Bookkeeper Marketing is hard, isn’t it? I know that when I first started, I found it super confusing, mysterious and overwhelming, and there’s still so much left to learn!
Luckily, there are people who are great at marketing, sales and all the ins and outs, who can share that knowledge and make the whole thing a LOT easier.
In fact, the latest episode of our podcast focused on sales, marketing and ads! If you’re interested in checking out the full episode, you can listen here >>> Facebook Ads VS Google AdWords for Bookkeepers with Lukas Jessop
In the podcast, I talk with Lukas Jessop, who does Marketing and Ads at Savvy, about Google AdWords, Facebook Ads and so much more. He’s really, really knowledgeable, and shared some fantastic content. I found it SO helpful and I thought that you would too.
So, as a result, I thought I’d switch up the blog post a little and do a Q&A!
Read on to find out the answers to the most pressing questions from the Facebook group.
Hopefully you find this helpful and it gives you the marketing boost that you need!
Bookkeeper Marketing and Google Ads
- I’ve been running Google ads and I’m getting 3% click through rate but no one is filling out my ‘get a quote form’. What am I doing wrong and how do I fix it?
This is actually a really good question! Lots of people get confused about this, and it’s totally understandable.
To start off with, you need to know that it’s not the Ad’s fault! First instinct is usually to try and fix the ad, but that’s not the real issue.
See, if you have a good click-through rate, then the advert is absolutely working. It’s doing what it’s designed to do: attracting people to take action!
So, when you’re not getting results, it’s not because of the ad, but because of the page that you’re sending them too.
“But, Amy, I’m sending them to my website!”
And I hear you, I absolutely do. But WHERE on your website are you sending these potential customers to? Your homepage? Your about page?
Clarity will attract ~ confusion will repel. Be clear!
See, if a person clicks your ad and finds themselves on your homepage, they might feel confused. They are bombarded with all these choices and places that they can click, and often, they end up clicking away (which is NOT ideal!). But it’s pretty understandable, right? After all, no matter how great your business is, they don’t know what action they need to take, or which service is right for them. So, they look around for the contact page, or look at the services, and eventually they click away.
They lose out on a great bookkeeper, and you lose out on a potentially great client!
So, how do you get around this?
You create a dedicated landing page for your ad! This means that you create a website page that is tailored to your target audience, that appeals to them, and gives them clear and actionable steps. If the person has a smooth journey, and there’s a clear next step, then they are much more likely to take that step!
It’s also pretty great because it gives you a chance to really articulate what you do, how you help them and what benefit you can give to them and their business.
Bookkeeper Marketing and ClickFunnels
- Do I need to use any special software to build a marketing funnel, like ClickFunnels?
No, you definitely don't. Really!
It’s not the software that works, it’s the core principles behind it! For example, you absolutely need to create a landing page that sends your customers through each step, until they can purchase your product. You need a sales inquiry page, and to make sure that your process is well thought-out.
But you don’t need any specific branded software to do that, which I think is pretty great!
Bookkeeper Marketing and Money, how much to budget
- How much do I need to spend to get started? And how much will it cost me?
Oh, this is a big one!
Traditional advertising can be SO expensive, that it’s no wonder people worry. It can be a bit scary and hard to get the right information about how much to spend, but I’m here to reassure you.
See, online marketing has a few advantages over traditional marketing. One of the advantages is that you don’t have to pay a fixed fee. With traditional marketing, you’re paying a certain amount no matter how effective the ad is, or how many views it gets.
But what’s really great with the online marketing, so Facebook ads or Google, is you can start small.
Yep, really!
You can start with as little as five dollars a day. Crazy, right?
But it’s true and that’s the beauty of online marketing! You get to reach YOUR target audience, while sticking to YOUR budget.
Then, if you see that your marketing is working, you can scale it up and start spending more money on it. If it doesn’t work, you can stop and try a new approach. No wasted money and no stress.
And personally, I think that sounds pretty great!
Bookkeeper Marketing and LinkedIn
- Is a LinkedIn profile actually worth spending the time building?
Yes, absolutely!
As a business owner, it can be so easy to overlook the benefits of LinkedIn, seeing it as a place to get hired. But that is definitely not the only use for it!
LinkedIn is predominantly a networking site to connect with individuals in your industry as well as find, share and engage with more in depth content.
And this is a good thing! It means that there's a good chance that someone will go to your page at some point to learn a little bit more about you and your company. This is especially likely if they are in your particular industry or looking to learn a little bit more about who runs your business.
Making sure that your LinkedIn profile is polished and prepared is a great way to take full advantage of this opportunity, and to further showcase your company and your brand.
A LinkedIn profile is also really great for establishing yourself as an expert in your industry and for effective in terms of creating a point of contact.
It might seem like a lot of effort, but it is definitely worth it, and I highly recommend it.
Bookkeeper Marketing and cold calling & emailing
- Do you recommend cold emailing not-so-local businesses?
While cold emailing can be incredibly effective if used correctly, it is very, very important to make sure that you do not spam anyone.
There are three key rules (in Australia) that you need to be aware of:
- Permission (consent)—You can only send messages with the permission of the person who owns the email address.
- Identification—You must include all your details in the email (contact details, etc)
- Unsubscribe—You must include an option to opt out of getting any future emails.
So, while cold-emailing can be really effective, you need to take a lot of care to not spam people in any way. With this in mind, I find it so much easier to use marketing strategies (such as ads) to build a list of people who WANT to receive my messages (at least, I hope so!).
Bookkeeper Marketing and Facebook
- Does a video work better than text on Facebook? And how do you capture the audience you want if you’re not using text?
Videos are great! They are super-personal, engaging and people are much more likely to watch a video than read the text on an ad.
In fact, if you’re looking at the statistics, you’ll find that videos, especially narrative videos, usually outperform text and images on Facebook!
Who would have thought?
Also, despite the misconceptions, video can be a lot CHEAPER, depending on your audience. Yeah, you heard me right. Video isn’t necessarily more expensive either!
So, next time you’re running an ad campaign or trying to reach your audience over Facebook, consider a video. It might just do the trick.
Bookkeeper Marketing and lead magnets
- What should my lead magnets be?
Okay, let’s start off with a definition. What is a Lead Magnet anyway?
Essentially, a Lead Magnet is an offer (service or information) that you give to people in exchange for their contact details.
You know that ‘enter your email for our great new eBook’ line that you so often see on websites? THAT is a lead magnet.
The goal of the Lead Magnet is to maximize the number of targeted leads you are getting for an offer. Your lead magnet should be specific and tailored to the audience you are hoping to attract.
Also, it goes without saying, but you should make sure that your Lead Magnet has genuine, helpful and valuable content. After all, people are providing you with their contact details, so you need to make it worthwhile!
Examples of lead magnets that you can use in YOUR business include: Cheat sheets, toolkits, resource lists and discounts.
As long as you are offering value to YOUR target market, your lead magnet will work like a charm.
Bookkeeper Marketing and split tests
- Do I need to split test?
Split tests. Phew!
I don’t know about you, but when I first heard all of these terms, my head was spinning.
All you need to know to get started, is that split tests CAN be useful, but it depends on your circumstances.
See, Facebook's split testing feature allows you to create multiple ads and test them against each other. This is great if you want to see what strategies produce the best results for YOUR niche. It helps you figure out what appeals to your audience and what is getting you the most clicks!
So, if you find yourself with an ad that just isn’t performing well, then this can be super useful.
Then again, if you are getting a good click-through rate already, then you need to focus your energy on your landing pages, not your adverts.
Make sure you check where your potential customers are dropping off BEFORE you jump on the split test train!
Conversion rate
- What is a good conversion rate?
A conversion rate is all important. No, seriously!
See, while a click through rate shows you how many people CLICK your ad, a conversion rate shows you how many of those people took the NEXT STEP. This is how you know how many people subscribed, contacted you or signed up for your services (whatever your action step was!)
The good news? You don’t need a big percentage to be successful.
In fact, anything over 1% is a good click through rate when it comes to advertising!
So next time you’re worried, remember that you’re not that far from a good conversation rate after all!
WordPress Plugins
- Which plugins do you recommend and how do you use them?
Oh, plugins. There are SO many different plugins, that it can be a bit overwhelming right?
Well, luckily there are only a few that you need to get started successfully.
You need a plugin for the following aspects of your website: Contact forms; SEO; Google Analytics, Opting in, and security.
Sure, there are plenty of others that will help you, but these cover the basics when it comes to keeping your website secure and helping people get in touch with you and your business.
Over to You…
So, there you have it! That was a lot, wasn’t it? Thanks for sticking with me until the end.
If you have any questions that you’d like answered, or you’d like some help with your online marketing, we’ll be running some marketing workshops later in the year. Register your interest here.
Until then…
Stay Savvy,
Amy
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• If you are a Bookkeeper who otherwise needs help with Savvy's other services, such as; Sales, Marketing, Website, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, Business Logo and more, please get in contact.
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