client driven marketing june 2011

Client-Driven Marketing: Strategies that Deliver

by Neal HannonWebPro XBRL Consulting

Free Powerpoint Templates


Presented to FICPA

June 9, 2011

Client-Driven Marketing will show you how to

• Actively engage the self-identified prospective clients

• Prospects turn first to the Internet for answers when faced with a problem

your firm can solve

• Companies who invest in online reputation and trust will be sought after.

•Climb aboard and we’ll explore the dynamics of client-driven marketing.


What Is Client-Driven Marketing?


• Traditional marketing has not died. All existing methods of obtaining

new clients and retaining old ones are still valid.

• Client Driven Marketing stimulates inbound marketing of self-identified

prospects.

• Inbound marketing happens when customers with specific business

needs seek out firms that can help them by using channels such

as; Search Engines, the company Website, Articles, LinkedIn, Twitter,

YouTube and Facebook.


Skills, ExperienceReputation

Internet

Strategy

Inbound Client-Driven Train

Matching Needs with Services Offered


InternetWebSiteBlog

FacebookLinkedInYouTubeTwitterPodCastsEZines

Seven Reasons to Use Client-Driven Marketing

1. It's Measurable

2. Doesn't Interrupt Your Prospects

3. Focuses on Adding Value

4. Generates Higher Quality Leads

5. Clarify Your Efforts By Matching Tactics with


5. Clarify Your Efforts By Matching Tactics with Strategy

6. Prospects' Interests Come First

7. Quick Implementation

Will They Chose You?

• First they need to Find You


Once they know about you..

• Reputation

– Can be enhanced online

• Trust

– Built through delivering; enhanced online

• Referrals

– Online: Facebook “likes”; Twitter followers; LinkedIn Groups

• Services match needs


• Services match needs

– Website, webinars, whitepapers, video can supplement potential client knowledge of services offered

• Strong Value received

Strategy First :

Here's the difference: The right strategy makes any tactic

work better. The right strategy puts less pressure on

executing your tactics perfectly.

It takes real guts to abandon a strategy, especially if you've

gotten super good at the tactics. That's precisely the reason

that switching strategies is often such a good idea. Because


that switching strategies is often such a good idea. Because

your competition is afraid to.

Practical Strategy :

Solutions to present and potential client problems matched Up with firm expertise. The client needs to see that you have the expertise and have built up enough trust so that your firm is the first place they look for help. Client-Driven marketing helps you make that happen.


• Do the things your firm does well.• Build Integrity.• Build Trust.• Deliver Information that lets the clients believe that you can be a part of solving their problems.

How are Strategy and Tactics Different?


At noon on Tuesday a siren blared….


Tuesday, 11:30 Am… Sirens when off in Pleasant Hill Missouri

Just Days after the devastation in Joplin Missouri..

Strategy

• When you only have 10-15 minutes of warning, what will you do to protect your life?

–What should you protect and why?


–What should you protect and why?

• Protect body from flying objects

• Protect body from collapsing objects

• Protect body from becoming a flying object

Joplin, MissouriBefore


Joplin, Mo Today


Tactics• Build a “safe area” in your house

• Build a storm shelter away from the house

• Travel to a community shelter

• Go to your neighbor’s house or shelter

• Make due (See bath tub survivor below)


Quick Review

• Strategy outlines the plan and looks to accentuate strengths. Strategy is goal oriented.

• Strategy foresees opportunity and directs resources.

• Strategy anticipates change in needs and habits of Clients while molding the firm to take advantage.


Quick Review

• Tactics are operational.

• Tactics are action items that make plans happen.

• Tactics put strategy into motion.


Four Reasons Why Getting New Clients Isn’t the Only Answer(I want to share this insightful post written by Ric Telberg, editor of CPA Trendlines and President of BayStreet Group.)

Getting new clients may be many firms’ chief concern these days.

But for most firms, there’s un-mined gold in their current clients.The accounting business may not be the same in five years. Today’s standard products and services are evolving quickly. How long,for instance, will simple 1040 tax prep last with the speed of data aggregation?But if you still have the same clients, you will still have cash flows.

The Bottom Line:

1.Cash flows come from clients, not services. If your service line changes but clients remain, so do your revenues.

2.Client satisfaction is an important predictor of client loyalty and firm health.


3.When clients stay with firms longer, those clients are more profitable because they buy more, complain less,are easier to serve and are less sensitive to price increases

4.Although few companies focus on client retention, it leads to greater profitability, and even a small increase in retention can pay offsubstantially.

How are you focusing on client satisfaction and retention? Are you making them aware of what more you can do for themthrough ezines, blogs, YouTube ,LinkenIn and Twitter?

Web Tools (Productivity)

Sharing (Community & Leverage)

Communication (Reach)

•Blogs•RSS / Email Feeds•Newsletters•Press Releases•Podcasts•Webinars

•Website•YouTube•Flickr (Photos)•Slideshare•Twitter•Linkedin•Facebook

•Marketing / PR•Sales•Customer Service•Executive•R&D•Internal –

There Is a Growing Array of Tools Available:


•Webinars•Photos•Videos•eBooks•eCourses•Presentations•SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

•Facebook•Skype•Four Square•Mobile Apps•(and many more…)

•Internal –Intranets•Global Connections

Measurement Tools


What is Google Analytics?

Google Analytics shows you how people found your site, how they

explored it, and how you can enhance their visitor experience. With

this information, you can improve your website return on investment,

increase conversions, and make more money on the web. This guide

can help you familiarize yourself with the main features of Google

Analytics. To start using Analytics, sign in with your Google Account.


Analytics. To start using Analytics, sign in with your Google Account.

Don't have an Analytics account?

Sign up now

Don't have a Google Account?

Get one today

The Power of LinkedIn:

� LinkedIn has 100M +members in over 200 countries and territories

worldwide

�More than half of the members are from inside the U.S.

� There were nearly two billion people searches on LinkedIn in 2010.


� There were nearly two billion people searches on LinkedIn in 2010.

� Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members

�More than 2 million companies have LinkedIn Company Pages.

Source: LinkedIn, March 2011

Follow Maxine

Maxine Brand • I totally enjoyed your posting. The problem seems to be to get business owners and individuals

to take the time to START! I run a LinkedIn Live event in our community and get tremendous participation. I provide

training materials so folks can get set up at a comfortable pace with little to no expense on their part. Each

month, people come back to learn more, but when I ask if they have actually done anything...they meekly say no.

So it seems it might be fear and time management that prevents people from jumping in. And soon, they will simply

be left behind.13 hours ago•• Reply privately•• Flag as inappropriate

Neal Hannon • Maxine.. Starting without knowing where you are going will get you lost. CPA firms who use LinkedIn

wisely start with a strategy in mind

LinkedIn Group Discussion


wisely start with a strategy in mind

and move to execute with specific tactics such as LinkedIn Group postings. Building reputation online using LinkedIn

and other outlets will help to convert new clients who look first to the net for answers to their questions.7 hours ago

Follow Maxine

Maxine Brand • I'm with you Neal. I emphasize strategy at the outset of my meetings and throughout the training materials we provide. And I know the

audience understands the concept. I think as time goes by and LinkedIn continues to be promoted, they will find it a necessity to get involved and will

then find the time.

Register twice

Name & Company name

Fill in the bio AND upload a photo of YOU


Make sure you enter your website URL

Use one of the platforms: Tweetdeck | Seesmic |

SocialOOMPH

Start a Twitter

Newspaper

www.sironaconsulting.com| [email protected] | 0870 850 8038

Tweet: An update message with a maximum length of 140 characters, visible by everyone including GoogleFollowing: you see the tweets when people you follow update themFollowers: they see your tweets when you update Twitter@replies: you reply with @username, and engage in conversationDirect Messages: if you follow each other, you can send private direct messages to each other – DM’s

Why people won’t follow you in return


Why people won’t follow you in return

1. You have a picture of your dog as your image2. According to your bio, you don’t exist3. You are obviously going to try and sell me something

4. You are not playing by Twitter rules5. They are trying to balance following to followers

Various Business Tweets

1.Info tweet2.Re-tweet or RT3.Help tweet4.Blog tweet5.Webinar/white paper

Note: All Tweets should be in

alignment with strategy. Tweeting

without purpose is harmful.


..and just watch the ratio

Ten reasons to use for business

1. Branding, Reputation, Trust2. Traffic to Blogs, Website3. Networking 4. Notify customers | job seekers5. Latest news6. Find prospects7. Get feedback


7. Get feedback8. Make friends with peers9. Track your competitors10. SEO – your @name – inbound links – Google


Free Powerpoint Templateswww.sironaconsulting.com|

[email protected] | 0870 850 8038

Ten ways to use Facebook for business

1. Find and source industry contacts2. Build and develop business relationships3. Raise your profile in your sector4. Develop your brand5. Extend reputation and trust6. Develop a niche


6. Develop a niche7. Convert “likes” into Clients8. Target your messages9. Cost effective extension to traditional marketing 10.Meet your industry peers


1. Blogs are a cheap, do-it-yourself way to get started on the web. Blogging platforms

are available free or at very low cost, andresources abound to help you set up and

launch your blog.

2. You can add to or change your blog content anytime. No more waiting until your

webmaster has time to update your website! Write new posts, update old ones, even edit

your static pages

3. Add audio and video yourself. With the help of a plug-in and a place to host your

audio/video, you can spice up your blog with content for your readers to watch and listen

to

4. Add interactivity with readers. Blogs are designed to elicit comments from readers, so

now you can have conversations with potential customers, instead of just a broadcast.

5. Build your list with blog subscribers. Add a subscription box to your blog, where

readers sign up to receive email whenever you write a new blog post. You can

even replace your ezine with your blog!

6. Make your blog search-engine friendly with plugins. SEO plugins exist to manage

meta tags and sitemaps easily.

7. Search Engines LOVE blogs. Static websites are boring — blogs provide fresh content

Top Ten Reasons Blogs Are Awesome


7. Search Engines LOVE blogs. Static websites are boring — blogs provide fresh content

that readers like to visit often, so search engines tend to rank them higher, too.

8. Keep your blog updated even when you are away. Write your posts ahead of time,

then schedule them to be published on a date on a date in the future. Readers won’t get

bored waiting a month for you to return from vacation!

9. Change your blog design easily. How a blog looks is determined by a design theme

that is changeable and independent of your content. Update your blog with a new look,

without losing a single post or reader comment.

10. Move blog content between platforms. A free blogging platform is a great way to start

your blog, but you may outgrow its limited features. Export your blog content and then

import it into a new platform with more features when you are ready.

Source: January 24th, 2009

10 Reasons a Blog is Better Than a Website

By: Terri Zwierzynski (see my bio) | Leave a comment

More posts by Terri Zwierzynski | Follow me on Twitter

Ten things to write about on your blog

1. Services aligned with company strategy2. Stories about people in your business (format: Web consumable)3. Developing solutions to client problems4. Views on the CPA hot topics such as FASB, SEC, IRS5. Video of your company environment & your people6. Information regarding industry exhibitions, trade shows etc7. Industry interviews 8. How you work with your customers


8. How you work with your customers9. Case studies and testimonials from your customers10. Company news; awards, contract wins etc


Client-Drive Marketing

Free Powerpoint Templates49

Marketing Resources

Social Media Resources

• Hubspot.com

• Hootsuite.com

• SocialMediaMonitor.com

• http://paper.li/WebProXBRL/1305742630

• SocialNetDaily

• Ned Campbell


• Michelle Golden

• Bill Sheridan

• Tom Hood

• Most State CPA Institutes including FICPA

Questions?

Free Powerpoint Templates51

Questions?

Thank You

neal.hannon @ webproxbrl.com

CPE Polling Question #1

What is the size of your CPA firm?

a. 1-5 partners

b. 6-20 partners


b. 6-20 partners

c. 20-100 partners

d. Over 100 partners

CPE Polling Question #2

Is your firm actively engaged in Social Media?

a. We maintain a static website and send email

b. Website, email, occasional blog

c. Website updated frequently, email, Blog,


c. Website updated frequently, email, Blog,

Facebook, Twitter

d. Website updated frequently and optimized for

search, digital newsletters, active LinkedIn

accounts, YouTube channel, Facebook and Twitter

e. All the above plus Webinars, Whitepapers and

subscriptions for ezine

Polling Question #3

• What percentage of your new business is presently coming from Internet Search, blogs, webinars, ezines, and whitepaper downloads?

– A. Less than 20%

– B. Between 20 and 40%

– C. Between 40 and 60%


– C. Between 40 and 60%

– D. Over 60%

Polling Question #4

Are you presently maintaining a LinkedIn personal site?

– Yes

– No


Polling Question #5

• Is your firm’s strategy aligned directly to your online media plan?

– A. Yes, we actively seek alignment with strategy

– B. Yes, but there are some loose ends

– C. We are thinking about alignment but hasn’t been formalized as yet


formalized as yet

– D. No, the social media activity is not aligned with Firm strategy

– E. What strategy?

Polling Question #6

• When using Twitter, CPA firms should

– A. Tweet about everything a potential client would like to hear about

– B. Use Twitter to point to company blogs, webinars, white papers and appearances

– C. Use twitter to add credibility to firm’s service


– C. Use twitter to add credibility to firm’s service offerings

– D. Monitor tweets about their firm

– E. All above except A

Polling Question #7

• What is the greatest use of LinkedIn in your CPA firm?

– A. Individuals have personal LinkedIn pages only

– B. The firm has a company page, discourages individual pages

– C. The firm does not have a company page and does not encourage individual pages


not encourage individual pages

– D. The firm uses LinkedIn strategically to increase firm and individual reputation

Polling Question #8

• What is your CPA firm’s opinion on Blogs?

– A. We encourage blogs to come from selected thought leaders and maintain an editorial calendar

– B. We allow all employees to blog on our company website

– C. We put all blog articles though an intensive round of


– C. We put all blog articles though an intensive round of internal approval before posting

– D. We do not allow blogs on our company website

client driven marketing june 2011

Documents

client driven marketing

clientdriven marketing1

client satisfaction

dynamics of client

right strategy

practical strategy

current clients

potential client problems