Six things every accountancy firm should know about content marketing

Content marketing is far from new, of course. As long ago as 2008, revered American author and digital marketing expert, Seth Godin, made his much-quoted declaration that: “Content marketing is all the marketing that’s left.”

But content marketing has really risen to prominence in more recent years, with much traditional marketing simply not worth the effort or investment.

What is content marketing?

The Content Marketing Institute (CMI) defines content marketing as a “strategic marketing approach focused on creating and distributing valuable, relevant and consistent content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience — and, ultimately, to drive profitable customer action.”

The key to success is to become a source of free, relevant, useful content that helps your prospects and customers to solve their problems. Take away their pain or help them to be more successful and they’re more likely to buy your products or services, because they know, like and trust your brand.

Content marketing has become a highly cost-effective way to attract and retain customers, with businesses of all sizes now using it to good effect, including many successful accountancy firms. If you’re still not entirely sold on content marketing, here are a few important things to consider…

1 Everyone’s doing it

Well – almost everyone. About 90% of B2B marketers use content marketing. About three-quarters of those who don’t use content marketing soon plan to. And CMI research suggests that almost two-thirds of users remain “very or extremely committed” to content marketing.

Key take-away >> If your accountancy firm doesn’t use content marketing – you risk losing customers to those that do.

“Each year in the UK, some £5bn is spent on content marketing and research suggests that a quarter of organisations using content marketing found it to be extremely or very successful”

2 Content marketing works

Businesses throughout the world use content marketing because it works. Each year in the UK, some £5bn is spent on content marketing and CMI research suggests that a quarter of UK organisations using content marketing found it to be extremely or very successful, while a further 42% found it successful.

Key take-away >> Content marketing can be a particularly effective way to reach small-business owners, who are notoriously difficult to reach.   

3 Content marketing is highly cost-effective

For a third of the cost, content marketing can generate more than three times as many leads as “outbound marketing” (ie advertising, promotions, PR, etc), while lead conversion rates are reported to be six times higher than other options. And up-front costs can be significantly lower, while providing much better long-term benefits than, paid search advertising, for example.

Key take-away >> Written content can be cheap to buy or produce and it can deliver a far better return on investment.

“Since the Covid-19 lockdown, there’s been a surge in demand from UK SMEs for practical financial advice. If you don’t communicate regularly, your customers may feel unloved and soon go elsewhere”

4 Content marketing can help you to attract and retain customers

It’s much cheaper to sell to existing customers. Content marketing enables you to communicate regularly with them and you can give them helpful information when they need it. Since the Covid-19 lockdown, there’s been a surge in demand from UK SMEs for practical financial advice. If you don’t communicate regularly, your customers may feel unloved and soon go elsewhere. You have been warned.

Key take-away >> Content marketing can enable you to build stronger, longer-lasting relationships with your customers.

5 Content marketing can boost your Google search rankings

Keyword choice and density is, erm, key, of course, but Google also favours website content that displays expertise, authority and trustworthiness. Getting backlinks from other websites makes a big difference, too. Content marketing can also raise your profile on social media, which can also increase your website visitors and ultimately boost your sales.

Key take-away >> If you want to boost your website visitors, content marketing can really help.

“To safeguard your brand, extend your reach and ultimately sell more – never compromise on the quality of your content”

6 Content quality is key

What impression you are left with when you read badly written or presented information? What if there are errors or the advice is poor? Would you share it via your social media channels? Would you buy from such a source? No? Me neither. If you want to succeed, be a source of high-quality content that provides unique value.

Key take-away: To safeguard your brand, extend your reach and ultimately sell more – never compromise on the quality of your content.

In conclusion

Seth Godin’s proclamation isn’t strictly true. Plenty of accountants get work from word-of-mouth recommendations and networking. Paid search and social can also generate leads. But content marketing should be central to how your accountancy firm markets its services, especially in our post-Covid19 world, where businesses are hungrier than ever for regular, reliable advice.

Many accountancy firms (particularly the larger ones) “get it” when it comes to content marketing and some do it very well. But other accountancy firms, usually small ones, don’t do it as well or don’t do it at all, often because they lack time, expertise or don’t believe in content marketing. Who knows how much opportunity they’re missing out on?

• With 15 years’ experience as a leading writer of small-business content, Mark Williams is the founder of Dead Good Content, which specialises in writing cost-effective bespoke and oven-ready content for accountancy firms and others that want to market their services to small businesses.

Six key start-up truths I was reminded of while launching Dead Good Content

Lockdown was a double-edged sword for many of us. Although I enjoyed spending more time with my family and made a reasonable job of homeschooling my six-year-old (despite my appalling maths), work was severely disrupted and I qualified for very little government financial support. 

But I had plenty of thinking time and although for a while I’ve recognised the need to make changes, the lockdown and gloomy economic outlook added much urgency. No business can afford to stand still – the solution is evolution.

Rethink, reposition and rebrand  

With the market having become significantly more crowded since I started writing small-business content 15 years ago, I’ve needed to find a better way to set myself apart and highlight my expertise. So, shortly after lockdown began, I decided it was time to rethink, reposition and rebrand my business.

My ultimate aim is to create something more special, more robust and more entrepreneurial. Something that’s bigger, better and more scalable. The result is Dead Good Content, a brand new small business content agency that will provide accountancy firms and others with a much more cost-effective way to market their services to SMEs by using content marketing.

While setting up Dead Good Content, I was reminded of six key start-up truths…

“Starting a business without speaking to the most important people of all – potential clients – can prove disastrous”

1 Market research in a must

You can learn so much from basic market research. You don’t need to spend lots of money or ask complex questions. But starting a business without speaking to the most important people of all – potential clients – can prove disastrous.

You won’t solve your customers’ problems if you don’t know what those problems are. And things change, so, you must maintain your market knowledge if your new business is to survive and thrive. 

I contacted a sample of target customers, asking their opinions and attitudes on a range of issues via a concise questionnaire. The results gave me confidence in many of my existing ideas, but I was also able to make slight changes to ensure that Dead Good Content could better meet potential customers’ actual needs.

2 Launching a new business takes hard work

For the past 15 years, I’ve constantly written about how easy it is to start a business. Registering a new business is remarkably simple, but if you want it to succeed, you must work hard to lay good foundations and get it off the ground.

There are many tasks to complete, which can take time. Frequently, in recent months, I’ve worked late into the night (after writing or homeschooling all day) or at weekends, whether I’ve been doing market research, designing our corporate ID, writing and building the Dead Good Content website or producing marketing collateral. No pain, no gain. 

“Much depends on what you’re selling and whether you need stock or premises, but you can start a business for very little money”

3 You can still start a business on a shoestring

Another key start-up message I’ve communicated for 15 years. Much depends on what you’re selling and whether you need to buy stock or operate from premises, etc, but you can start a business for very little money.

When starting your own business, you must be prepared to roll up your sleeves and do many things yourself. I would have loved to hire an agency to build our website or create our corporate ID, but I had to minimise my start-up costs, so I did it all myself. I’m fortunate to have those skills. If you don’t, maybe you could swap skills with those who do. Making do with what you have can really help to reduce risk and minimise your start-up costs.

4 Not all ideas are good ones

I’ve had the name, Dead Good Content, for ages. I like it a lot, because it underlines our commitment to quality and says what we do, but it does it with personality. Other ideas have come and gone, because they didn’t work.

I love neon signs, and initially I planned to use a neon-like font for our new logo. A friend and talented graphic designer called Andrew Cothliff created logos for me, which all looked great. But, they didn’t work when used small, so neon was out. We went for a simpler typeface. We also tried different versions of our website, but scrapped them and started again from scratch. You must challenge your own thinking and listen to your gut instinct. And it usually pays to keep things simple.

“When starting your own business, there are people who will help you – often for free. If you trust them, listen to what they tell you and act on it”

5 Honest feedback from trusted sources really helps

I’m lucky to have a great network of friends and some work in media, PR, marketing, advertising, graphics and branding. I value their opinions and sought their advice on everything from our new corporate ID and website to our business model and prices.

Sometimes others see things that you can’t see, because you’re too close. The feedback I received was mostly positive, but changes were recommended. Acting on some of those has made a big difference. When starting your own business, there are people who will help you – often for free. If you trust them, listen to what they tell you and act on it.

6 Starting a new business is exciting

So, after many months of planning and hard work, Dead Good Content is up and running. I’m under no illusion about how much hard work it’s going to take to establish, especially in these uncertain and challenging times. But I’m up for it and initial response has been excellent. And for the first time in a while, I’m really excited about what the future may hold for my business. Life’s too precious to waste doing something that doesn’t excite you.

• With 15 years’ experience as a leading writer of small-business content, Mark Williams is the founder of Dead Good Content, which specialises in producing cost-effective bespoke and readymade content for accountancy firms and other organisations that want to market their services to small businesses.

How to come up with a "dead good" business name

Dead Good Content founder Mark Williams (left) with sisters and brother, Stanley Park, Liverpool, 1976 (clothes models’ own)

Coming up with a good business name remains one of the most enjoyable start-up tasks. I was reminded of that recently, while launching new small-business content agency, Dead Good Content.

Pleasurable as it is, it can be tough and much is at stake. If you get it right, your business name becomes a deadly marketing weapon that distinguishes you from your competitors, tells the world who you are and helps you to attract and retain customers. But get it wrong and it can really hold you back.

“You can always change a businesses name, but it’s better – and cheaper – to get it right at the start”

“Backrub” keywords?

Kabir Chibber, in his BBC News piece, The dark art of choosing a company name, likens new businesses to newborns. “And just like children, the wrong name can scar for life,” he warns. “Imagine if Google had been called BackRub, as in its first incarnation,” he reveals. Imagine indeed.

Before changing name in 1958 to Sony (which is far easier to say), for 12 years the business had been called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo. Global sporting heavyweight Nike (pronounced Ni-key – derived from the Greek goddess of victory) started life as Blue Ribbon Sports.

eBay used to be called AuctionWeb and PayPal was Confinity when launched in 1998. Amazon supremo, Jeff Bezos, considered Awake, Bookmail, Browse and Cadabra as business names, but registered Relentless.com before settling on Amazon. You can always change a businesses name, but it’s better – and cheaper – to get it right at the start.  

Legal restrictions

There are legal restrictions when naming a business. According to government website Gov.uk: “Your name can’t be exactly the same as another registered company’s name.” You can search the Companies House register to find out if your preferred choice is already taken.

And your name: “Can’t contain a ‘sensitive’ word or expression unless you get permission; or suggest a connection with government or local authorities; or include a word that could cause offence.” Companies House provides detailed guidance on legal restrictions when naming a business.

Only limited companies can use the word “limited” in their name, and you can’t suggest national importance (eg British), patronage (eg Royal), special status (eg Association) or function (eg Trust) if it’s not true.

“Linking yourself too closely to a geographic location can limit your ambitions, as can using your own name. And don’t make your business name so obscure that customers will never know what it means”

Mistakes to avoid

Phil Davis, in his entrepreneur.com piece – 8 Mistakes To Avoid When Naming Your Business – likens a business name to a building’s cornerstone. “If it’s off, even just a bit, the rest of the building is off, and the misalignment becomes amplified,” he opines. Asking too many people for their opinions is a bad idea, he says, while making sure those you speak to have a creative outlook, otherwise “your name will end up too literal and descriptive”.

Davis isn’t fond of one-word business names that result from putting part of an adjective in front of a noun (eg “QualiWidgets”), nor words that don’t provide distinction or personality. Linking yourself too closely to a geographic location can limit your ambitions, he warns, as can using your own name. Avoid clichés (eg “Summit, Apex, and so on”), he advises, and don’t “make your business name so obscure that customers will never know what it means”.

Deliberately misspelling your business name to secure a URL isn’t wise, he says, because people won’t find you when entering the correct spelling into Google. And if you pick the wrong name, change it, Davis says, because the problem won’t “magically resolve itself”.

Short and sweet

In his www.123-reg.co.uk blog, 6 top tips for choosing a business name, Tim Fuell reinforces the idea that simplicity is best when naming a business. “Long-winded names are unlikely to become big-hitters,” he argues. “Apple, Dell, Google, Amazon, etc. Short, sharp and simple wins every time. It’s more memorable, easier to write or type and simpler to engage with,” he explains.

When considering business names, think about how easy your preferred options are to say and spell over the phone, particularly when speaking to people in other countries (you also need to consider whether your business name could cause amusement or offence in other languages). Choosing unusual words and spellings can backfire.

Boring is bad

Amusing names work well for some businesses, but they can be a terrible idea for others, as they can make you look unprofessional. You could pick a word that has no apparent meaning, a tactic that worked well for many successful businesses, including Kodak, IKEA and others.

Writing for Forbes.com, Richard Harroch cautions against coming up with business names that are hard to spell. Before making your final choice, he recommends carrying out online research, to see whether you can get the URL you want. Although “boring is bad”, he doesn’t believe in choosing something that’s too “out there”, pick something likely to resonate with target customers.

““Boss” or “sound” hadn’t quite entered the Scouse lexicon back then, great things were “dead good””

Dead Good Content?

So, how did I come up with Dead Good Content, the name of my new small-business content agency? I had the name about 12 months before starting up. Everyone I mentioned it to told me they liked the name (unless they were just being polite).

Quality has always been vital to everything I’ve done professionally and I wanted that to come across loud and clear in my new business name, but not in a predictable or pretentious way. I wanted something more authentic, more down-to-earth  – much more “me”.

So, I thought back to my childhood, as I often do, and asked how I would have described it growing up in Liverpool in the 1970s. “Boss” or “sound” hadn’t quite entered the Scouse lexicon back then, great things were “dead good”. “Content” was added so there would be little doubt about what we do. For the moment, I’m pretty pleased with Dead Good Content. Will it prove to be a wise choice? Time will tell…

• With 15 years’ experience as a leading writer of small-business content, Mark Williams is the founder of Dead Good Content, which specialises in producing cost-effective bespoke and readymade content for accountancy firms and other organisations that want to market their services to small businesses.