Accounting Leads

Are you an accountant that’s looking to grow your business and gain new clients? Revenue Scout has you covered!

Each and every business can benefit from a high-quality accounting firm’s services to help them manage their finances. But, while your services may be in high demand, it’s important to know the right ways to reach out to new leads to grow your accounting firm’s business prospects.

This guide is a comprehensive list of strategies that you can use to generate new leads for your accounting firm and grow your business. From paid ads to creating content, we at Revenue Scout will go over our top recommendations that can help your clientele grow over time.

Let’s dive in!

Calculate the Lifetime Value of Accounting CPA Leads

Before you begin to invest in marketing efforts for your accounting firm, you need to know the lifetime value of a client. But what exactly does that mean?

Well, a client’s lifetime value refers to the total amount of income that you are projected to make from one client during the lifetime of your business relationship.

This calculation is valuable as it can help you optimize each and every client relationship. It also allows you to provide higher-quality services that help you earn more in the long run.

To calculate the lifetime value of a client, you’ll need to apply this formula to your business:

“Average yearly fee x Average profit margin x Expected number of years you plan to work with a client = a client’s lifetime value”

Strategies of CPA Lead Generation for Accounting Firms

Now that you know how to calculate your client's lifetime value, it times to think about how to get leads for your accounting firm. Here are some marketing options available to you:

Create a Referral Program

Incorporating a referral program into your business can help to grow your clientele, as it will encourage your current clients to spread the word about your accounting firm.

What would a referral program look like?

You could offer a discount for your services to clients who refer your company to their friends. Essentially you want to incorporate an incentive to increase the potential for new clients that hear about your company through word-of-mouth.

Try LinkedIn Outreach

As many working professionals know, LinkedIn can be a great tool for networking across many industries.

For an accountant, LinkedIn can help you to generate new leads, as it allows you to pinpoint exactly what kinds of business owners you want to attract.

For example, you can use LinkedIn to target new leads based on their job title, the size of their company, their previous experience, and more.

Go to Local Business Meetups

Local business meetups can be an excellent way to network as they allow you to connect with a wide variety of industry professionals that may turn into valuable clients.

Here are a couple of examples of business meetups that you can attend:

• Entrepreneur Events - These meetups are usually full of new business owners and entrepreneurs who want help with the accounting side of their company. Connecting with these leads through networking events can do wonders for your business growth.
• Tax Planning - In a tax planning or financial meetup, you’ll be able to promote your services simply by networking with individuals who may need help with their upcoming taxes.

Host a Local Business Meetup

But what can you do if there aren't many local meetups in your area? You can gather local entrepreneurs or business professionals and of hosting one yourself!

You can promote your company and its services while simultaneously promoting the professional meetup. It can be an excellent way to meet prospective clients and establish yourself as a community leader.

Host a Workshop for Your Target Audience

If a full meetup or event seems like too big of an undertaking, try hosting a workshop to share your expertise with up-and-coming business professionals.

You could start a workshop for SME businesses that helps them effectively plan for their taxes. This will help you build credibility in your community, as it will allow you to show off your knowledge and expertise.

Once you’ve established some connections and gained their trust, it can be easier to promote your other accounting services.

Use Local Social Media Groups

Another way to network effectively with other business professionals and entrepreneurs in your area is to join local Facebook groups. Social media can be a great way to meet new people and gain new leads.

But what if you’re having a hard time finding a group? Start a new one!

Invite any colleagues or friends you have in the business to join, and then watch your new community grow from there.

Similar to using Facebook groups, you can also join or create LinkedIn groups to network with new leads in your area. Keep in mind that the best way to use LinkedIn is to create meaningful connections with potential contacts rather than going straight for a business pitch.

Start Guest Blogging

Guest blogging is a great way to share your insight with a new audience. Essentially, this method means creating content for another business’ blog, as a guest, and offering a new, fresh perspective for their audience.

Offering guest blogs is a great way to establish partnerships with local businesses. And it’s a win-win since you get to promote your services to their audience and they get quality content!

Get Featured on Business Podcasts

As time goes on, podcasts have only gotten more and more popular as both a form of entertainment and a source to help consumers learn something new.

Getting featured on a business podcast gives you the opportunity to introduce your services and expertise to a new audience, which is sure to gain more leads.

Use Business Network International (BNI)

Joining BNI can help any professional in a wide variety of industries gain new leads and network with potential clients. This is no different for accountants! Note that joining BNI comes with a fee, so it’s worth considering if your company has some room in the budget.

Make Youtube Videos

If you’re able to, making video content for your accounting firm can help to get new eyes on your business and share your credentials in an accessible way.

YouTube is a platform with more than a billion users, and if you are making high-quality, valuable content, you’re sure to attract some new leads that will turn into clients in no time.

Videos also allow potential clients to get a sense of who they’d be working with.

With the right videos, you can entice people to reach out and learn more about your business!

Network with Larger Accounting Firms

While your network may be in various local professional spaces, it can be effective to connect with larger, more established accounting firms in your area.

Bigger accounting firms may have clients that they aren’t able to work with for a variety of reasons, and if you have built rapport with these firms, they could end up referring these clients to you.

Strategies for Accounting Firms to Grow at Scale

Now that you have some idea of how to generate more leads for your business, let’s look at some strategies to grow at scale!

The first thing to note is that you need to know your target client base and where they’re likely searching for services. Here are several marketing options that can attract a wide range of prospective clients:

SEO for Accountant Lead Generation

SEO, also known as search engine optimization, allows you to reach the right audiences with your content and advertising.

Using SEO to your advantage means incorporating commonly searched keywords into your content, as this allows your business to rank higher on Google searches made by potential leads.

The best way to ensure that your SEO work is done effectively is to create content that offers valuable insight to your target audience.

So create high-quality content that includes keywords, and integrates both internal and external links. This way you’ll be able to significantly improve your accounting firm’s ranking on Google searches made by new leads who are looking for a company just like yours!

Google Ads For Accounting Firms

Running a paid ad campaign on Google can be a great way to reach new leads!

The goal is to drive traffic to your website and even increase engagement with your content. The great thing with Google ads is you can set your own advertising budget.

The method of advertising can put your business at the top of a Google search page and help potential clients who need accounting services find your firm first.

Lead Generation for Accountants: How to Use Facebook Ads

In order to turn strangers into real-life clients, you’ll need to be strategic with your advertising. Luckily, Facebook has a few tools to help you get the most out of your ad campaign.

For example, when setting up your Facebook ads, you will have the option to target specific demographics of people, such as people who are searching for accounting or tax assistance for their business or personal finances.

You can also filter out fellow accountants so that your ads won’t be shown to other accounting firms.

While Facebook ads tend to be slightly more expensive than other platforms, the results of your efforts may happen more quickly compared to other marketing techniques.

Email Newsletter

Incorporating an email newsletter into your business strategy is a great way to reach new clients and stay engaged with your current ones. This is a very common practice in most businesses, and for good reason!

However, it’s important to note that running an email newsletter is a larger commitment than it may seem.

For this method to actually be effective, you need to make sure that you’re creating valuable, high-quality content that your audience actually wants to receive on a regular basis. If not, this approach can come across as spam and do more harm than good.

LinkedIn Ads

Running paid ads on LinkedIn is another option for your accounting firm if you are looking for new leads.

Since there are many business professionals that use this platform, it’s a great way to reach entrepreneurs or business owners that are in search of accounting services.

Craigslist Ads

Craigslist is a widely popular platform that you can use to promote your accounting firm to a large pool of people looking for financial guidance.

This can be especially beneficial around tax season when many people are searching for help filing their personal or business taxes.

Host a Podcast

While we already mentioned the benefits of being a guest on a podcast, you also have the option to start one yourself!

Use a platform like Apple Podcasts to share your financial insight, establish your credibility in the industry, and host other professionals to talk about their experiences and knowledge regarding a variety of topics.

Just make sure that your content is valuable and answers your target audience’s questions.

Content Marketing

Content marketing can be incredibly valuable when it comes to your company’s online presence, and it’s definitely worth investing in.

As an accounting firm, there are many ways that you can provide valuable content to your target audience. After all, most new entrepreneurs are not financial experts, and many will be doing research to learn about managing their business's finances.

You can provide helpful information via blog posts and videos posted to your website. While searching for helpful information, new business owners will be led directly to your company.

The topics that you can write about are endless, but it helps to find a niche or specific expertise to focus your efforts on as you want to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Youtube Ads

As mentioned earlier, there are over a billion users on YouTube, and the platform has only grown over time. If you aren’t able to create high-quality or engaging video content yourself, try investing in YouTube ads that can be featured on related videos.

TV Commercials

While more traditional, a TV commercial can get your business in front of countless new leads.

Whether you are directing your ads toward working professionals who need help with their taxes or business owners who need bookkeeping services, this can be a great way to get your business in front of a wider audience.

Billboard Ads

Studies show that many consumers are more prone to choose businesses that they are familiar with or have heard of before. This means that even seeing your company’s name on a billboard can give you a leg up with a new potential lead.

If you’re going to use a billboard, make sure to have a well-designed ad that makes your company look as appealing as possible.

Additional Tips to Help You Close a Sale with Accounting Leads

Now that you have an idea of how to attract leads, you need to know how to convert them into long-term clients. Consider the following:

Speed Matters

Turning a lead into a client and closing a sale takes effort and skill. Part of that is being prompt with your responses! After all, if someone’s shopping around for accounting firms, they’ll be more inclined to work with the company that responded to them quickly and professionally.

So, ideally, you’ll want to respond to a lead who has reached out to you within 20 minutes. This may mean investing in automated email response systems and/ or ensuring that someone is attending to phone lines.

Always Follow-Up

Following up with a lead after you have connected with them can also help you stay at the forefront of their mind and turn them into valuable clients. This can be done via phone calls, emails, or text, depending on your pre-existing relationship with the lead.

Bottom Line

Attracting leads to your accounting firm can seem daunting, but it doesn’t have to be! Once you’ve established to client's lifetime value and target demographic, it’s just a matter of using the right marketing tools.

You can also partner with the experts at Revenue Scout if you want a hands-off marketing approach. Our team can establish the best marketing strategies for your specific need to help you attract more leads. Contact us today to learn more!