CPA Practice Advisor - 22

MARKETING YOUR FIRM

Pet Care Clients:

How to Become a Best-In-Breed Accountant
By Becky Livingston

DID YOU KNOW in the U.S. alone, nearly $76 billion dollars is
spent annually on pet expenditures?
If that's not enough to make you
howl at the moon, how about this?
There are TV programs for dogs, a
dog-person's dating app, high-end pet
services (e.g., spas, massages, limo
rides), monitoring tech, and mobile
grooming stations...just for pets!
I can tell, you're drooling.
The opportunities in this space
are limited only by your imagination.
If your firm is considering supporting
pet care and dog walking clients, here
are some fun ways to harness them.

THE PLAN
In order to reach clients in this
space, you need a plan. Here
are seven common marketing steps
with a pet-centric twist to help you
get started.
■ Create a plan. Identify what you're
willing to do to gain these clients.
Will you attend events, speak at
conferences, get involved with causes,
spend money on advertising, create
compelling website content, develop
website landing pages, and more?
If you answered, "Yes!" then keep
reading.
■ Identify your target market geographically and by client type-know who
you want to attract; where they are
located; what type of services they
offer; and identify their pain points.
Becky Livingston has over twenty■ Decide if you need a new brand or
five years' experience in marketing
sub-brand for your existing practice.
and technology in financial services
and engineering firms. She is the
If you'd like a new brand, consider
President and CEO of Penheel
working pets or dogs into the branding
Marketing, a boutique marketing
effort, from the domain name to the
firm specializing in social media
imagery. If it's a sub-brand be sure
and digital marketing for CPAs.
In addition to being a marketto segregate part of your website to
ing practitioner, Becky is also an
the sub-brand with its own content,
adjunct professor, author, and
landing pages, look and feel, and more.
speaker.

22

OCTOBER 2019 ■

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■ Classify the services you want to
offer this particular audience. Will
it be the same services you offer to
other clients, or will it be unique to
this client base?
■ Create blog, social media, and
website content that will draw in
the clients. Also, identify the type
of media they consume to help you
create the content they prefer. Using a
pet- or dog-related, fun call-to-action
will resonate with them too, such as
"Avoid barking up the wrong tree.
Call us today!," "It's meow or never.
Registration is limited!," "Don't be a
fish out of water. Get the tools you
need to succeed.," and "Scrap going
cold turkey. We are here to help."
■ Spend a little to make a lot. Add a
marketing budget to your plan and
spend it wisely. Think strategically
about where your audience spends
time. Then, spend money there. It
might be on websites, or events, social
media, or in magazines.
■ Hussle. Clients are not going to come
knocking on your door because you
hung a sign outside. You have to get
involved and be active in the industry
you want to attract. It's okay, they
don't bite.

WHAT WOULD A MARKETING
CAMPAIGN LOOK LIKE?
In order to have a successful marketing campaign, you must begin at its
end. What is your goal or why are you
doing this? Once that's defined you will
know what you need to do to make it
successful. Here is an example.
■ Goal: Generate 15 leads from the pet
care industry over a period of the next
three months.

■ Audience: Pet Care industry franchisees and small business owners with
revenue between $250,000 - $1 million
in the [name] geographic region.
■ Brand: Main brand with a sub-brand for
the pet-care industry on the existing
site (i.e., unique landing page(s) and
content are needed).
■ Services: Payroll, tax, and software
services.
■ Content topic: Blog article/Checklist
about small business accounting
software tool; case study video/
podcast of existing client's use of our
accounting software tools; plus, a
lead generation page for accounting
software services you provide with
links to the blog and case study. [This
step will be repeated over and over
for each service line and topic you
plan to cover.]
■ Ads/Budget: Spend your budget ($150
- $350) on social media channels, like
Facebook and Instagram, or Google's
display network placement for specific
websites for a two- to three-week
period. The ads would link to your
landing page.
■ Hussle: Research local events you/
your team can get involved with,
such as speaking at the Chamber of
Commerce, attending or sponsoring
a pet-related event, hosting a talk
at the local library or pet-friendly
location, etc. Remember to bring along
a promotional item that "speaks" their
language, such as t-shirts, bandanas,
frisbees/toys, or post-it notes with
a slogan and your brand on it, such
as "Stop chasing your tail. Leave the
accounting to us!"
Now that you have a plan and an
example, avoid the wild goose chase.
Focus your efforts, know your audience
and their pain points, and become a bestin-breed, pet-industry accountant. ■
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