subject: Get Noticed- Four Accounting Marketing Techniques That Actually Stand Out [print this page] Get Noticed- Four Accounting Marketing Techniques That Actually Stand Out
Promoting your accounting firm isn't easy. It's tricky to separate yourself from the din. The average consumer is exposed to around 4000 ads each day. You're probably thinking that figure sounds high. People have an astonishing capacity to see what they want to see. When a persons brain is overloaded by unnecessary information it simply filters the majority of it out. From a promoter's standpoint, your job is to find a way to bypass these filters so they stick in the mind of your target.
Don't worry - we'll show you how.
The first thing we need to look at is your marketing mindset. Nobody has to watch your ads. Most advertisements make the mistake of demanding attention, when they should instead attempt to earn it.
As an accounting firm you already have the first rule of marketing pretty much covered. You need to offer your audience a sincerely useful product.
There are a few different ways to offer this product to your audience in such a way that people will remember it.
Entertain
A lot of the most successful commercials in history have been just plain fun to watch. They can be funny or wacky like the new "Old Spice" ad campaigns or they can be charming like the old "Coca-Cola" polar bear ads; they can even be frightening (political ads prefer this strategy) or dramatic (car ads love drama). The power of genuinely funny or dramatic content can go a long way.
Not convinced? Take some time and go to You Tube. Check out some viral videos. So look at your commercial. Look at the YouTube videos again. And now back at your ad. OK, I'm done with the Old Spice references, but seriously. YouTube's viral videos can go a long way to illustrating what people want to watch, and these principles can be translated into your ads pretty easily.
Be Inspiring
This ones trickier. In order to inspire you need to connect with your audience on an emotional level. Sports relies heavily on inspirational advertising, as do sporting goods. Perhaps the best example of an inspirational ad is Nike's "Just Do It". They connected with the viewers on an emotional level.
To connect emotionally, consider using customer testimonials and messages directly from the CEO.
Enlighten Them
Use your ad to teach your audience something important that they didn't already know. This is a lot easier for an accounting practice to accomplish than inspiration, and it's almost as effective. Inform your viewers of what, when, why, why not, and how to do something.
Insurance companies, credit card companies, banks etc. rely heavilly on educational advertising. Personally I have a problem with this since these ads are so often misleading, but it works and it's very suitable to marketing accounting firms.
Outrage
OK, this is a hot potato, and I don't generally recommend it as a strategy for independant professionals like you. I'm mentioning it though, because no article on this subject would be comprehensive without talking about the dark side of promoting accounting websites and practices. This is one of the easiest and most powerful secrets in internet marketing. Be warned, however, that it can easilly turn around and bite you in the hind quarters.
Don't underestimate the value of outrage. Pissing off the right people is the internet equivilent to setting a brush fire on a windy day. Just understand that if the fire gets out of control, and it very likely will even if you know exactly what you're doing, you'll find that when you're running an accounting practice there actually is such a thing as "negative publicity".
This doesn't mean the strategy is useless to you. There are circumstances that can make this a viable tactic.
Always be on the lookout for ways to endear yourself to another product's customer base.
A perfect example of this are the famous "apple and PC ads". Remember the "I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC" commercials? Those drew on the failures of Windows Vista to build a base for Apple's new line of Macs.
More recently, Microsoft has hit back by declaring "I'm a PC" proudly in its own commercials, so be careful with this. What goes around comes around.
These ideas will set you firmly on the straight and narrow path to creating excellent, filter-bypassing advertising. Keep it dynamic. Keep your campaign original and exciting.
