For many years now, we’ve been on a rollercoaster of a journey to evolve our customer experience and increase awareness of what makes Fresh Financials different to any other accounting firm.
Despite the age-old stereotypes, bookkeeping is actually a people-focussed profession. When we work with our clients, we become a true part of their business. A relationship like that requires a huge amount of trust, honesty and transparency. Since 70% of the buying decision is made online now, it became important to us to plant the first seed of that trusted relationship and nurture it via our online efforts.
Finding our voice was the first step
The content marketing journey started with defining who Fresh Financials are as a firm. Our voice, our values and our way of doing things all had to come from the people in the business. We started by communicating what’s most important to us, and what’s most important to the clients we work with. Once we had defined out brand, generating content has been invaluable to us and to our buyers.
How content marketing has transformed our business
We’ve built smart processes, that save us time
We’ve made it easier for people to get what they need, from the initial enquiry all the way through to the first days and months of becoming a client. We’ve cut down our enquiry process for faster, more defined decision making. The buyer experience doesn’t end there, though. Onboarding a new client is just as important. We’re able to show new clients that they made the right decision by giving value from day one. These processes benefit us too, because it means we spend less time on manual follow ups and information-gleaning phone calls, and more time talking about things that matter.
- Takeaway: Plan out and automate what you can of the buyer journey. You’ll be giving people what they want faster, and streamlining internal processes at the same time.
We attract better quality leads
We work with clients who want a fresh approach to bookkeeping. People who are so over the outdated and impersonal way that bookkeeping has been done in the past. Business owners who want a real insight into their business and how it’s performing, so they can be empowered to make big bold decisions. When you talk about (and to) the kind of people you want to work with, you’re one step closer to attracting them! (Who’d have thunk it?). We’re able to help our kind of people understand how game changing it is to have a relationship with their numbers – and when you can show the value of what you provide, money isn’t the number one factor.
- Takeaway: Focus all your efforts on the kind of people you want to work with. Communicate with them and show them your unique value.
Our qualifying process gives us the opportunity to choose who we work with
The first step is to attract better quality leads by showing your value. But even still, not every lead that enquires will be the right fit. It can be tempting to work with anyone who comes through the door, but it’s important to us that we work with business owners who align with our values and respect the way we operate. We now only take on about 25% of our leads, because we’re able to choose whether a prospect meets this criteria. Our content helps people to qualify themselves by giving them the necessary information to make a good judgement as to whether we’re a fit. We talk about the things we do, and the things we don’t do in our blogs, on our landing pages, in our social posts. We know that’s not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, and that’s the point. What’s important to us is that we work with those who are our cup!
- Takeaway: Use your content to allow people to decide you’re not right for them! It sounds scary to turn people away, but doing so creates more space to work with the very best clients for you.
Our existing clients are getting their questions answered fast
We’ve talked a lot about how our content marketing journey has created a better experience for prospects, but we’re also proud to be providing a better service for our existing clients. Whenever we help a client to work through an issue or important question, we create content around it. This means we can share the same helpful information with any client who faces that problem in the future.
- Takeaway: Start to create a knowledge bank of answers to your clients most-asked questions, so that all clients can feel empowered at the click of a button.
We’re more accountable to nailing our internal processes
The more we talk about how we work and the processes we follow, the more we have to be sure that we’re nailing those processes in-house! It helps to keep us on our toes and make sure we’re always looking for ways to improve.
- Takeaway: Say as you do, and do as you say!
Content marketing has resulted in an increased profit and turnover
This takeaway is simple – communicating the value of the work we do means we’re attracting better quality clients and gives us the freedom to choose who we work with. Clients are willing to pay more for the level of service that we offer, which positively affects our bottom line. Spending time and money on marketing will make a difference to your numbers.
Are you on your own content marketing journey? How has marketing changed your business? We’d love to know!