In the United States, February through April marks the unofficial “tax season,” but any seasoned tax pro will tell you there’s still plenty of work to be done in the remaining months.
While a tax preparer’s work is never truly finished, there are periods of slower activity, especially after April 15th (the deadline for filing taxes). While most taxpayers have filed their taxes by then (or have at least filed for extensions), there are many people in need of those services year-round. Some say that “tax preparation is no longer strictly seasonal.”
Even though as a tax professional you’re still providing valuable services to your clients post-April, you may find yourself with a little more free time. Yes, using that time to secure additional streams of income is a good way to capitalize on that. But it’s also a good opportunity to find ways to grow your business.
So let’s talk marketing.
Getting Started
As a company with a laser focus on our marketing, we at The Receptionist have some tips to share. Here is a step-by-step plan to create a launchpad for your marketing strategy. This is by no means comprehensive – there are too many components to list in one blog article – but it will give you ideas on how to promote your business.
Create a Website
There are many differing opinions about the best starting point for your marketing. Since most marketing is done digitally these days, it’s important to have a strong presence online. In order to create that presence, you’ll need to start with a website if you don’t already have one.
Before you build your website, think about your goals. You already know one goal: business growth. You want to reach more people and convert them into clients. A flashy website won’t necessarily help you do that, but a dysfunctional website full of broken links or a lack of information will certainly deter a lot of potential customers.
Your website doesn’t have to be fancy but should, at the very least, contain the following elements:
- A homepage
- A page dedicated to the services you offer and what’s included
- Testimonials from customers you’ve helped
- An about page featuring your business story, your background, and your qualifications
- A contact page with information on how to get in touch with you
In addition, you might consider creating a page with scheduling capabilities so clients can book appointments with you online. A study found that 67 percent of people prefer this method over calling to make an appointment.
In conjunction with your new website, you should also create a custom email domain that matches your website’s URL.
Define your Audience
Identifying who you are trying to reach is a key aspect of marketing. You should be able to narrow down your target audience based on the clients you are currently helping. Think about the characteristics your existing clients have in common. Maybe it’s their income, their proximity to your office, or their age (to name a few examples). Reach out to them to find out what made them engage with you in the first place and what keeps them coming back.
Having this information can help you better target your marketing and hone your messaging, as opposed to casting a wide net – metaphorically, of course – and catching a lot of fish who are unlikely to engage with you.
Promoting Your Business
Once you’ve established a place for your target audience to learn about your business (your website), you’ll need a way to create awareness. As of 2021, there were 1.88 BILLION websites online. It’ll be awfully difficult for people to find yours without a little promotion.
Leverage Social Media
A lot of businesses acquire customers through social media. Platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, or even TikTok can help you get new clients in the door.
Once you’ve defined your audience, you can begin to research where they spend time online. It’s far more complex than “Gen Z only uses TikTok and Baby Boomers only use Facebook.” Most people use multiple platforms, all for different reasons. For example, entrepreneurs and job seekers alike tend to frequent LinkedIn to expand their networks.
The one thing all of these platforms have in common, though, is that you can advertise on all of them. If you have any social media accounts, you’re likely bombarded by ads every time you open the apps. And those ads work: in just the second half of 2023, 58 percent of Americans reported having bought something they saw advertised on social media.
You don’t have to immediately drop a lot of money on ads, though. Start by creating social media accounts strictly for your business. Using your personal accounts can be a recipe for disaster. Social platforms often delete or restrict personal accounts being used for business. It’s also worth considering how your prospects might perceive your personal views on polarizing topics such as politics or religion.
After you create your business accounts, you can begin posting about your services, your professional opinions on recent mandates or regulations that affect your clients and prospects, or even just your take on the overall state of the economy. Whatever you choose to post, keep it relevant to your business and make it helpful to your target audience. The goal is to entice people to engage with you.
Launch Email Campaigns
If you’ve ever bought something from an online store, you’ve likely received emails from that store promoting sales or new products. This is called email marketing. Marketers use it because of its average ROI of $38 for every $1 spent.
While many enterprises with large marketing teams have at least one person dedicated exclusively to email marketing, it doesn’t have to be complicated. It’s as simple as following these steps:
- Invest in an email service provider like MailChimp, Hubspot, or ConstantContact.
- Gather email addresses from existing and former clients and referrals, as well as offer a way for people who visit your website to opt-in to receive your emails and/or newsletter content.
- Create compelling email content. Don’t write a wall of text. You have only 8 seconds to grab your reader’s attention. Write about things that educate, inform, or entertain your target audience, and make sure you are providing value and not just endless self-promotion.
- Include a call to action (CTA) that directs the reader to your website (perhaps your online scheduling page!) for additional information or to take some sort of action.
The goal is to get people to click on that CTA so you can convert them into a lead, and eventually, a client.
Next Steps
There’s a lot more that goes into successfully marketing your business, but this is definitely a good starting point.
If it seems like too much, engaging with a marketing agency might be a good investment. If that’s just not in your budget, consider taking an online introductory marketing course, like this one from LinkedIn.
Want to learn more about laying a solid foundation for your business in order to reach your growth goals? Check out our guide, Scaling Your Financial Practice, to learn about:
- Laying the foundation for a solid growth strategy
- Ways to make your business stand out from the crowd
- Tactics to help you avoid common pitfalls
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