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All right! 2023 is right around the corner, and like most businesses, you're likely planning for the new year.

In this post we are going to cover the top marketing trends that you should be paying attention to elevate your accounting firm's marketing in 2023.

Trend Number 1 - Video Marketing

Video is going to continue to gain attention in 2023.

Short-form video, whether it be TikToks, YouTube Shorts, Instagram Reels, or whatever version of short form video emerges in 2023, is going to remain where most of the attention is when it comes to digital media.

Gone are the days where you can brush off these types of videos as “only for kids who are dancing!”

Accounting firms need to recognize the power of video to educate, inform and inspire potential clients and current clients alike.

The great part about this trend is that you don't need elaborate production to get the job done! With a little bit of planning, creativity and commitment to the strategy, any accounting firm can easily leverage short-form video content to engage and educate their current and potential client base.

HubSpot reported that 68% of consumers prefer to watch a short-form videos to learn about a new product or service.

So, it's definitely something to pay attention to in the coming year.

A helpful hint: Don’t forget to optimize the description of your video for searching. Including a brief, user-friendly description of the content (written in natural language) with relevant keywords and search terms will help the right people find it when searching on Google and other search engines. This will help with the discoverability of your content!

Last point I'll make on trend number one - stick with it!

Success from an organic content marketing and video strategy doesn’t happen overnight, it takes time! Keep at it and stay consistent in your implementation. Give yourself a year and take your content marketing to the next level. Volume and content quality is the key here!

Trend Number 2 - Client Experience

The client experience is becoming an increasingly important part of your marketing efforts. Accounting firms must not overlook the importance of providing their clients with a top-notch customer experience.

This means providing exceptional service, communication, and attention to detail. As you already know, your firm should be building strong relationships with your current and potential clients.

Utilizing marketing, regular touchpoints, and value-added information for your clients is a great way to further optimize your client experience in 2023. This will help to increase client retention, loyalty, and advocacy for your firm.

Here are a couple quick ideas that can help you improve your client experience in the new year:

Leverage technology - such as Artificial Intelligence and automation to streamline your processes and provide a more seamless experience for your clients.
Utilize customer relationship management (CRM) software to track client touchpoints, interactions and engagements with your firm, this allows your entire team to know how you've been interacting with your clients.
Make sure you have a feedback system set up to allow your clients to provide feedback - use that information to improve your overall client experience. This is also a great opportunity to capture client testimonials and reviews for sites like Google and Yelp.
Create and gift a client onboarding package that includes branded swag, sweets and other things that your client's may enjoy! Including items from some of your local clients is also a great way to show support!
Start a monthly newsletter that is exclusively focused on adding additional value by sharing your knowledge and expertise to your clients.

There are many other ways that you can elevate your client experience in 2023 – check out our previous blog on Client Experience by clicking here.

Trend Number 3 – Account-Based Marketing

Account based marketing is becoming an increasingly important part of the marketing mix for accounting firms.

It focuses on targeting individual companies, as opposed to a wide audience of potential visitors, leads, and customers. It is very effective in personalizing interactions with accounts that are more likely to convert into clients.

The beauty of account-based marketing is that it allows you to focus on specific accounts that are likely to become clients, and create personalized campaigns tailored specifically for those specific companies.

Account-based marketing, or ABM, is a great way to reach the key decision makers within an organization who may be interested in your services. It helps you tap into those hidden opportunities within your target market and can yield very positive results for your firm.

Is there a specific company or organization in your area that you would like to be a client of yours? Maybe you've heard rumblings that they’re not happy with their current accountant or are looking for additional support? This is a great opportunity to create a focused ABM campaign to approach the decision makers in that company.

LinkedIn and LinkedIn Advertising is a great place to start. You can invite those in the C suite of that company to be connections on LinkedIn, and then possibly share some valuable information.

They key here is not to be too forward and too "salesey" off the bat. You want to develop a relationship first. Offer free advice, share an article that you think they may be interested in, or congratulate them on a recent achievement. Keep is personal!

Then work your way up to an opportunity that allows you to position your services as a solution to a problem that they have within their organization.

When working on your ABM in 2023, keep your messages short, clear, and consistent. When you position your services as a solution, ensure that your messages are consistent everywhere that your ABM target may do some research about your firm.

If you’re looking for a place to start simplifying your messaging in the new year, look to your website first. Is your site filled with long paragraphs and an overwhelming amount of text? - If so, put yourself in your visitors’ shoes, and simplify your message down to what is ONLY relevant to what they are looking for. Typically, that’s “What you do”, “Who you help”, “How you help them”, and “How they can get started”.

Trend Number 4 - LinkedIn is the B2B Super Platform

Although LinkedIn has been around for a while now, it is projected to account for 25% of all B2B advertising by 2024.

As I’ve mentioned before on this channel, when a user logs into LinkedIn, they’re in a business mindset, so your target audience will be in more receptive to business content that you post on LinkedIn, rather than if you post on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok.

Above and beyond being a great tool for account-based marketing and networking, LinkedIn is a great content marketing platform, with a similar feed to other social platforms like Facebook and Instagram.

Your content and video strategy should be prioritized on LinkedIn. Looking into advertising on LinkedIn in 2023 is something that I would also recommend trying out if you haven’t already.

LinkedIn’s advertising platform allows you to hyper target who sees your ad, including information like where they work, the industry they’re in, their title, and more!

With that said Millennials, Gen Xers and Boomers are all very likely to constantly check Facebook as well. This is not to say that being present on other social media platforms isn’t a good thing, just make sure that you are conscious about the content that you are posting on Facebook and keep in mind that someone on Facebook may be less receptive to business focused content when browsing Facebook.

LinkedIn continues to be the primary platform that I recommend our accounting firm clients focus on in 2023.

Trend Number 5 - Keep it Local

Local SEO and community involvement is still an incredibly important piece to the Accounting Firm marketing puzzle in 2023.

With so much of the accounting industry now taking place online, it is important to stay connected with your local community and actively get involved. This can be done through local business networking events, sponsorships for community clubs or organizations, or even by creating content that is locally focused.

What is likely most important to you as an accounting firm is serving those business owners and clients in your community. So be present!

Speak at entrepreneur community events
Be a guest on a local podcast in your area
Be present at the Chamber of Commerce in your area
Then continue to remain present in the small business community in your city, town, or community if that is the target client your firm is after

Another great way to keep up with Local SEO for accounting firms is to make sure you have a Google My Business page set up and kept up to date, claim any online business directories that come up, such as Yelp, Yellow Pages, etc, and ensure that all of the information is consistent across all platforms.

If you’re not already doing so, start trying to collect some online reviews from your clients and share these on your website and social media platforms as well.

Overall, accounting firms should be actively engaging with their local community in order to stay top of mind with potential clients.

Wrap Up

These are the trends that I see being the most important to your 2023 marketing strategy for your firm!

If you're looking at your marketing plan for 2023 and feeling like you need some support or guidance, feel free to head over to atHeartCPA.com to learn about how we can support your firm with your marketing in 2023!

Thanks for reading and I'll see you next time!

Need some additional help? Book a FREE Discovery Meeting today, here, to chat about how I can help!

I'll see you next time.

About the Author

Bryton Udy is the Founder and CMO of atHeart Creative, and host of the Accountant Marketing Mentor YouTube Channel. Dedicated to helping accountants simplify their marketing and communications so they can grow their accounting, bookkeeping, and financial planning businesses, he is passionate about harnessing creative marketing to support the independent accountant.

What marketing trends do you need to elevate your business in 2023?