population uses social media, with an average of 2 hours and 23 minutes spent per day scrolling through the feeds. Back here, us Brits are slightly less digitally obsessed. Do you know that the U.K. is home to 45 million active social media users, and the average user spends only 1 hour 50 minutes on the platforms? Even though the numbers are lower when compared globally, that still offers a significant marketing opportunity to businesses like yours. It doesn’t matter in which industry you function. Social media is an integral part of the content marketing strategy for accountants. It helps boost organic visibility, enhances audience engagement, establishes you as a thought leader, and more. Therefore, if you haven’t jumped on the bandwagon yet, now is the time. Here’s how to sell accounting services by leveraging social media:
1. Study your audience
Before creating any social media content for accountants like you to use, it is imperative to be tuned in to what your customers are talking about online and where their interests lie.
Social media analytics, such as those offered by Google Analytics, provides a wealth of information on customer demographics, where they live, the languages they speak and the platforms they use to interact with your business online.
You will discover many valuable insights – all of which you can use to create buyer personas and design social media content for accountants to reach prospective customers – based on what these personas are likely to enjoy.
Essentially, identify the type of customer you are trying to reach, then use the tools available to work out where to find them.
Most social platforms have a broad-brush overview of the type of user – LinkedIn tends to be more professionals for example, but Facebook has a wide demographic reach and might be better if your target is start-up businesses.
2. Social media for customer service
Every social media platform you decide to use should have a specific goal. It is not enough to define goals such as getting more Likes or Followers in a quarter or so because what purpose is that going to achieve?
Instead, identify metrics that serve a definite purpose, for example to increase followers by X to generate new sale of Y; engage trainee accountants to join your firm; increase your email subscriber list, or drive traffic to your website.
Get started is by writing down at least three goals to begin with, and a useful way to define your goals is by making them align with the S.M.A.R.T. framework, i.e., each goal should be:
- Specific – Be clear. If it is to “increase engagement,” does that mean you want 200 new followers or 2,000?
- Measurable – Quantify your goals. For example, it is great if you want to drive more traffic to the website. However, it is not a goal unless you have a way to measure the improvement.
- Attainable – Your social media goals should push you out of your comfort zone; however, they should be within your reach if you put in the required effort.
- Relevant – If your goal is to gain 1,000 followers on Twitter – make sure you understand how that will benefit your practice. What do you want those 1,000 new followers to do that will directly benefit your business? Don’t waste your energy and time on chasing irrelevant goals.
- Time-bound – Put deadlines against your goals, and keep track of them on a weekly, monthly, or quarterly basis. You might also want to include some milestones for incremental check-ins.
3. Define success metrics
Once you are clear about the social media goals you want to achieve, and the type of target audience you want to attract, the next step is to consider the success metrics.
While likes, follower counts and retweets are the most prominent type of metric, tracking success requires you to delve deeper. For instance, if you are evaluating how engaged your customers are with your content, mentions and comments are better metrics than likes.
And if you are looking to measure conversions from social media engagement, metrics such as email subscriptions and webpage clicks are good indicators.
It is imperative to have measurable outcomes in place so that you can evaluate whether or not a social media strategy is working.
It is also essential to have some form of measuring tool in place. There are lots around. Social listening tools such as Mention are also helpful in this regard, as they allow you to track the number of times your brand page is tagged in social media posts or how often your hashtags are used.
4. Optimise your social media accounts
All the major social media platforms have Business profiles that allow you to link to your website and promote your posts on other platforms. Be sure to fill out all relevant profile fields, use appropriately-sized profile photos and cover images, and add keywords that people are likely to use when searching for your brand.
It is also essential to pick which channels are most appropriate for your brand and focus on optimising those accounts. For instance, if your research shows that your audience is most active on LinkedIn and Twitter, those are the accounts you should prioritise before moving on to Facebook or other platforms.
And remember, you do not need to use all platforms – sometimes a focus on one or two will deliver far more than trying to cover everything available and spreading yourself too thin.
5. Create content that adds customer value for accountants
- A video on how your accounting firm stands out
- A funny gif on an industry trend – mainly if it makes your life as an accountant easier
- A series of photos of you hosting a team party. (We are sure you must be hosting one after the 31st January deadline.)
While a lot of your social media conversations will be spontaneous, it is crucial to have a content base in place so that you can schedule something to go out every day. That also frees up your team and enables them to focus on other tasks such as answering customer queries.
Every business functions differently and has a unique growth journey. Your target consumers are ready to interact with your accounting firm on social media. Are you ready to emphasize on it in your content marketing strategy for accountants?
Leverage social media to drive engagement, improve SEO, build and grow relationships, and boost lead generation on social media with Think Little Big.
We are experts in not only identifying the most lucrative platform for your business but also devising and executing exceptional social media content strategies for accountants. Schedule your free consultation with us here.
