Congratulations on taking the time to get your CPA marketing website up and running. At this point you have to determine how to use it to attract more clients. If you're going to "make back" the money you spent building your CPA website you'll need to try to bring in brand new clients every month. An accounting website should only cost you about $600 to $1200 a year so it will only need to entice two or three client to pay for itself. Even an inferior website can achieve that for you, but if you apply the resources to really reach out to your prospects it can do substantially better than that.
That might not seem very difficult at first but there are a number of issues to face. As you strategize you will likely notice that your CPA website isn't the only professional one competing for clients. Although you're ahead of the curve to be among firms with attractive sites, you do need to find a way to stand apart.
Basically, you must have an attractive and useful website, or you just won't get the clients you want. However, simply maintaining a website, unfortunately, isn't enough by itself to get you where you want to be.
Want to know the one component of any successful accounting website? The trick is, make yourself real.
Luckily, it's not hard: you just need a short video.
Why Promotional Video Gets the Job Done
Video is simply the best way to reach out to new clients with your website. The reason for this is that a video helps potential clients feel a personal connection to you. Making this connection overcomes an important hurdle.
Don't misunderstand me. This doesn't mean you need to tell your prospects private information or even be more chummy than you feel. It simply means the prospect needs a sense of who you are as a person - how you dress, what you look like, how much you smile, even how you decorate your office.
It may seem that a short video doesn't give your clients enough time to get a sense of your personality. You'd be surprised, though. People tend to snap to judgment A few seconds is really all it takes (this is the premise of the best-selling book by Malcolm Gladwell, Blink).
Video is so successful that a recent study showed it raises response rates by 4 to 7 times over landing pages with text and images alone (SearchEngineWatch, February 2010).
Taking Them "Behind the Scenes" Works
Video is also effective because it allows your prospects to see what's going on in your real-life office.
It makes people feel more connected to you if they know more about how your office runs and works. It actually makes them feel closer to their service professional. It gives them an immediate "buy-in" to see the staff working at their desks, dealing with clients, and talking to each other in the break room.
Don't get me wrong: they don't want to see you be unprofessional. But they also don't want to just see you on your best behavior for the camera.
The best way to strike the right balance between professional and down-to-earth is to just talk on camera as you would to an acquaintance you really like. Assume you've already made a connection to the person watching the video, and act engaged and friendly. You could even place a picture of a friendly face somewhere off camera that you could look at to remind yourself to relax and be yourself.
Incidentally, this tendency in people is one reason why social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are so successful. These days, we're over saturated with advertising and promotional messages. Take advantage of this human need. If you're not ready to get started with social media, you can still get results by posting a video.
Don't Wait to Establish Trust
If you're looking for new clients every month as the ROI on your website, adding a video is the smart way to go.
In fact, you may get more than you bargained for. Another recent study by BIA/Kelsey found that in some cases 1 in 5 people who view a video will follow up with a call. If you get 10 unique views per week that's 8 extra calls per month.
Even better, folks who do call you already have a measure of loyalty. They've seen your video, they know what your office looks like and who works there - they may even recognize a staff member from around town. In other words, you don't need to sell yourself nearly as hard. Your video has already done that, even before your clients have met you in person.
Making Your Website Work for You
If you've gone so far as to get a professional CPA website, be sure not to waste it. A brief video on your site is the easiest way to squeeze every penny out of your site. A video establishes that personal connection prospects require to take the leap and get in touch with you - making it the smart way to out pace your competitors.
That might not seem very difficult at first but there are a number of issues to face. As you strategize you will likely notice that your CPA website isn't the only professional one competing for clients. Although you're ahead of the curve to be among firms with attractive sites, you do need to find a way to stand apart.
Basically, you must have an attractive and useful website, or you just won't get the clients you want. However, simply maintaining a website, unfortunately, isn't enough by itself to get you where you want to be.
Want to know the one component of any successful accounting website? The trick is, make yourself real.
Luckily, it's not hard: you just need a short video.
Why Promotional Video Gets the Job Done
Video is simply the best way to reach out to new clients with your website. The reason for this is that a video helps potential clients feel a personal connection to you. Making this connection overcomes an important hurdle.
Don't misunderstand me. This doesn't mean you need to tell your prospects private information or even be more chummy than you feel. It simply means the prospect needs a sense of who you are as a person - how you dress, what you look like, how much you smile, even how you decorate your office.
It may seem that a short video doesn't give your clients enough time to get a sense of your personality. You'd be surprised, though. People tend to snap to judgment A few seconds is really all it takes (this is the premise of the best-selling book by Malcolm Gladwell, Blink).
Video is so successful that a recent study showed it raises response rates by 4 to 7 times over landing pages with text and images alone (SearchEngineWatch, February 2010).
Taking Them "Behind the Scenes" Works
Video is also effective because it allows your prospects to see what's going on in your real-life office.
It makes people feel more connected to you if they know more about how your office runs and works. It actually makes them feel closer to their service professional. It gives them an immediate "buy-in" to see the staff working at their desks, dealing with clients, and talking to each other in the break room.
Don't get me wrong: they don't want to see you be unprofessional. But they also don't want to just see you on your best behavior for the camera.
The best way to strike the right balance between professional and down-to-earth is to just talk on camera as you would to an acquaintance you really like. Assume you've already made a connection to the person watching the video, and act engaged and friendly. You could even place a picture of a friendly face somewhere off camera that you could look at to remind yourself to relax and be yourself.
Incidentally, this tendency in people is one reason why social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter are so successful. These days, we're over saturated with advertising and promotional messages. Take advantage of this human need. If you're not ready to get started with social media, you can still get results by posting a video.
Don't Wait to Establish Trust
If you're looking for new clients every month as the ROI on your website, adding a video is the smart way to go.
In fact, you may get more than you bargained for. Another recent study by BIA/Kelsey found that in some cases 1 in 5 people who view a video will follow up with a call. If you get 10 unique views per week that's 8 extra calls per month.
Even better, folks who do call you already have a measure of loyalty. They've seen your video, they know what your office looks like and who works there - they may even recognize a staff member from around town. In other words, you don't need to sell yourself nearly as hard. Your video has already done that, even before your clients have met you in person.
Making Your Website Work for You
If you've gone so far as to get a professional CPA website, be sure not to waste it. A brief video on your site is the easiest way to squeeze every penny out of your site. A video establishes that personal connection prospects require to take the leap and get in touch with you - making it the smart way to out pace your competitors.