Take Your Marketing Online!

Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk brings a comprehensive eye to accounting marketing and communicates its online transition in language that is easy to understand and apply. She is widely recognized as a go-to expert in the industry, having worked as the marketing director for an accounting firm before starting her own successful agency and going on to be named as one of Accounting Today’s Top 100 Most Influential People two years in a row.

Acknowledgments xi

About the Author xiii

1 A Long and Winding Road 1

The Slow Climb 2

Consistency and Commitment Are Key 4

Push Versus Pull Marketing 5

Push Marketing 5

Pull Marketing 5

2 Where Are You Headed? The Importance of a Marketing Plan 11

Building Your Marketing Plan 12

Business Analysis 13

Market Analysis 17

SWOT Analysis 20

Strengths 21

Weaknesses 22

Opportunities 22

Threats 22

Objectives 23

Tactics 24

Now It’s Your Turn 25

3 Your New Front Door: Your Website 27

The New Front Door 27

Let Your Freak Flag Fly 30

The Building Blocks 32

Home 32

Services 33

Industries 33

Profiles 33

Contact 34

News and Articles 35

Resources 35

Other 35

3 Your New Front Door: Your Website—continued Tips to Turbo Charge Your Website 36

Create a Site Map 36

Update Regularly 37

Maintain Some Control 39

Write Dynamic Content 39

Keep Navigation Simple 40

Please the Eye 41

Be Mobile Friendly 42

4 Give to Get: The Power of Thought Leadership 47

Eight Steps to Becoming a Thought Leader 50

1. Define Your Area of Specialization 50

2. Identify the Audience You Want to Reach 51

3. Update Your Personal Information 51

4. Stay Abreast of What Is Happening in Your Area of Expertise 51

5. Follow Other Thought Leaders to See What They Are Doing 52

6. Create and Share Content 52

7. Become a Sought-After Speaker 53

8. Respond Quickly and Follow Through 56

NowGoDo It! 56

5 Content Marketing: Blogging and Beyond 59

First, a Bit of History 59

What Is Content Marketing? 61

Don’t Jump in Just Yet! 62

Blogging 66

Overcoming Obstacles and Making It Work for You 67

Generating New and Interesting Topics 67

We Are CPAs, not Writers! 69

Finding an Audience for New Content 70

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go! 71

6 Reach New Audiences: Social Media 75

A Brief History of Social Media 76

Types of Social Media 76

The Pros of Social Media for Your Accounting Firm 77

6 Reach New Audiences: Social Media—continued The Cons of Social Media for Your Accounting Firm 79

What Do I Do Next? 81

7 Your Most Powerful Network: LinkedIn 87

Why Is It theOne toWatch? 87

Your Profile 88

Recommendations and Endorsements 92

Recommendations 92

Endorsements 92

Your Firm’s LinkedIn Page 93

Making Connections 94

Your Groups 96

Joining 97

Creating 97

Promoting 98

Managing 98

Search Options 99

Other Ways to Use LinkedIn 100

Ads 100

Job or Candidate Search 100

Messages and InMail 101

Paid Versus Free 101

8 The Right Social Media Tool for the Job: Twitter, Facebook, and More 105

It’s Not Just Reports on Lattes and Grandkids 105

Twitter 106

Creating Your Twitter Account 107

Following and Getting Followed 107

What to Tweet 108

Facebook 109

Creating Your Facebook Business Page 110

Getting People to "Like" You 111

What to Post 112

Additional Social Media Platforms and Tools 113

Social Media in the Long Term 114

9 Driving Traffic and Measuring Success: Search Engine Optimization and Analytics 119

Ranking High: SEO 119

The Evolution of SEO 120

Improving Your SEO 121

A Peek Inside Your Site: Analytics 125

Reading the Numbers 126

Audience 128

Acquisition 129

Behavior 130

10 The Future Is Now: There’s No Looking Back 135

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