Marketing for advisory firms

Marketing is an essential part of business in modern advisory practices. If you want to increase your client base or generate more revenue from your existing clients, you need to learn Marketing.

Marketing to get new clients

In the past, when a business hired a particular advisory firm, this agreement tended to be forever. The reason was simple, changing was expensive and complex.

This is still largely true, I’m sure many of your clients have been with you for years. Despite this, switching to a new advisory firm is much easier than it was before, thanks to technology.

This reality is opening up the market, which represents a great opportunity to get new clients for proactive and innovative advisory practices.

To also take advantage of this opportunity and win new clients, you need to learn marketing. This guide is the first step to achieve it.

Know the market and your clients

The first step in marketing is understanding the needs of your potential clients. Without understanding them, it’s not possible to offer them any service.

This doesn’t mean you have to be an expert in their business, that is, you don’t need to be an advertising expert to understand the accounting needs of an advertising agency. But the more you understand the problems they face, the better your marketing will be.

So learn about your potential clients. This will give you an advantage over advisory practices that think all businesses are the same.

Create a marketing plan

A marketing plan helps you stay focused and aligned with your company’s business plan. The reason is that good marketing will help you achieve your business objectives. The marketing plan should include:

Your value proposition

What differentiates you from the competition? Why should your potential clients hire you instead of your competition?

What you’re good at

Knowing what you’re good at, and where you have room for improvement. Being clear about the risks and opportunities of your business.

Potential clients

Start with a list of potential clients locally, then think big.

What services to offer

Which of your advisory practice’s services are the most profitable? Which ones interest your clients the most? Which are the easiest to sell?

Realistic objectives and timeline

What objectives do you want to achieve? In what time? How will you measure your progress?

Marketing starts by understanding your potential clients. You can’t offer them any interesting service if you don’t understand their needs.

Stay informed

Having an advisory practice is much more than staying up to date with tax news. You have many resources to stay current on other business areas. This knowledge will allow you to improve your marketing.

Attend networking events and talk to local chambers of commerce. Join professional societies or groups. Read websites and blogs or participate in forums. There are many options to stay informed.

Consider the option of specializing

Specializing in a particular sector can be very useful for your marketing but also for improving your efficiency. You surely have some clients who are from the same sector, this can become your specialty.

For example, if you have several clients from the health sector (doctors, physiotherapists, dentists,…) you can specialize your marketing to get more clients in the same sector.

Specialization can become a virtuous circle, because the more specialization the more efficiency and this benefits both you and your client.

5 marketing tools you should use

Marketing for advisory practices is a strategy on different fronts rather than a simple action. These are some marketing channels you can use to carry it out:

Your website

Keep your website updated with interesting information for your target audience. Make sure it looks good and that contact details are always prominent.

Client recommendations

This is one of the most effective marketing methods. Recommendations from your trusted people are much more effective than messages from strangers.

Ask your clients to recommend you to their acquaintances and colleagues in the same sector. Give them something they can give to their acquaintances, for example a voucher for an hour of your time.

Press, radio and TV

Online marketing is very powerful, but consider using other more traditional media like radio, press or TV. especially locally it can also be effective.

Email - Newsletter

Email remains the most effective online marketing channel that exists. It’s important that it’s well written and above all that it provides valuable information to your clients: write about tax news, legal news, …. everything that might interest your clients.

Social media

Advisors aren’t experts at promoting their practice on social media, but it’s important to make the effort. Your clients are probably on social media and you need to be where they are. If no one on your team has the knowledge to do this work, hire a consultant or agency that can help you.

Keep your brand image consistent across different channels. This will help your clients and potential clients remember you.

Be an active part of the community

Helping to improve the lives of people who live in your community is something good that also benefits your business. It will make your person well valued and is very positive for your business.

So be an active part of the community. Find what you and your team can do to achieve it. For example:

• Sponsor local entities or NGOs.
• Sponsor local events.
• Sponsor local teams.
• …

If your practice participates in these types of activities, don’t hesitate to make it known. The good things you do are part of your marketing.

Don’t forget your current clients

In any business, it’s as important to get new clients as it is to keep the ones you already have. Applying marketing to your current clients can be very profitable.

Try to maintain a close relationship with your clients, to stay up to date on their problems and achievements. Establish a relationship of trust by asking them what they do and how you can help them. Tell them more about your services and look for ways for them to talk about you.

It’s much cheaper to keep a client than to get a new one, so take care of them.

Successful firms never stop marketing

Marketing for advisory practices isn’t something isolated from the rest of the business. It’s about a mindset change that involves promoting your firm whenever possible.

It means making the effort to understand your clients’ needs, and acting according to this knowledge, whenever you can, in real life and also online.

If you’re able to demonstrate that you understand your clients’ needs, your services will have much more value for them.

Good marketing is an essential part of any good business.