5 Myths About Digital Marketing for Accounting Firms

Digital marketing can be exciting, intimidating, convenient, and confusing – all at once. But those are just emotional responses. Digital marketing is a very effective strategy for accounting and advisory firms of all sizes. So let’s dispel some of those myths you might be hearing about digital marketing.

Myth #1: Digital Marketing Is Easy to Implement 

Digital marketing has a wide variety of benefits, but never assume that it’s “easier” than traditional marketing.

In fact, some might say that digital marketing is more complex and more time-consuming.

Digital marketing often requires technical skill sets that must be learned. People often get a false impression that digital marketing strategies are as simple as posting on social media platforms. 

All types of marketing, whether digital or not, require a solid understanding of marketing principles. The most effective digital marketers have a deep understanding of the underlying traditional marketing strategies. They’re able to leverage the tracking and analytics that digital provides to refine performance.

It’s important to strike the right balance though and avoid becoming overwhelmed.

Myth #2 - Because Digital Marketing Is Constantly Changing, You Can Skip Any Education or Training 

There will always be new advancements in digital marketing. However, it would be foolish to say that you don’t need to continue learning.

You can avoid being left behind by committing to continuous learning when it comes to your digital marketing education.

As a general rule, you should try to stay one step ahead of your competitors and your consumers. That means providing digital services for your customers that they don’t even realize they need yet. 

Monitoring your competition will enable you to ensure you’re providing any and all new offerings that they are providing.

But remember, knowing the latest industry trend is NOT the same as knowing your customer. Sometimes the industry, or technology, may be changing, but that doesn’t mean your consumers are automatically changing too.

These consumers need you to meet the needs they currently have, not the ones they will have.

Some changes in the digital marketplace take longer to become industry standard than others.

Look for platforms that are not new, but that are starting to gain traction in the market. Is more than 10% of your target market using the technology or platform? If so, consider whether you should make plans to adopt it.

Myth #3 - Digital Marketing Can’t Be Trusted

All digital platforms have their problems. After all, there is no perfect marketplace, and online is no exception. 

The following are a few key ad fraud statistics according to Business of Apps:

• 28% of web traffic comes from non-human actors. The overall cost of ad fraud is as much as $66 billion.
• In 2017, digital advertisers were losing $39 million per day.
• One study found that 69% of brands spending $1 million per month reported that 20% of their budgets was lost to digital ad fraud.

If all you can see are the attempts to deceive or invade privacy, like spam, bots, pop-up ads, etc., you’re missing the bigger picture about digital marketing strategy. 

Good digital marketing strikes the right balance of value and education to help the target audience solve a problem. 

This is accomplished through white papers, studies, webinars, videos, and email sequences. 

Digital marketing is immediate, invaluable, with convenient messages from which marketers will always benefit more than they lose. 

When it comes to digital marketing, the pros far outweigh the cons.

Myth #4 - You Should Do Whatever the “Gurus” Say

A wise person learns from other people’s mistakes and successes. But just because a “guru” had success, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen for you. 

Although many Internet gurus are fine examples of successful digital marketing strategies, never “copy & paste” their situation onto yours. Gurus have their own style, purpose, and agenda. So don’t blindly take their word for everything.

Myth #5 - We have a Website [or Social Media Account]. Our digital marketing is done.

Just because you have a website for your firm doesn't mean that you can tick off the box for digital marketing. Ditto goes for having a Google listing, a Facebook company page, a LinkedIn profile, etc.

To put these into traditional marketing terms, consider your website to be a brochure. 

You spent a lot of time having a “brochure” built for your firm. The brochure is glossy, with beautiful pictures, and vital information about your firm, your partners, and what you do.

However if the brochure never gets distributed, or if it gets glanced over and then put on a shelf, then the brochure has failed. 

Think of your digital marketing the same way. These platforms should not exist as stand-alone activities. They should be integrated with each other, and with any traditional marketing that you do offline. 

Your digital marketing needs to:

• Create a dialogue between your firm and your target client.
• Integrate blogs, social channels, emails, landing pages, webinars, videos, and so on.
• Consider your SEO and paid advertising to drive traffic to your websites.

Wondering Where to Start?

If you’re resistant to, frustrated with, or ambivalent about digital marketing, it’s time to re-evaluate your stance. Your business will only benefit after you stop believing the myths about digital marketing. If you are not sure where to start with digital marketing for your accounting or advisory firm, you have come to the right place. The marketing experts at Fixyr are ready to use our skills and experience to take your firm to the next level. To learn more, START HERE!