“What’s the best way to market my firm online?” Our honest answer is: it depends. Every firm has different clients and different goals.
But if we had to choose one thing every firm should do, it would be email marketing. Email lands directly in the inbox of people who asked to hear from you. No algorithm decides whether they see it, and you own the list. When time for marketing is limited, and it always is, that makes email the place to start.
Why your newsletter might not be working
Most firms send a newsletter, so why don’t more get results from it? Usually it’s in the execution. A generic set of tax tips with your logo on top isn’t going to get anyone’s attention. A good newsletter has three things:
- Relevance. A freelancer and a manufacturer need different information. Segment your list and send each group what matters to them. If you focus on a niche, this gets much easier.
- Brevity. Don’t put everything in the email. Write short summaries that link to the full articles on your website. The email is easier to read, and readers end up on your site, where they’re more likely to get in touch.
- Mobile-friendliness. Most people read email on their phone. If yours doesn’t work well on a small screen, it won’t be read. Attached PDFs belong in the past.
Beyond the newsletter
Newsletters are great for keeping clients and staying top of mind. To win new clients, you also need promotional emails and automated sequences.
Promotional emails
These are single emails that promote one thing: a service, an offer or an event.
- Promote one thing only. Try to promote everything and nothing will stand out.
- Your list matters most. An average email to a well-targeted list beats a brilliant one sent to everyone.
- Repeat what works. It often takes a few attempts before people act, and timing matters. If an email worked once, send it again later.
Automated sequences
If you want more leads from your website, this is where to focus. It works like this:
- Someone visits your website.
- You offer something valuable in exchange for their email address, say a business plan template and a short planning course.
- They sign up and receive the template straight away.
- Over the next week, they receive the course: a short series of emails, written once and sent automatically.
- After that, they receive a useful email every month, each with your contact details.
Why does this work so well?
- It captures more visitors. Very few visitors will contact you, but many more will download something useful. Once you have their email address, the relationship has started.
- It builds trust over time. Changing accountants is a big step, and people often take months or years to do it. When they’re finally ready, they’ll call the firm that has been helping them all along.
- It actually happens. Because it’s automated, it keeps working during your busiest season, which is often exactly when people decide to switch.
One firm we work with gets 16 website leads a month this way and converts 60% of them, with an average client value of AUD 4,000 a year.
Get started
Our marketing playbook has three ready-made email sequences and six email templates to promote your services. To see how other firms’ emails perform, download our email marketing report for accountants.