In the words of Bill Gates: “Content is king”, and it’s what can help to differentiate your firm from your competitors. To be successful, your accounting firm must be able to offer value to your audience, so it’s fundamental that you are regularly publishing high quality, relevant content for them. Whilst it may seem daunting to begin with, there are plenty of different types of content you can publish all of which can help to engage your audience and build relationships with them. To get you started, here are 8 content marketing ideas for your accounting firm:
Industry news
One way to ensure your website (and your firm) remains relevant is to regularly update and inform your audience about the latest industry news and trends. This is not only a great way to provide value to your audience by ensuring they are aware of things that could impact them, but it also encourages them to keep returning to your website as you will be considered a reliable source of information.
Grant Thornton LLP have their own ‘News Centre’ to allow their audience easy access to up-to-date news:
Explainer videos
Video is a huge trend in marketing at the moment, and it’s showing no signs of disappearing any time soon. Video content is engaging and highly shareable, meaning it’s a great way to extend your reach and increase brand awareness. It’s also great for SEO, with pages containing video content being 53x more likely to rank on the first page of Google’s search results. For more benefits of explainer videos for your business, check out our blog post here.
Infographics
Infographics are a great way to engage and educate your audience by sharing key information in a visual format. We’ve all heard the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words”, and in this context, it really is. A good infographic can not only be published on your website but across all of your social channels, too. Once created, it can be used again and again; it really is a worthwhile investment. What’s more, if your infographic is both informative and visually appealing, your audience will likely share it with their followers too, helping to increase your reach and build trust for your brand through word-of-mouth communication.
PwC’s latest LinkedIn infographic:
Newsletters
Email is one of the few digital channels that your firm has complete ownership of and it’s a great way to nurture leads and retain relationships with existing customers. Aside from being a great way to connect with your audience, email newsletters can also help drive traffic to your website and increase sales. Click here to check out our blog post on email marketing to find out everything you need to know to create an email that will deliver results.
Testimonials & case studies
It’s all very well telling your audience how great your firm is, but if you provide them with no real evidence, it can leave a lot of doubt in their minds. An effective way to showcase your expertise to your audience is by using client case studies to highlight how your firm has helped them to improve and succeed.
Testimonials are also useful as people love to hear from people they can relate to and trust. HWB accountants have a page dedicated to client testimonials:
Insights and advice
Whether it’s a blog or social media post, offering helpful advice and insight to your audience is a great way to establish your authority and build relationships by offering value and demonstrating your expertise. But it doesn’t always have to come from you: if you see a post you think will benefit your audience, share it. Ultimately, it’s all about providing value to your audience, and if that comes from other sources, then so be it.
Promoting company culture
The changing workforce and other external factors (such as the pandemic) have caused changes in consumer preferences and expectations. People value relationships and crave genuine connections; it’s no longer enough to simply sell a product or service. You need to show your audience that you are more than just a suit and tie.
Promoting your company culture is a great way to build relationships and establish trust for your brand by humanising your firm and making your business seems more relatable. PwC has accounts dedicated to promoting their company culture such as the Life at PwC Instagram account shown below:
Interviews
Whether in the form of a video, podcast or transcription, interviews are a great way to inform and engage your audience whilst introducing new perspectives and insight. If your interviews involve well-known industry names, they can establish authority and credibility for your firm. They can also help to extend your reach as it’s likely they will share the interview with their followers, too.
When it comes to content, there are endless things you can post – the bigger the idea, the better. When creating content, the key thing to remember is to always keep the customer at the forefront of your mind; if you do that, you won’t go far wrong. If you are looking for help with any aspect of digital marketing for your firm, check out our digital marketing for accounting firms page here to find out more about the services we can offer you, or for more helpful tips, check out our ultimate guide to marketing for accountants here.
