Content Marketing for Your Firm
Source: CPA Practice Management Forum
In this article, authors Laura Sparks and Sarah Johnson explain how CPA firms can utilize content marketing to expand their reach, set their firms apart and gain new business. Sparks and Johnson explain that successful content marketing increases visibility and builds trust with clients as you provide them with useful and persuasive information. Clients can do business with your firm only if they know that you exist, and they are more likely to purchase your services if they trust your firm (or in this case, the content your firm provides).
Research shows that executives regularly search for useful business information such as customer and technology trends, new business developments, etc. Providing relevant, useful content to these potential clients can help set your firm apart. Additionally, your content should strategically guide potential clients toward the purchase of your services.
Sparks and Johnson provide tips for developing the type of content that will appeal to your prospective clients:
- Know your audience.
- Create content keeping in mind the interests, problems and needs of your audience.
- Align content with your firm's goals.
- Offer content that empowers potential clients and inspires them toward their own goals.
- Include a call to action.
- Be willing to take risks in order to achieve your purpose.
Getting started
- Decide on the message you want to communicate to your audience.
- Create a “publishing” schedule or calendar for your content.
Tips
- Use content from other sources so your firm doesn't have to create all original content. Introducing potential clients to relevant content from other sources is another way your firm can be a resource.
- Pay attention to which content connects most effectively with your audience and adjust your publishing calendar accordingly.
For the complete article, read “How to Launch a Content Marketing Strategy.”
From CPA Practice Management Forum, Vol. 9, No. 2, February 2013, p. 5.