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.

Preface ix 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