What's the right balance between the "pound of sound" that modern digital marketing produces and the old classics of traditional marketing? The best result is to pursue a balanced, integrated strategy that fits your market, your budget and delivers the message to the most potential buyers in the way that they prefer. Article examines digital marketing successes at Brown Smith Wallace, a St. Louis based accounting firm, while cautioning about putting all of a firm's resources totally into the new wave of digital media.
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1. Getting the Right Balance: That Modern Digital Marketing Sound
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Getting the Right Balance: That Modern Digital Marketing Sound
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Posted by The Chief Outsider on Thu, Aug 23, 2012 @ 05:28 PM
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Our guest blogger Mike Bowlan is principal, director of marketing at Brown Smith Wallace
Outsiders
When you think about how modern day CPA and other professional service firms are "going
to market", it’s much like the takeover of music by digital recording. Many think digital
marketing is THE way, the new Mecca (Records). There’s no question that you can put out a
pound of productive marketing sound with digital marketing. But, as many very talented
musicians have cautioned, don’t forget the value of analog. Traditional marketing still has its
place, particularly the often, overlooked basics.
Digital Marketing Is Transforming Firms Marketing
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Firms have ramped up their inbound marketing, taken deep dives into social media marketing, optimized their websites to the hilt,
and scrubbed their CRM systems to as squeakily clean a point as they can get. Digital marketing has definitely gone to the top of Getting Naked With Patrick
the charts. Lencioni
All these tools help a professional services firm improve its marketing. They provide ways to more fully leverage intellectual Jersey Cool - Tech Meetup in
capital and professional networking. The more digital marketing is leveraged, the better the chances are for success. And, the Hoboken, NJ
more accounting and other firms are pushed into these areas by the marketplace and their marketers, the more likely they are to
thrive and survive. Don't Get Too Fat and Happy
Success In St. Louis Getting the Right Balance:
That Modern Digital
Certainly, I’ve been pushing my firm to get into digital marketing since I came to St. Louis five years ago. When I arrived, we were Marketing Sound
doing a lot of print ads, a lot of mundane administrative and party planning types of support for events and not a whole lot of
digital. We didn’t have a strategic plan. Since then, we’ve cut way down on our ads, and have redirected those funds and efforts Once Burned,Twice Shy:
to our much more cost effective online marketing, social media, SEO, video and CRM efforts. While doing so we’ve reduced the CEOs Aren't Quick To Trust
budget from 4 to 3% of revenue but we’ve got much more muscle in it so that as our results increase and the economy improves, CMOs?
we will be able to increase our spend supported by our improved ROI.
Overcoming Team Building
We’ve made huge progress. By the end of the month, we will have a site whose technology finally matches the robust content Resistance
we’ve been stocking it with in recent years. We’ve entered the social media age with a bit of a bang through Kyle’s CPA Video
Mid-Size CEOs: What Can A
Blog, a humorous, atypical approach to accounting and tax news. The latest edition tackles Health Care Reform and can be seen
CMO Do For You?
here. Our CRM system has recently been truly revolutionized through some cool tools, like eGrabber, and we’ve finally
assembled most of our clients and prospects emails into the system. What To Do When Your
Sales Are Up But Your
I am pleased to say that it’s working. Last year, we were recognized as the second fastest growing firm nationally in our revenue
Profits Aren't?
category by INSIDE Public Accounting. Through the first half of 2012, we’ve grown over 10%. In the last two years, we have
provided services to 40% of the top 50 private companies in St. Louis and 31 of the top 40 publicly traded companies. Seven CEO Strategies: A/B Testing:
years ago we didn’t serve any public companies or nearly as many large private companies. What is it and Why is it
Important?
Humorous Videos Are Working
How Do Successful CEOs
Specifically, regarding Kyle’s videos, they’ve had over 4,500 views to date. Our website traffic has increased more than 30% in a
Make SEO Expenses Pay
YOY comparison with the introduction of his vlogs. Our repeat visits increased over 70% in that same comparable period. During
Off?
June, when we introduced the third episode, 14% of our website visitors came because of Kyle’s vlog and nearly 84% of these
http://www.chiefoutsiders.com/blog-0/bid/89856/Getting-the-Right-Balance-That-Modern-Digital-Marketing-Sound[8/31/2012 3:03:19 PM]
2. Getting the Right Balance: That Modern Digital Marketing Sound
were new visitors. In addition to having been featured in CPA Trendlines on two occasions, we have also received home page
coverage from CPA Practice Advisor, appeared in Accounting Today and Accounting Tomorrow and been featured twice in The
Summa Blog of Professor David Albrecht, one of Accounting Today’s top 100 most influential people. Kyle’s vlog was also
featured in the Hinge Marketing Agency’s blog post, “Top Ten Branding Ideas for Professional Services Firms,” and, is soon to be Most Popular Posts
the subject of an article in the “Marketing Ideas for CPAs” blog, BBR Marketing.
Growth Opportunity: The
We have other digital marketing developments coming, including a serious video channel on key business issues. These will Demand Chain
include overviews and more detailed descriptions on video of how we can help solve the issues so we can provide video
information for prospects at different levels of the sales funnel. 3 Top Sources of Strategic
Marketing Insights
Can Firms Live On Digital Alone?
Planning Season Kick-off:
No, nor should they be covering their ears to all the clamor. There is much more firms could do, including involving Marketing in "Hope Is Not A Strategy" - J.
marketing to clients, integrating marketing and business development, whether BD be the partners and/or a BD team, and Rootes
managing referrals with a system. Most importantly, you need to have a plan, a focus, targets, integrated marketing and business
development efforts, a managed sales process, people who will network and follow up, and valid email addresses in your CRM Four Must-Have Strategists
system. Every CEO Needs
It continues to amaze me that people who are all about processes can’t see why they make sense for their marketing and The Five Frogs of Mid-Size
business development efforts. And, when you get down to it, it’s the basic blocking and tackling of marketing that makes for Company Marketing
success. So, yes, digital marketing is fantastic. But, no, it isn’t, nor should it be, all there is.
7 Tactics for Customer
Finding The Right Balance Closeness
Certainly, the reach and ROI of digital marketing is compelling. But before jumping face first into the marketing mosh pit, you Mobile Marketing Strategy or
might ask: What is digital marketing replacing or eliminating in accounting marketing programs and budgets? The answer should “How Did They Know I was
be many programs, but mostly to a degree, not to extermination. Or, you might ask, what’s not working that used to? Well, for the Hungry?”
most part, a lot still does; again, it’s a matter of degree.
CEOs: Getting Business
We’ve moved our most costly marketing budget items from heavy print advertising to other areas. The effort and financial "From Here to There"
investments now go into online marketing, SEO, videos, CRM and other technologies. We’ve increased our reach, our ROI and,
The CEO and the 9th Deadly
at the same time, cut our budget while making this transition. But, we haven’t totally eradicated what we used to do. In fact, we
Marketing Sin
recently won an engagement directly from a print ad.
5 Ways to Stay Customer-
I wholeheartedly endorse the digital marketing evolution. I just would caution people about banking all their marketing dollars
solely on the new wave, just as they shouldn’t ignore it and hope it goes away. The most effective marketing is integrated -- Focused and Strategically
strategically and tactically -- and inclusive, involving every conceivable marketing tool and technique that makes sense for your Relevant
strategy and targets and your time and financial budgets. And, for most firms that will mean increasing their digital marketing
spend.
But, if you don’t lay down a good basic track, all the special effects and mixes won’t rock the house. It’s important to get the
balance right. So, if you are a professional services firm looking at digital marketing, my advice is: Posts by category
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Our guest blogger Mike Bowlan is principal, director of marketing at Brown Smith Wallace, an accounting, tax and business
advisory firm in St. Louis. Mike has over 30 years experience as an inside executive and a consultant to accounting, consulting CEO Motivation (5)
and law firms, from startups to the professions’ leaders. He can be reached at 314.983.1207. CEO Perspectives (10)
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http://www.chiefoutsiders.com/blog-0/bid/89856/Getting-the-Right-Balance-That-Modern-Digital-Marketing-Sound[8/31/2012 3:03:19 PM]