Should a Professional Services Firm Engage in Digital Marketing

Does it make sense for busy professionals – such as accountants, lawyers, engineers, recruiters, insurance agents and the like – to spend the time and money on digital marketing?

The answer is:  absolutely.  Though it may often prove difficult to transfer expertise or convey a sense of the working relationship online, professional services firms should definitely consider maintaining a website and engaging in multiple digital marketing and media strategies.  

The ability to present thought leadership and increase the likelihood of getting found by prospective clients are proof of the positive results of a robust digital marketing program.

Learning and Leading on LinkedIn
LinkedIn, of course, is the go-to resource for professional networking.  The maintenance of a solid, robust profile, as well as a competent, up to date Company Page (see ours here), can help portray expertise to the widest professional network on the Internet.  LinkedIn counts over 300 million members in over 200 countries and territories.

LinkedIn can help a professional services firm navigate the digital landscape by allowing the firm and its founders, partners, and employees to iterate – try something and see what kind of response it receives. If a post receives feedback, publish similar posts.  If an InMail does not lead to a positive response, change the subject line or level language and try again.

See another example: The LinkedIn Company Page for Frontline Source Group, a Dallas-based staffing agency and recruiting firm.

LinkedIn can be a great way to perform testing of digital strategies, to see what works for the firm.  Some of these tactics include, but are not limited to:

•    Blogging - using the LinkedIn Publisher feature
•    Microblogging – posting updates and measuring engagement, similar to Twitter
•    Email – using the InMail feature, to test what messages resonate with prospects
•    Paid advertising – testing various paid advertising products, including promoted posts, display or banner ads, and text ads

As with any strategy, the ability to track and measure results is imperative.  Professional services firms already do this for their business, and so this would be a natural fit.

The Soapbox
One of the largest concerns with professional services marketing is content:  what exactly should be shared or expressed online?  What would be considered appropriate – or even legal? Content marketing as a way of avoiding legal or ethical challenges is not fun. Rather, the goal of blogging, messaging, commenting and sharing is to engage readers and hopefully capture the interest of prospects.   

The decision to spend time on content marketing and blogging is difficult, as even CEOs and other business leaders are still figuring out the best way to carry out this increasingly important marketing process.But the good news is that as content builds, the site is being optimized for search, and after a few months, the firm and its professionals can enjoy higher discovery, more clickthroughs, and multiple inquiries on the Contact page.  

Joining the Conversation – and Connecting Strategies
Thought leadership is what separates one expert from another online, and a highly regarded blog can make all the difference. As individuals consume the Web with more specific intent, users are increasingly typing in longer phrases, questions, and search strings.  For instance, users will type a legal question in the Google or Bing search bar.  A law firm’s blog that can anticipate and address such expected questions or specific legal terms is sure to get found more quickly. In fact, some professional services firms use Google’s organic keyword search tools to make a decision on paid search – amplifying their visibility and a likelihood of a click and a formal inquiry.  

These thought leadership efforts can be boosted by syndicating the content with links published to the practice’s social channels, like Twitter, Facebook, or Google+ - and of course, LinkedIn – and any email newsletters or alerts distributed by the practice. In this way, the digital marketing process is made more efficient, as efforts and results from one strategy or campaign can be carried over to another.

Final Thought:  A professional services firm should have a digital presence for several reasons, perhaps starting with an individual’s profile page on LinkedIn as a good way to test the digital marketing waters. Thought leadership drives engagement via several channels, and getting found based on insights and expertise will serve the firm well.

ChangeU: For your independent study…

Small Business on LinkedIn http://smallbusiness.linkedin.com/
LinkedIn’s Small Business Resource Center, with links to sales, marketing, and recruiting solutions using the social network.  

McKinsey to Professional Services: “Huge ROI From Social Media” http://bit.ly/1C4fSr7
A blogpost on global consulting firm McKinsey’s view on professional services firms and social media.

B2B Growth in the Digital Age http://pwc.to/1C4fWqW
A series of videos produced by consulting firm PwC on the differences between B2B and B2C marketing.

CATEGORIES:

# digitalexe

References

3 Content Marketing Trends That Will Rule 2018

2015 TechTarget Media Consumption Report: Guided by content – How IT buying teams navigate through the research and purchasing process