6 Tips for Email Marketing for Accounting Firms

Would you like to find out how to generate five figures of business every time you send an email to your list of subscribers? It’s entirely possible; I do it all the time and you can too. Email marketing is one of the most overlooked and underutilized marketing options in our profession. Here’s how to get more out of it.

Re-label your topic

Very few people want to sign up for an accounting newsletter and read about debits and credits. But small business owners want to earn more profits, individuals want to build their wealth, and accounting staff want to excel in their careers. Focus on profits, wealth, and success, and you’ll have lots of people reading your emails.

Build your following

Add at least one lead magnet to your website with a gated opt-in so you can add people to your list. A lead magnet is typically a piece of content marketing that educates your client on an issue related to your services. It should be enticing and focus on how your clients can build their profits, wealth or success. Examples could be “Ten things to know to protect your wealth when going through a divorce,” “Five tips to speed up your cash flow,” or “How to maximize your social security payout.”

Be consistent

Continue to send clients your top tips, news, and inspiration. (Don’t underestimate the inspiration piece.) Once you have delivered value to your list, you have earned the right to “pitch” them.

Make the pitch

Most accountants don’t do this step, and this is where the payoff is! Send an email that describes your services and includes a call to action at the end. It can be a soft pitch, like “December is a great time of year to consider a new payroll system if you are unhappy with your current solution.” Or it can be hard, like “Act by February 1 and get 15% off your tax return preparation services.”

Maintain a healthy ratio

The number of value-added emails vs straight pitches should be 3 to 1, 4 to 1, or even better, 5 to 1. You don’t want to have too many people unsubscribing because you’re too salesy (although that’s hardly a problem in our profession).

Monitor your success

There are a couple of metrics you can measure your email marketing ROI with. One is by tracking the calls that come in or the appointments that get set as a direct result of an email pitch. Another is your open rate. This is the percentage of people who open your emails and read them. The standard for accounting newsletters is 15 percent. If you follow the content ideas above, you will average roughly 30 percent. The higher the number of loyal clients on your list, the higher your open rate. The more low quality leads on your email list, the lower the open rate will be.

Try these tips to profit from email marketing.

Firm Management