When people think about their accounting needs, they might not immediately think about social media platforms. After all, the accounting industry involves numbers, taxes, and calculations. There’s no place for that on social media–right?

Wrong. In a digital marketplace, even an accounting firm, individual accountant, or CPA firm can use social media posts to scale their brands. 

Even more, effective social media strategies fit perfectly into a cohesive plan to reach a target audience (and potential clients) with expertly timed and relevant messages.

In this post, we’ll pull back the curtain on critical social media strategies for your firm (along with practical tactics) that you can implement to create content and attract potential clients. 

Why Do Accounting Firms Need a Social Media Marketing Plan?

You already know what social media is, and it’s likely that you were already spending time on it today. But, accounting firms and businesses in general can’t use social media the way consumers use it if they want to generate new business opportunities from it.

Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and posts on other channels all need to strategically consider how to reach targets in an engaging way. About a quarter of your firm’s posts should include promotional content, and the rest should be informative, engaging, and helpful.

Social media content marketing for accountants is crucial to helping firms reap the following benefits:

• Scale their existing client base
• Announce new branding or brand initiatives
• Sell new products or services
• Build a thriving online community of loyal clients and followers

Using Social Media Effectively for Growth 

Accounting firms need social media marketing as part of their business strategy for a number of different reasons. These include:

• The ability to produce worthwhile content. Accountants and CPAs can use different platforms to produce educational and informational content that gives value to new followers and breaks complex financial information down into reasonable pieces.
  

• The chance to connect with new clients where they are already spending time online. Let’s face it—social media is one of the most time-consuming online activities for daily users. If accounting firms want to strike a chord with people where they invest time and energy, social marketing is the key.
  

• The opportunity to stay competitive in a highly crowded field. A digital marketplace makes it easier than ever to find competitors and locate helpful information about other brands and businesses. Firms that fail to recognize this shift and stake their rightful place in the market are bound to fall behind. 

Top Social Media Tips and Strategies for Accounting Firms

By now, we’ve made the case for why social media for accounting firms is necessary this year. But understanding the importance of its implementation is different from knowing how to put specific and clear strategies to use. 

In the list that follows, we’re introducing seven of the most practical tips for launching a social media presence at your firm. 

Tip 1: Find the Most Suitable Platform for Your Audience

To target prospective clients who are actively seeking the services your firm offers, you must research where they spend time online. Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn are popular in a general sense, but it’s important to understand your firm’s client demographics so that you can get clear on messaging and social posts.

You can accomplish this research by sending out a quick survey to current clients about their social media habits or by taking a look at the analytics within existing accounts. 

When you know which platforms yield the greatest results and engagement, you can spend more time and resources into making those your primary outlets for social media campaigns. 

Tip 2: Post Regularly and Consistently

When it comes to social media, one of the biggest hurdles for accountants and CPAs is consistency. This is largely due to the fact that client relationships require substantial time, effort, and focus. Who can afford to keep up with social media posting in such a busy environment? 

Unfortunately, the things you neglect rarely grow or produce results for your firm’s long-term growth. 

Create a simple social media calendar that establishes a regular cadence for new posts and content. Not only will this habit ensure that social media algorithms display more of your content, but it also helps your audience know that you’re engaged, present, and relevant.

Tip 3: Personalize Social Content to Your Unique Audience

Before you brainstorm new social media content for your accounting firm, start by asking a few questions about the marketing messages you need to produce.

• What are some of the main reasons why clients seek your services? 
• What helps our accounting firm build relationships with more clients?
• What are the biggest questions or pain points they have before they convert and sign on as clients? 
• What are your strongest areas of expertise as a service provider?

The answers to these questions make highly effective social media content because they provide resolutions where they’re most needed. When you address key concerns, you successfully attract the people you’d most like to reach through social platforms.

Following this strategy also helps you stay true to your brand mission through genuine and honest content, which results in more engagement. When you personalize marketing messages to your specific niche, you’re more likely to achieve greater return on investment (ROI). 

Tip 4: Connect in Professional Groups (In-Platform)

Another strategic way to establish a presence on social media is through groups. You can find these in places like LinkedIn Groups or Facebook Groups. Groups not only allow you to discuss common interests, but they also provide environments where you can share your expertise, build thought leadership, and share your brand. 

Using social media groups is particularly effective for accounting firms that function as a solo endeavor (with one accountant or CPA running their own business). 

Corporate and large firms may have rules in place about what can and can’t be shared in public group environments. Check with the right personnel before you begin to share any sensitive information in social media groups.  

Tip 5: Develop an Advertising Strategy for Expanded Reach

Social media ads can be a highly useful tool in a comprehensive social media strategy. The social ad business alone is expected to generate over $200 billion dollars in the next several years, which underscores its value and importance in social media marketing. 

Social ads include a few core components, such as:

• Copy – the written communication of each advertisement
• Creative – the graphics that are displayed along with text
• Call to Action (CTA) – the direction or “next step” the advertiser wants a lead to take
• Destination – where the prospect goes after following the ad

Before you dedicate dollars to a full-fledged digital advertising strategy or schedule posts, make sure you have the right people in place to fine-tune each of these components. Although they can convert, digital ads are costly. 

Make sure you know how to create effective ads, how to segment your potential audience, and how to set up campaigns for the maximum reach within each social service.

Tip 6: Highlight Client-Sourced Results and Feedback 

No matter where or how you post, consider incorporating user generated content (UGC) into your content ideas. While you should be sure to request permission, nothing helps future clients visualize their own success quite like hearing from others in their shoes.

Most firms share client-sourced results in a number of unique ways:

• Custom graphics or images that display quotes
• Video content with current customers or clients
• User ratings on experiences and service
• Case studies 
• Customer testimonials

Use positive experiences to create a social media marketing strategy that produces trust with potential customers. Not only will you drive traffic and build awareness, but you'll be better equipped to increase loyalty on auto-pilot.

Tip 7: Create Genuinely Helpful Content

One of the most important rules for businesses on social media platforms is to be helpful, informative, and valuable. There’s a lot of noise on different social media platforms, and it’s easy to get lost in messages that simply aren’t worthwhile or applicable to your growth goals.

As an accounting professional, you have plenty of knowledge and instruction to share with your audience. Consider how you can incorporate FAQs, educational posts, informative videos, and other “behind the scenes” tips for your audience to take their confidence in accounting to the next level. 

When you raise the bar on quality, you make sure that both your brand and your future clients get exactly what they need.  

Make Social Media Marketing and Essential Tool for Your Accounting Business

At CountingWorks PRO, we understand the value of simplifying processes. As you grow your firm, you need a reliable platform that offers the best in social media accounts, search engine optimization, and content marketing. We take care of these components for you to help free up your time for potential clients. 

Our social media offerings include content that we automatically create and post to your accounting firm's social media channels—no stress required.

CountingWorks PRO is trusted by over 8,000 tax and accounting professionals (just like you) who want to take their marketing efforts to another level in the next year. It’s time to attract new clients, keep your content fresh, and make the most of strategies like social media.

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If you have any additional questions, don't hesitate to contact us to speak with an expert.