7 reasons why accountants should outsource their marketing
You can swipe these points to use in your own messaging too
I want to be completely upfront with you…
I’m hoping to achieve 2 things with today’s newsletter:
To help you understand the benefits of outsourcing your marketing
To help you understand that the benefits of outsourcing your marketing are the same benefits of your prospective clients outsourcing their finance function to you
Because guess what, the reasons are exactly the same.
My hope is that you read this and decide to outsource some (or all) of your marketing. If not, at least you can take these points and use them to update your messaging to your SMB prospects.
So here are 7 reasons why accountants should outsource their marketing (and why business owners should outsource their finance function):
1. Specialist area of expertise
I didn’t wake up one morning blessed with marketing skills. I’m sure you didn’t wake up knowing how to create a set of management accounts.
Marketing & accounting are both specialist areas of expertise. We studied, put the hours in to learn our crafts, and took that to the real world gaining years of experience learning what to do and more importantly, what not to do.
People don’t just buy marketing or accounting services, they pay for the years of experience that come with it.
2. It’s constantly changing
In marketing, what works and what doesn’t work is constantly changing. Algorithm updates, social media trends, tips & tricks of the trade. Sure, there are underlying foundations that remain true throughout time, but as marketers, we spend all day every day staying up to speed with what works today.
In accounting, legislation is constantly changing. Tax updates, loan & funding support, economic trends. Sure, there are underlying foundations that remain true, but as accountants, you stay up to speed with the requirements needed today.
3. Access to a full team v.s. a single person
The trouble with hiring one person to manage marketing is that they can’t do everything. And they certainly can’t be a specialist in all aspects of marketing (that’s why our model at Troika is to work with dedicated experts for every marketing channel).
In most cases, they’ll end up needing to hire an external agency or bring on freelancers anyway. Outsourcing your marketing gives you access to a full team of marketers and not just one.
The same applies when business owners outsource their finance function…
The trouble with hiring a bookkeeper or controller in-house is that they can’t do everything. For example, they might not have the CFO-level experiences to provide strategic guidance, or they might not be confident in creating budgets, forecasts, and management packs.
Outsourcing their finance function gives them access to a full team of finance specialists including any or all of bookkeepers, controllers, accountants, tax specialists, and portfolio FDs.
4. You get this team for a fraction of the cost
The average salary for a full-time marketing manager in the UK is £40K-£60K ($60K-75K USD).
For this, you get one person (plus the additional cost of whatever they outsource).
For example, at Troika our monthly fees start from £2000 per month. That’s a saving of up to £36K per year…
The average salary for a full-time bookkeeper in the UK is £27K-£30K ($33K-$38K USD). For a controller, this increases to £55-£65K ($70K-$80K).
For this, business owners get one person (plus they’ll be paying for the cost of an accountant on top of that).
The monthly cost for an outsourced finance function could start from £500 per month. That’s a huge cost saving for the business owner right there.
5. It’s a better use of your time
For the most part, your time is better spent not doing your own marketing.
Sure, having some involvement is important. You want to understand what’s being done, why it’s being done, and whether it’s driving results.
But should your time be spent trying to write posts for Linkedin? Or is it better spent building your team, speaking with clients, and looking for ways to improve internal efficiency?
Guess what, same for business owners…
For the most part, their time is better spent not trying to manage their own finances.
Sure, having some involvement is important. They need to understand what the numbers are saying, what’s being measured, and whether things are moving in the right direction according to their goals.
But should their time be spent trying to create their own cash flow forecasts or do their own bookkeeping? Or should it be spent doing what they do best?
6. Outsourcing = flexible & scalable
The great thing about outsourcing anything is that it’s flexible and scalable.
When outsourcing your marketing, if you need some additional help one month with a new campaign you’d like to run or to create some additional content, the resource is there ready and waiting for you.
Equally, if for whatever reason you need to scale things back, it’s quick & easy to press pause, without worrying about letting a team member go.
When outsourcing a finance function, if the volume of transactions changes, or the business owner needs help with something new e.g. creating a reporting pack for investors, it’s likely you have the resource in-house ready to help them.
Equally, if for whatever reason their business growth takes a hit, they can scale back the support they need from you without needing to let go of any internal team members.
7. You can apply shared learning
This one is particularly powerful if you operate in a niche.
As a marketing agency working exclusively in the accounting niche, we learn daily what works and what doesn’t. We understand the nuances of your business, how prospects buy from you, and what they need to see to make that decision. We can apply learnings from each and every one of our clients to help others grow.
If you’re an accounting firm with a niche, the same will apply. You’ll understand the nuances of working with clients in certain sectors. Which apps work best, what metrics they need to see, and specific taxes that might apply. You can then apply these learnings to all of your clients in that niche to help them to grow.
Thinking about outsourcing your marketing?
Like I said upfront, I hope that reading this has achieved 2 things for you:
You understand the value and benefits of outsourcing your marketing
You understand how to leverage these benefits in your messaging to attract more SMB clients thinking about outsourcing their finance function
If you’re interested in chatting through how to access myself and my team of marketing specialists for a fraction of what you’d pay a full-time marketing manager, let’s chat.
Please note - we only work with firms that have the capacity to grow and can afford minimum monthly fees of £2K ($2.5K) per month.
Until next week,
Jordan
P.S. Today’s newsletter was written on a bus from Huacachina to Lima (Peru) with appreciation for the 200+ accountants & bookkeepers that read this each week.
Here’s a picture of me sandboarding in the desert to prove that work-life balance does in fact exist.
