Last updated on February 20th, 2024

At RBT CPAs, we believe marketing is a numbers game. Of course, we are partial to numbers, being accountants and all. Still, when it comes to marketing, numbers can show you what’s working, what’s not, where there’s opportunity, and whether your company is on track to meet strategic plans and goals.

Long before putting a clever headline on a communication, our marketing efforts help us analyze and identify geographies, industries, and opportunities to grow our business. Data helps us understand what’s going on inside and outside of our local markets, what’s trending, and how that may impact businesses, non-profits and municipalities in various verticals this year, as well as five and ten years down the road.

It also provides insights into how we can deliver more value to expand upon our existing client relationships, whether that’s through new services or value-added capabilities through partnerships.

Armed with our plan, we start marketing (actually, we just continue as our marketing efforts don’t really have a start or end). Since we’re a professional services firm, our marketing plan and toolkit varies from businesses in other industries (i.e., retail). That’s an important point as there isn’t a one-size-fits all approach to marketing. It has to suit the field you’re in and it has to deliver the numbers that show it’s effectively helping you retain customers and grow income.

Without giving too much away as getting marketing right does give you a competitive advantage, here are some key elements of our marketing toolkit that help us achieve the numbers we set for ourselves and ultimately drive business success:

• A strong, recognizable and consistent brand. It’s important to know what distinguishes your organization in the marketplace and reveals the value proposition for customers. In RBT CPAs’ case, we are a leading accounting firm in the Hudson Valley. No, it’s not flashy, but it’s true. And the practical tone of our brand extends to the experiences our people deliver when interacting with clients, prospects and the community overall. Our people are smart, driven, ethical and professional. They go above and beyond, always, to ensure client expectations are met and exceeded. From the type of people we recruit, hire and retain to the way we interact with our clients and colleagues, RBT CPAs stays true to its brand and what we promise to deliver to our clients.
• Our knowledge of the industries we serve. Like most accounting firms, we pride ourselves on hiring and keeping smart, talented accounting, tax, audit and professional services people. We have annual requirements for ongoing learning and certifications. We also go beyond the numbers to build our knowledge of our clients’ industries – by building relationships with business and industry organizations; presenting at and sponsoring industry events; and sharing what we learn via thought leadership.
• Our knowledge of our clients. Before writing down one number, we take pride in distinguishing our company by really getting to know our clients and potential clients to inform how we can maximize the value we deliver. We host meet and greets. We attend events hosted by our clients and prospects. We do significant research to understand our clients’ past, present and future plans. So, walking into each engagement, we understand our client goals, objectives, and challenges, and ensure our services are customized to meet their specific needs.

This is all well and good, but how does it relate to the numbers we discussed at the start of this article? All of our marketing activities are evaluated to determine our return on each investment. Did we retain, maintain or grow our business by our investment? Which investments are resulting in the greatest ROI? Are there marketing activities that aren’t delivering the results we hoped for and that we should eliminate going forward?

Beyond monetary ROI, we also look at some softer ROI measures in terms of new relationships made, referrals, readership of our online content, elevation, and more. Through a combination of these hard and soft measures, we’re able to build on what’s working to strengthen our marketing strategies and outcomes on a continuous basis.

Just as RBT CPAs takes a smart, strategic and methodical approach to its marketing efforts, we can do the same for your accounting, tax, and auditing needs. Give us a call to see what we can do for you.