Recently, a CPA asked me about whether or not he should invest in a program he saw advertised on Facebook, by which he could purchase “funnels” for his practice (a very popular marketing gimmick).
I’ve been in the marketing world for 20 years, and I’ve seen this movie before. I’m old enough to remember domain-keyword-matching “SEO,” PURLS, QR Codes (iteration 1 — we’re now in iteration 2), lumpy mail, VSLs, FB ads, (back when it was shooting fish in a barrel), backlink wheels (and pyramids) — the list gets long.
And every one of these shiny little objects worked … at least for a while.
Well, everywhere you turn today, “funnels” are pitched by people claiming remarkable numbers.
Each one makes it seem more simple than the last…
“This easy process guarantees you 37 clients in less than 60 days…”
“One funnel landed this practitioner six figures in new clients in less than a week…”
“How did this one CPA sign six clients in under 48 hours?”
You’re certain these offers are too good to be true, but no one wants to be the fool who missed out. FOMO is real.
These funnels are not outright bad ideas.
They are… smart marketing! Our agency was one of the first (pioneer) users of the most popular funnel builder on the market, and they have their place.
However, the funnels I see being sold are ill-adapted for accountants and tax practitioners and often rely on extensive advertising spending with minimal return on investment. Even worse, the social media ads used in most funnels play poorly with potential clients. (There is a reason we have almost completely moved away from Facebook and Instagram advertising for our clients).
That’s pretty much where you end up with most of these “accountant funnel gurus.”
Most funnels are over-complex magic tricks.
They look and feel really cool.
I openly admit to drooling over what seems like the “latest and greatest.” After all, we are a results-based agency, so I aim to stay far ahead of the marketing curve.
However, after making more bad decisions than I hope you’ll ever make.
A few years ago, I put my foot down:
“ENOUGH WITH THE GIMMICKS.”
I’m so tired of the neuro-linguistic programmers and the hype artists. I’m exhausted by the outlandish claims.
Can you relate?
What’s really interesting to see is that my exhaustion with these methods has borne itself out in the results we get for our clients.
The only way to build a practice that can ride through the waves of shiny objects and over-trendy tricks is to execute the “blocking and tackling” of online marketing.
To wit:
– Regular, customized website and social content (that isn’t duplicative)
– Relational, regular, warm email marketing (that isn’t a constant sales pitch)
– Review generation and listings optimization ( <– might be the biggest deal)
– Lead capture — and screening (to weed out the cruddy prospects)
– Lead follow-up and nurture
And more.
And look … there is a science behind fitting all of these pieces together so they sing like a well-oiled machine for your accounting and tax practice.
So if you’re tired of the hype, but you STILL want to grow (and do it right) … let’s talk.
You’re the kind of practitioner we want to serve.
Serve the world unselfishly and profit.
