Join us on iShade.com 11/29/2012 The Best Tax Season Marketing Ideascpaacademy.s3.amazonaws.com/PPT/2020.pdf · –Offer 57 Ways to Grow Your Business There’s no crying during tax

Join us on iShade.com 11/29/2012

www.2020groupUSA.com 1

There’s no crying during tax season!

The Best Tax Season Marketing Ideas

Chris Frederiksen, CPA

Damien Greathead, MBA

2020 Group USA


• Tax season is the best marketing opportunity

for accounting firm


Agenda

• Growth goals

• Marketing Activities

– Direct mail

– Newsletters

– Networking

–Websites

– SEO

– Social Media




Key Questions

• What are your growth goals?

–Components of growth:

• New individual clients

• New business clients

• Cross selling to current clients

• What is your budget?


New Clients - Individuals

• Direct mail has a strong ROI

• Has to be consistent to be successful

• Stick to the plan

• www.homeown.org for the list

– 10-15 mile radius from the office

– Specify house values


Letter 1 - Welcome

• On move-in or nowCONGRATULATIONS AND WELCOME

Congratulations on your new home in Marin County! We’ve been here for 26 years and we

think there’s nowhere else like it.

“It’s not what you earn, it’s what you keep” is our firm motto – we work with lots of individuals

and families here in Marin to help them minimize their tax bill and build their wealth.

If you would like an initial consultation with us (with no charge or obligation, of course) please

call me at (415) 927-1040

It will be a pleasure to meet you.

Sincerely,

Chris Frederiksen, CPA

P.S. It’s not what you earn it’s what you keep!




Letter 2 – Tax Planning

That’s right! Come see us before December 31st and the first half-hour of your year-end tax planning is free (that may be all you need). It’s our way of introducing ourselves to homeowners in Marin.

Buying or selling a home, changing jobs, or starting a business will usually impact your tax status substantially. There are decisions that need to be made before year-end that can profoundly affect the amount of tax you will owe on April 15th.

We run an efficient office ~ our fees are competitive ~ work is completed promptly ~ and we’re here all year round to answer your questions.

CALL US NOW at (415) 927-1040 to arrange your complimentary year-end tax planning meeting.

If you just have a question you want to ask, call us . . . we’ll answer your question personally.

Sincerely,

Christian Frederiksen, CPA Tara Crawford, CPA

P.S. You are welcome to a copy of our SUCCESSFUL BUSINESS KIT, a comprehensive guide to financial, tax, and accounting information for small businesses.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR YEAR-END TAX PLANNING AND . . . THE FIRST HALF-HOUR IS FREE!


Letter 3 - Organizer

• Late January

Enclosed is your FREE “TAX ORGANIZER!”This will help you organize your tax information (and make sure you don’t miss any important deductions). Whether you do your own tax return or use the services of a CPA firm, we hope you’ll find it useful and informative.

To encourage you to file your taxes early, we’re offering a 10% discount off our regular fee if you bring us your tax information before the end of February. And, we’ll have your return completed within 7 days! Our fees are competitive and we’ll gladly quote you a fee over the phone. We run an efficient, friendly office; and we’re here all year round to answer your questions.

Please call us at 927-1040 (or stop by our office in Corte Madera) to make an appointment. Evening and weekend appointments are available.

Sincerely,


P.S. Your recent purchase of a home undoubtedly complicates your return whether you purchased a primary residence or a rental property. For example, you may have deductible moving expenses, job hunting expenses, and /or a capital gain which must be reported. If you’d like to schedule an appointment, call and we’ll arrange one immediately. If you just have a tax question, we’ll be happy to handle it over the phone.


4-Page Tax Organizer




New Homeowner #4• March 1

It’s Tax TimeWe recently sent you a tax organizer to help you organize your tax information (and make sure you don’t miss any important deductions). We hope that you found it useful.

To encourage you to file your taxes early this year, we’re offering a 10% discount off of our regular fee if you bring us your tax information before March 15 — and we’ll have your return completed within 7 days!

Please call us at 927-1040 (or stop by our office in Corte Madera) to make an appointment. Evening and weekend appointments are available.

Sincerely,


P.S. Our fees are competitive and we’ll gladly quote you a fee over the phone. If you’d like to schedule an appointment, call and we’ll arrange one immediately!


Final Postcard – April 1

• April 1


Direct Mail

• Keys to success:

–Stick to the plan

–If you have budget constraints, narrow your focus, not the number of pieces




DM to Current Clients

• Say Thank you!



• Tax Planning letters

– Keep it simple, avoid the AICPA letters

– Encourage them to come in to talk

– Raise anxiety

– Offer it for FREE!



• Add the short form Tax Organizer to all correspondence.

• Ask them to pass it along to anyone who may need help with their taxes.




DM to Business Clients

• What’s your offer?

– Tax planning

– Accounting review

– New year, new payroll processor

–What is their pain/ frustration?

– Offer 57 Ways to Grow Your Business



Create a Newsletter

1. Every 2 weeks

2. Clients, prospects and referral sources

3. Link to your website

4. Promote your services and people

5. Grow the email database

6. Find the right partner for fire and forget campaigns




Networking

• Lunch at your desk is forbidden!

• Take some body to lunch

• Have a goal per week

• No excuses

• Marketer schedules lunch


Networking

• BNI is always looking for accountants

• Be committed

• Find the right fit


Get a Killer Website

• Your first impression

• Establishes credibility

• Provides personality

• 75% of people looking for a local professional will look online first





• Check list:

– Is it up to date? Partner pictures too!

– Contact info easy to find?

– Clear value proposition



• Final consideration:

–Where are you on the search engines?

– Google Test:

• Tax help in your town or city

• CPA in your town and city

• Accountant in your town or city

– Google analytics – sign up for it!

• Keywords: how did people find you?


• Agenda– Case study – The Power of the Web

– SEO

– LinkedIn

– Twitter

– Yelp

– Youtube

– Pay per click

– Action Plan




The Power of the Web

• After 3 months:–Website traffic: +50%

– Key word search: Agriculture + CPA

– Blog is 2nd most visited page on the site• CA car donation tax benefits

• QB Reconciliation Summary

• Voided/ deleted transaction in QB

– Traffic sources: 18% from social media

– Chamber of Commerce retweeted to 1,700+ followers


Search Engine Optimization

• Google analytics – free service

• Find out how people are finding you

• Think like your clients, not like accountants

• Utilize multiple platforms to get a greater web presence

POLL


SEO




SEO


SEO

• Talk with your website provider

• Go beyond CPA + town

• Google Adwords to ID keywords

• What questions are they asking google?

• Get a presence on other search engines


LinkedIn

• Go beyond the profile

• Demonstrate expertise

• Daily/weekly digest






Action Steps

• Update the profile

• Connect with more people

• Join a group – daily/weekly digest

• Answer a question

• Ask for a recommendation

POLL




Twitter

• The goal is to get followers.

• Start by following:– Your clients

– Your referral sources

– Your prospects

– Your competition

• Start by retweeting others and sharing articles

• Tweet IRS changes, deadlines, planning ideas

• Avoid controversy



Yelp









Yelp

• Key Steps– Claim your profile

– Update your profile and make an offer• “Free tax planning” “Free tax organizer”

– Ask yelp savvy clients to write a review

– Provide a review to your clients

– Reputation.com

– Socialmention.com

POLL


YouTube

• 3 Billion views per day (2011)

• Second largest search engine

• Opportunity!


POLL




Youtube

• HD cam, favorable lighting and go!

• 2-3 minutes tops

• Repurpose content

– Tips, Top 10 Ideas

POLL


Pay Per Click

• Give it a try

• Google Adwords

– Sponsored ads/position in rankings

• LinkedIn Ads

• WHY?

– Very targeted

– Increase traffic inexpensively

–MEASUREABLE







Next Steps

• Visit the sites

• Click on some links

• What looks good what doesn’t

POLL




Action Plan

Tax Season Marketing Plan

Activity: Twitter Who: AC

Goal: Add 50 followers

Marketing Period 11/7 – 11/30 Target: Prospective clients

Steps: Follow clients Wine industry

Follow prospects

Identify groups with large following

Resources:


Action Plan

Tax Season Marketing Plan

Activity: New Home Owners Who: AC

Goal: 50 new IR clients at +$600

Marketing Period 11/10 - 4/15 Target: New homeowners

Steps: Get list 20 miles radius

Mailing 1 Mailing supplies

Mailing 2

Mailing 3 Tax organizer

Resources: Homeown.org

Accountants Direct Marketing Kit


•Question Time

Documents

Join us on iShade.com 11/29/2012 The Best Tax Season Marketing Ideascpaacademy.s3.amazonaws.com/PPT/2020.pdf · –Offer 57 Ways to Grow Your Business There’s no crying during tax