Social Media For Accountants

Accountancy is one of the oldest trades. Since the exchange of goods began, there has been a need for bean counters. Over the years traditional trades have seen tremendous change. Many firms that still operate today were established before websites existed, or the internet for that matter!

So keep reading, we will cover how in this modern age accountancy firms can make the most of social media for accountants.

Why is it important to have a presence on social media?

At first, many traditional businesses saw social media as a phase. Something ‘young people’ used to chat with friends or to show off what they had for lunch. However, over the last 10 years, businesses have started seeing these platforms as potential marketing tools. In addition, consumers have now come to expect businesses to have a presence on social media.

We often refer to social media users as, ‘private investigators’ with access to all the information regarding business at their finger tips. Opening times, location, reviews, it’s all publicly available. You can even go through photo galleries to become familiar with the business premises and the team behind the updates.

Your social media platforms essentially give potential customers a look into your business, before they physically step through the door.

Which platforms to use

For any form of marketing, you go where your audience is. Traditionally you would post adverts in the relevant newspapers or magazines that would appeal to your market group. But now, social media is the hub for your audience to gather.

As an accountancy firm starting out on social media, it’s important to appeal to your audience. Which platforms are they most likely to use? 

By process of elimination SnapChat and TikTok aren’t the most professional platforms, so you may wish to avoid putting serious time into these channels.

Pinterest and Instagram are visual platforms and although useful, it’s probably not the best place to start. This is because visual content is more difficult to obtain, particularly as accountancy is service based rather than a product based sector.

Facebook is the platform you are more likely to immediately think of in relation to social media. However, it is slower to grow connections here. Therefore, it would be better to introduce Facebook further down the line, once you have gained confidence in what content works best for you.

We would suggest initially starting with LinkedIn and Twitter. Although Twitter can be used for both business and pleasure, it’s a fantastic broadcasting platform with many features and benefits. These two platforms are an excellent starting point.

LinkedIn

Initially created as a CV sharing site, LinkedIn has expanded and is now regarded as the B2B social networking site. It’s a platform for professional conversations, advice, guidance, recommendations.

There are two parts to LinkedIn, personal profiles and business pages. We often recommend our clients use both aspects, a business page to broadcast your core messages and a personal profile to share it. 

Twitter

Twitter is one of the only platforms that doesn’t have a separate business profile and personal profile. You can make the account whatever you want. Add your logo as the profile picture or a professional headshot, the choice is yours.

Twitter, more so than any platform is a fantastic broadcast or customer service tool. Unlike many platforms that downgrade content featuring links, Twitter thrives from them. It’s a fantastic way to generate traffic to your website, blogs and news articles. You’re taking a user from 280 characters to a webpage full of further information, when used strategically, this can be very beneficial!

What content can I post?

Social media is a sprint not a marathon. To make it work, you will need constant content to fuel your profiles. So get creative! Look at your business from an outside perspective, from the eyes of your audience – what would they want to see?

Create a list of potential topics that you can talk about on a regular basis. Always keeping in mind topics your audience would like to explore.

• Services: your services are a great place to start. Explain your services, talk about pricing, explain why your organisation is different from others.
• Bookkeeping Tips: become a beacon of advice. Offer tips and tricks that appeal to your audience. Every business owner faces bookkeeping, so help them combat this task with ease.
• About the Team: you team is your USP. Showcase them and promote their role. It’s a great way to make your business seem more personal. People buy from people after-all.
• Testimonials: nobody can better promote your business than happy customers. Publish sections of the testimonial or encourage others to leave reviews.
• Website: most websites feature resources, contact information, detailed services – so send your audience to those pages.
• Business news: if one thing is certain, it’s that there will always be headlines. Most of those headlines will affect businesses in some way so why not share that message with your audience?

These are just a few topic categories to start with. As you start writing content and using social media you may develop new ideas, keep writing them down and regularly refer to them for inspiration. 

Create your own guide and ask your customers, what they would like to see. Don’t forget, current customers will make up a significant proportion of your online audience.

Start slow, begin with one or two platforms and become familiar with their navigation and how they operate. Don’t overwhelm yourself, aim for one post a day on twitter and perhaps three a week on LinkedIn. See how your audience responds and go from there. 

Need a bit more inspiration? Here are a few Accountancy Firms we think are nailing it on social media.

Whitehead & Aldrich Accountants have been established for over 100 years! They are early adopters of social media and are recognised throughout Lancashire for their weekly quizzes which incorporate maths equations within graphics. It’s a great way to engage your audience! @WA_Accountants

 MHA Moore & Smalley are one of the largest accountancy firms in Lancashire. They use social media to profile their services, appealing to their exact audience by providing useful advice. @MooreandSmalley

MHJ Accountants is a young accountancy firm who focus on profiling their team on social media. Creating a familiarity with their audience on and offline.

If you would like more in-depth assistance with content creation, management or 121 training, don’t hesitate to get in touch. We offer a range of services that can be tailored to your requirements.