6 Reasons to Create an Accounting Niche for Your Firm

When it comes to marketing your accounting firm, casting a wide net is not the most effective way to get new business or increase profits. Creating a niche within your accounting practice and marketing it properly will pull in the right type of clients and bring many other advantages you may not have considered.

Let’s explore the top reasons why you should develop a niche for your accounting firm.

1. Stand Out From the Crowd

An accounting niche shines a light on your expertise, assuring prospective clients that they can trust you. Think of it this way: when you’re making a big purchase like new cabinets for your kitchen, would you be more comfortable going to Home Depot and getting help from the guy who also sells garden tools and air conditioners (the generalist accountant) or would you rather go to a cabinet store and work with someone who really knows the product and can give you the best advice (the niche accountant)? It's the same way for small business owners. When you position your accounting firm as an expert in one industry or specialty service on your website and social media, the clients you’re looking for will naturally be drawn to you over the generalist accountant.

2. Higher ROI on Your Marketing Budget

Trying to reach every possible type of small business owner is tough. Especially online, everyone has different habits. Questions like “should I invest marketing dollars in Facebook ads, LinkedIn or Google advertising?” are much easier to answer when you narrow down your audience.

Marketing a niche allows you to aim your online marketing dollars in the right direction by going after a smaller group and identifying the best ways to reach them. If you’re targeting professional service companies, they may pay more attention to LinkedIn while some industries may be more likely to spend their time on Facebook. Figuring this out can take a little trial and error but pretty soon you’ll know where it makes the most sense to spend your advertising budget on these platforms. If you invest in Google pay-per-click advertising, you won’t get as many clicks for a niche as you would when advertising general accounting services, but the clicks you get will be much more likely to convert to new business. That means every click you pay for is worth more to your practice.

3. It's Easier to Sell Your Accounting Services

We’ve all been there. You start searching online for a service and end up going down a rabbit hole of reading reviews, sifting through websites, and trying to put it all together to figure out which company is right for you. When you show small business owners that you specialize in working with them, it takes the guesswork out of their search. Whether you offer a specialty service niche or focus on one industry, when prospective customers see that you understand what they need, your competition dissolves and you’re the first firm they’ll contact.

The Industry Niche. When you market to a niche industry, the focus is on them not you. Instead of just offering accounting services on your website, you’re offering construction accounting services, dental accounting services, restaurant accounting services, or whatever industry you’ve chosen. This says that you know their industry and, more importantly, you know them. You relate to their challenges and know their pain points and how to address them.

The Specialty Service Niche. If your niche is connected to a service like international tax, outsourced CFO, wealth management, or any other accounting service, your website should demonstrate that your firm does it better than anyone else in the area. This makes the decision to contact your firm a no-brainer for prospective clients.

4. Command Higher Pricing and Increase Profits

To the average business owner, nothing stands out in the vast sea of generalist accounting firms except price. Why should I pay you more than the next guy when - in their eyes - you’re all doing basically the same thing? But when you’re selling niche accounting services, you can charge more for your expertise and people will gladly cough it up because you have something not every other firm is offering, a special insight on their world.

5. Get More Referral Business

Once you establish a niche, your accounting firm will be equipped to serve clients like a well-oiled machine. The more skilled and efficient you become, the happier your clients will be and the more satisfied they are, the more likely they are to recommend you to their colleagues which means more business owners knocking on your door.

6. Get the Clients You Want to Work With Most

Many accountants feel like they have no choice but to keep a relationship going with clients they don’t really enjoy working with because they don’t want to turn away business. But you didn’t open your accounting practice to do work you don’t like. A niche allows you to take control of your clientele by choosing who you will work with and who you won’t. This reduces stress and increases the quality of your life.

How to Choose an Accounting Niche

Okay so now you know that developing an accounting niche is a good idea but how do you know which one is best for your firm? The most important question is really “What type of client do I like working with the best?” When choosing an industry niche for example, it's not always about how many clients you already have in a particular industry, it’s more about how you feel about the type of work that’s required and the personalities that come along with it. For example, you may already have a bunch of doctors as clients, but do you really like working with them? If the answer is yes, then that could be your niche but if not, don’t be afraid to explore industries where you have a little less experience. Maybe you only have a handful of real estate industry clients but you like the work, it generates good profit margins, and you enjoy the people you’re interacting with. If this is the case, don’t be afraid to hone your skills in that direction so you can make it your niche.

It Starts With a Niche Accounting Website

If your website has one page about your niche, you’ll get some traction in Google searches but to dominate the rankings, you need an accounting website that makes your niche the star of the show. A website that’s all about your niche tells Google that your firm is THE go-to accounting firm for that industry or specialty service.

Build Your Firm designs niche accounting websites in over 30 specialties including industry accounting niches and accounting service niches and we’re adding more all the time. Call us now at 888-999-9800 ext. 1 or or email us at info@buildyourfirm.com to discuss a niche for your firm and how the right website can help you market your accounting services.