Promoting Your Firm Brand

To payoff, any marketing investment you make should be centered on your brand identity and project to others what they should feel, perceive, and believe about your products and services - and the difference those things will make in their lives. To start, you’ll write your firm’s story and address the graphical aspects of your brand as we discussed in our last two columns. Once those foundational brand elements have been defined, you’ll want to begin promoting your firm’s brand in your market.

To begin promoting your firm in the market and elicit the feelings, beliefs, and perceptions you want known, incorporate some of the following ideas into your marketing plan:

• Get involved! Encourage community involvement among all firm personnel, including volunteering, joining committees, and being active on boards for charitable organizations. Being included on a list of community leaders portrays your brand as one that is involved in and caring for the community.
• Sponsor opportunities that recognize growing and entrepreneurial companies and people (like Top 100 listings or 40 under 40). This will infer that you are a part of this success and must be able to help companies succeed.
• Participate publicly at fundraising events. These events are attended by business and community leaders as well as affluent people. Consider purchasing a table and inviting clients to attend. It’s true that “we are known by the company we keep!”
• Give educational presentations at community events and trade association meetings. Be sure to emphasize your brand in all your slides, words, and handouts with graphics, color choices, and consistent messaging, but don’t sell anything specific to your firm’s services. Sell by having your brand image present and by giving a valuable message.
• Speak at professional service meetings (like a bankers association) about your area of expertise, whether that is reading financial statements, accounting technology, risk assessment standards, or tax updates, to be seen as an expert in your community.
• Consider available local TV or radio appearances. Some stations have viewer call-in or write-in segments where you can share your tax or other expertise. This will offer you the opportunity to increase your brand recognition and lend 3rd party validation because viewers will naturally think, “they must be experts because they were on TV (or the radio).”
• Live your brand! Whether your firm’s brand includes responsiveness and client satisfaction or leading edge solutions and the “extra mile,” share your philosophy and expectations with all personnel and then incent and empower them to meet these expectations. Encourage continuing education, including soft skills education, and certifications for your team so that they can be the best in their field to fulfill on your brand.

Implement these ideas to ensure that your brand identity is promoted consistently and by all partners and staff. By working as a team and building buy-in from all, you will collectively promote your brand in a more impactful manner. Through the consistent use and placement of your logo, tag line, and story and then ensuring that your employees are empowered to live your brand, you will cement your firm’s identity in the minds of your clients, prospects, prospective employees, and in your marketplace, too.

Jennifer Wilson is co-founder and owner of ConvergenceCoaching, LLC, a leadership and marketing consulting and coaching firm that specializes in helping CPA and IT firms achieve success. Learn more about her company at www.convergencecoaching.com.