CHAPTER 6

Reach New Audiences: Social Media

I do quite a bit of speaking on various accounting marketing topics, and nothing elicits as many eye-rolls as the topic of social media. Until recently, at each engagement I would have more than one accountant argue with me that it was a temporary phenomenon, something that would fade away over time. (Some said the same thing about email back in the day, too, and look what happened there.)

If you are one of the people who views social media with a hefty dose of skepticism, I have bad news for you: it’s not going away. In fact, it is becoming more and more integrated into our daily lives, and I expect its impact and use will continue to grow. Undoubtedly, it will evolve over time, and the platforms we use may change (anyone remember MySpace?), but social media as a method of communication is not going anywhere.

In this chapter, we will discuss social media from its humble beginnings to how it has grown to become a part of our daily lives, focusing on its pros and cons and how your firm can use it to increase awareness and grow.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF SOCIAL MEDIA

For some people, social media seems like a relatively new thing, but it’s actually been around longer than you may realize. Back in 1997, a site called SixDegrees allowed users to create profiles and list friends much like Facebook does today, thus becoming the very first social network. In the early 2000s, sites like Friendster and MySpace joined the fray, and in 2003, LinkedIn started as the first business-oriented social networking site. SecondLife and Facebook started in 2004. Twitter joined the mix in 2006, and from that point on social media use has skyrocketed. People simply like having a way to connect to others, reach out to long lost friends, brag about their kids, and communicate from the convenience of their own homes. Sure they’ve long been able to do that via telephone, but with social media they can reach huge numbers at once and “talk” at will without ever having to pause for that pesky listening part that’s more obviously necessary in a reciprocal conversation. And don’t forget the advantage of being able to post, tweet, or message at any hour of the day or night that’s convenient for the sender. You can’t call most of your friends at 4 a.m. to chat just because you can’t sleep. But if you approach your midnight socializing through social media, you won’t disturb anyone, and you’re sure to find plenty of friends or strangers similarly afflicted and ready to mingle when you are. With the influx of mobile technology, social media use has expanded even more because we can now photograph our weekend exploits and immediately share them with our friends from our phones. Although it has been argued, quite successfully, that social media has created a generation of people who live online in lieu of face-to-face interaction, its success is indisputable.

It didn’t take long for marketing managers at major brands to realize that social media held opportunity for them as well. Obviously LinkedIn was created for this purpose, but business pages quickly started cropping up on the more social sites as well. Many argued that no one would follow a company page, but that was quickly proven wrong when people started signing up for their updates in droves. Promotions and coupons may have helped attract the budget-conscious, but many people were also simply interested in learning more about the companies and brands they used every day. You might not see the appeal of voluntarily connecting with corporate pages, but if social media pages for businesses didn’t work, we would have seen them fade away a long time ago.

TYPES OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Let’s clarify: Social media is the collection of online communications channels dedicated to community-based input, interaction, content sharing and collaboration. Websites and applications dedicated to forums, microblogging, social networking, social curation, and wikis are among the different types of social media.1 It is a very big umbrella, so I’ll define each of the descriptors I just mentioned.

  • Forums. A discussion board (known also by various other names such as “discussion group,” “discussion forum,” “message board,” and “online forum”) is a general term for any online “bulletin board” where you can leave and expect to see responses to messages you have left (for example, AmericanExpress OPEN Forum).2

  • Microblogging. A web service that allows the subscriber to broadcast short messages to other subscribers of the service (for example, Twitter).3

  • Social networking. The use of dedicated websites and applications to interact with other users or to find people with interests similar to one’s own (for example, Facebook).4

  • Social curation. The collaborative sharing of Web content organized around one or more particular themes or topics (for example, Reddit or Pinterest).5

  • Wikis. A server program that allows users to collaborate in forming the content of a Web site. The term comes from the word “wikiwiki,” which means “fast” in the Hawaiian language (for example, Wikipedia).6

As social media sites have grown and evolved, many include some way to use all of the sharing options listed, or at least most of them.

THE PROS OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR ACCOUNTING FIRM

There are many reasons for an accounting firm to use social media in its marketing mix. It’s relatively easy to get started, it’s one of the less expensive ways to generate awareness of your firm, and it’s a way for you to meet and communicate with less effort than in person. Not good enough? Consider the things social media lets you do:

  • Clearly define your practice areas and industry niches so you can communicate directly to potential clients. Much like your website or other marketing materials, you control the message and positioning of your firm on your social media sites. This is a great place for you to reinforce what you do and who you serve and use lots of keywords and phrases that will help your ideal clients find you. You can even create industry- or service-specific pages for a more targeted approach.

  • Share your expertise and position yourself and your firm as thought leaders in your industry on a consistent and regular basis. If you are creating content for your firm, social media is one of the best methods of sharing it with your audiences. You don’t want every topic on which you write to point back to your firm, but adding your own content to your stream will allow followers to read it and, even better, share it with their followers. If an article is particularly compelling, it can go far and wide in a very short time as others share it on their various networks, where still more readers find and share it in ever-expanding circles. This is what is often referred to as “going viral.” Before you know it, you get a comment or a “like” from someone you really want to meet, and it was social media that opened that door for you. On top of that, you might be surprised to learn how many people start their research via social media rather than conducting a broader search when looking for the latest news and information. This is because information on social media pages is fresher and more topical. These platforms make a perfect medium for sharing your expertise with those who are interested, and if you are consistent and responsive, over time you will begin to be recognized as a thought leader.

  • Build relationships with clients, prospects, and referral sources quickly. You may be surprised to learn how much more open people are on social media than they are in person. This is particularly true of Twitter, which has one of the lowest barriers to entry and allows nearly anyone to reach out to you if you are willing. I’ve chatted with people on Twitter whom I would have never been able to reach via phone or email. It simply wouldn’t happen. This includes leaders in the accounting industry as well as the reporters who cover it. I can easily follow firms from all over the country, and the world, and quickly see what they are concerned about and read what they think is important enough to share. It can give you access to industry movers and shakers like no other method.

  • Small to mid-size firms can affordably build broad awareness by creating and maintaining a strong social media presence. One of the beauties of social media is that it somewhat levels the playing field and gives smaller firms as much access to the same potential clients as larger firms. It’s not about who has the bigger budget like with more traditional advertising or direct mail. It’s more about consistency, time investment, and who is sharing the best information.

  • Network with others in your field and stay on top of new trends, hot topics, and interesting ways to expand your business. We don’t always have the time to pick up the phone and call a colleague across the country for a quick question or to share a fun fact. But it takes a few seconds to send them a note or tag them in a post on social media. Because literally millions (or billions depending on the platform you are using) are doing this, it is one of the best places to find the latest information on nearly any topic, including accounting. In fact, more often than not, nowadays Twitter is getting the scoop on breaking news before the real news sites. It behooves you to do a bit of research to make sure what you are seeing is completely accurate, but often it is.

The skeptics still out there need to understand that social media is certainly more than just people sharing photos of their lunch; it can be an effective and powerful tool for accounting firms. I have to admit I felt a nice sense of validation when I read an article recently from Business Insider claiming that “90% of customers will recommend brands after social media interaction.”7 Admittedly, the study was looking at consumer brands and not professional services firms, but the underlying tenet still holds true. Those clients, prospects, and referral sources that have interacted—or, even better, interact on a regular basis—with you online are much more likely to recommend your services to their friends and colleagues. Whether or not you share it, they feel a personal connection with you and your firm because of these interactions. They derive a sense that they know you and that you are responsive to them, both of which make them more likely to work with you and tell their friends they should work with you, too. And because referrals and recommendations are the biggest source of new business for professional services firms, doesn’t it seem like a good idea to do something that leads to more of them?

THE CONS OF SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR ACCOUNTING FIRM

It is important to remember that social media is indeed “social.” Unlike some of the “push” items we discussed in chapter 2, this is two-way communication at its best. The idea is to create conversations, add comments, and discuss ideas. If all you plan to do is toss up your own material, you won’t be using the tool effectively. The goal is to truly communicate, and this requires that you, or someone at your firm, monitor your posts, respond when people comment or ask a question, and even start your own conversations from time to time. Here are a few other things to consider:

  • You have to maintain control. Some would argue that full control of your pages isn’t possible, and I don’t completely disagree. But a responsible businessperson will certainly take every chance to make sure the company’s pages are locked down as much as possible and managed by a small handful of people. Too many firms create a page and give the intern the reins to run free. Although I’m sure the intern is very conscientious, most people under the age of 30 have a very different idea of privacy than those of us who have been around a bit longer. (See the section that follows on creating a social media policy.) It is vital to inform anyone who is posting to your pages what is and is not acceptable. Others should monitor the pages to make sure nothing untoward is showing up. On top of that, keep in mind that the social nature of these networks means that others can post on your page at any time and say anything they want. This also needs to be monitored closely so you can quickly respond or remove anything that could harm your reputation or brand.

  • Consistency is required. There is no arguing here; you simply must be consistent with your posts and responses. If you aren’t responding to clients and prospects who are posting questions to your Facebook page, it’s the same as ignoring someone who is speaking directly to you. No one likes to be ignored, and, in essence, that is what you are doing. It’s also important to add new information regularly to keep relationships fresh and to fulfill your role of thought leader. You can’t take a six-month break and expect to step back into that position; by then someone else has stepped into the spotlight, and you are unlikely to get it back.

  • It takes time to build an audience. Building a social media presence and adding tons of followers doesn’t happen overnight. I don’t care what the ads in your inbox say about gaining thousands of followers quickly; don’t fall for their siren song! Keep in mind it’s more about quality than quantity, too. You want people who care about what you have to say, not a bunch of random strangers crowding your feeds. If you play by the rules, follow interesting people, post good content, and conduct conversations with your followers, you will grow your audience organically with the right kind of people and thus reap the rewards of your efforts.

WHAT DO I DO NEXT?

Like almost anything in life, there are pros and cons to using social media at your firm. In the next few chapters, I will discuss some of the specific platforms you will want to consider, and I’ll give you tips and tricks for getting the most from your efforts.

You Need a Social Media Policy8

We all like to think that everyone who works for our firms is knowledgeable about what can and can’t be shared publicly. We also want to believe they are polite and thoughtful and would never say something disparaging or careless. But as one sad story after another proves, this isn’t always the case. So it is important to create a solid social media policy for your firm and train your staff on it. Having a carefully designed social media policy in place isn’t only a matter of establishing standards for politeness; it’s necessary if you wish to legally protect your firm and its actions.

Much of business behavior is so entrenched in the culture that it’s learned automatically and taken more or less for granted. One wears shoes. One shakes hands. One is especially polite to one’s clients and supervisors. Social media, however, has thrown a bit of a wrench into the mix. This is partly due to its fairly recent appearance on the business scene. Without decades (if not centuries) to evolve, the emerging technologies and their capabilities haven’t yet resulted in a widely accepted protocol.

As you think about creating your own policy, be aware that most social media policies cover the following areas:

  • Strategy and explanation. Talk briefly about why your firm is on social media and the platforms you are using as part of this plan.

  • Chain of command. Identify who is ultimately in charge of your social media presence as well as any others who will be participating in the process. Define the responsibilities of each role and include information on how adverse issues should be addressed.

  • What to say and what NOT to say. What may seem like common sense to you may not be for everyone, so clearly define what can and can’t be said on social media. Is it ever appropriate to mention clients on your pages? Are funny posts off limits or welcome fodder? Your firm’s personality may dictate some of what is allowed, but never assume that everyone at your firm feels the same way about content as you do.

  • The Internet never forgets. Everything you say online, even in protected space, can be found and is there forever. Period. Facebook stores every post ever made. The Library of Congress is cataloging tweets. Stress the importance of thinking twice before making a comment or sharing questionable information. It can come back to bite you.

  • Follow the rules about sharing. Social media is all about sharing content, but there are right and wrong ways to do it. Proper attribution is important when sharing information created by others. You wouldn’t want others stealing from you, so make sure that no one at your firm steals from others.

  • Business versus personal use. Here’s where things get a little hairy. Do you know when social media speech is personal, and thus protected by constitutional rights, and when is it representative of the company’s official position? At what point does social media speech become an offense for which you can fire someone? It’s critical to look into all the angles and cover as many scenarios as you can possibly imagine so that you don’t find yourself on the wrong side of the law with future company actions. Consider these two episodes reported by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which is finding itself increasingly involved with incidents relating to social media use.9

“A construction contractor fired five employees after several of them appeared in a YouTube video complaining of hazardous working conditions. Following an investigation, the NLRB regional office issued complaint. As a hearing opened, the case settled, with the workers receiving full back pay and declining reinstatement.”

“After a work-related incident, an employee criticized her supervisor in a post on Facebook, which prompted other employees to reply to the posting. The employee was suspended the next day and later fired. The NLRB issued a complaint alleging the employee was unlawfully fired for engaging in protected concerted activity when she posted on Facebook.”

The company in the Facebook case fired the angry employee based on her violation of their social media policy, which forbade making complaints about supervisors on the internet. They thought they were in the clear. But the NLRB’s charge stated that the policy was unlawful in its inclusion of that rule and several others among the company guidelines.

Social media is a powerful tool for business marketing and communications on all levels and can be plenty of fun. It also provides copious opportunities for making very public faux pas that can do your firm a world of hurt. Make sure that you’re protecting your firm as you’re providing the guidance employees need to successfully navigate the rules. It’s a lot more complicated than requesting good manners. The ins and outs of the law in this area, as in so many others, do not follow the dictum of mere common sense. So create a comprehensive social media policy and thoroughly train every employee on it to become familiar with exactly what is expected and allowed. As you develop and implement the policy, watch where you step to protect your firm. This is one of the cases where you might want to involve a professional to ensure you are on the right path.

Interview: Andrew Rose, Zest Social Media Solutions

In accounting marketing circles, Andrew Rose is considered one of the most knowledgeable people when it comes to online marketing, particularly social media. He is asked to speak regularly at conferences because he has quite a success story to tell about his former employer, Naden/Lean LLC, and its dental practice area in particular.

What made you look into social media as a way to build your firm’s dental service area?

Like many, I was a reluctant social media user and had to be convinced of its worth before jumping in. In 2006, I heard a presentation about blogging, and the light bulb went off. I started our firm’s blog and saw immediate search engine optimization results. I never saw it as a direct sales tool but wanted it to be a resource for those searching for information. With that approach, I was able to develop our reputation as thought leaders, which eventually led Naden/Lean to the position of one of the top three firms in the dental niche nationwide.

Was it hard to convince your partners to buy into it?

Now, many years later, the partners will say they don’t really understand what I did, but the phone rang so they loved it. Most CPAs would prefer to sit in their office putting numbers in boxes. I made their lives easy, and the phone continues to ring. Convincing them to do it was not hard because I was able to bring them business relatively quickly.

What did you do first?

First thing I did was optimize the website. Then I started blogging. As the SEO algorithms evolved, I made sure the site evolved with them. Blogging was an enormous success for us; we have over 160,000 views of those dental blogs.

How did your social media activity grow?

I viewed our social media expansion this way: show me value, and we’ll give it a shot. But even if I wasn’t sure if we would use a platform, I did lock down all of our names on each one. Although there aren’t a lot a lot of unscrupulous firms out there, it’s still possible for someone to take your name. Once it’s gone, it’s hard to get back.

Outside of that, it’s a mixed bag. The best results come from Google platforms because they are used the most for searches. Many people hate Google+, but it does help move the needle on your site’s optimization. LinkedIn is important from a validation point of view. Before most people will call you, they will check you out on LinkedIn. My quick advice there is to have a picture and be smiling in it. And fill out your page as thoroughly as possible. If you don’t have the information on your page that potential clients are expecting to see, it will hurt you.

Twitter is a valuable tool. A lot of the reporters are highly attuned to what is on Twitter. It’s also a great place for you to broadcast your message, share your blog posts, and create awareness. YouTube is another great tool, but I didn’t spend a lot of time on it when I was at Naden/Lean. I would definitely recommend that firms spend time there now and take advantage of it.

When did you feel like it was succeeding?

Almost from day one, but that is not the norm. Partners and others at the firm need to realize and be comfortable with the fact that nearly any marketing efforts can take up to 18 months to return results. If you are looking for immediate results, social media is probably not the place to be.

Can you share an example of some of your results?

I was doing a lot of experimenting with boosted posts [paying a nominal fee to get added exposure to selected audiences for a specific post] on Facebook in March of 2014. I spent $300, which brought in over $24,000 in new business. You don’t have to spend a ton of money to get results. But you also have to be comfortable with the opposite happening and seeing no results too.

What advice do you have for others considering this tactic?

First is to claim your domains, get your firm’s name on all platforms. Next, listen before you speak. See how others are using it. Every platform has a different language and nuance, and you need to learn those before jumping in. Make sure you are adding value to the conversation. Never use social media as a place to give a sales pitch; instead, offer solutions to problems.

1 http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-media

2 http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/discussion-board-discussion-group-message-boardonline-forum

3 http://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/definition/microblogging

4 www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/american_english/social-networking

5 http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/social-curation

6 http://searchsoa.techtarget.com/definition/wiki

7 www.businessinsider.com/90-of-customers-will-recommend-brands-after-social-mediainteractions-2013-7

8 Excerpted from Accounting Today, “A Solid SocialMedia Policy is Essential for Accounting Firms,” September 12, 2012. © 2012 SourceMedia Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission and protected by the copyright laws of the United States. The printing, copying, redistribution, or retransmission of this content without express written permission is prohibited.

9 www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/protected-concerted-activity

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