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By Lee Frederiksen
“Why isn’t our marketing working better?” “Where should we be spending our marketing dollars and time?” “How can we grow like some of our competitors?” If these are some of the questions that you have asked, I invite you to continue reading to get some answers.
Hinge Marketing has been studying high-growth professional services firms for the last decade and has come out with its “2019 High Growth Study: All Professional Services Edition.”
Did you know that high-growth accountancy and professional services firms grow nearly 5x as much as their competitors?
So, what’s their secret? Actually, there are five secrets according to the Hinge study…
Secret #1: High-growth professional services firms truly differentiate themselves.
There is a lot of talk about differentiation–that is not a secret. However; few firms dedicate the time and effort to do it correctly. The secret is that high-growth firms make differentiation their top marketing priority.
They invest the time in it to make sure their differentiators are valued.
There are many ways to differentiate professional services firms, but truly impactful differentiators must be:
• True – Your differentiators have to be real.
• Relevant – If it does not matter to your clients, it does not matter.
• Provable – Anyone can claim a quality. You have to be able to prove it.
As noted in a recent A4G blog, “How to differentiate your accountancy firm,” “Differentiating yourself, expressing your individuality from all the other firms out there is the key to premium fees. If you can’t differentiate yourself, you leave it to clients and the only criteria they’ll find is price.”
High-growth firms know that it takes a lot to come up with differentiation that resonates and is remembered. Make differentiation a priority.
Secret #2: High-growth firms invest significantly more in marketing.
The Hinge study shows that high-growth firms spend 66% more on marketing than their average- and no-growth counterparts. That investment goes beyond just budget. It is also time and effort.
For example, high-growth firms are able to publish two guest blog posts a month while no-growth firms struggle to secure even monthly posts. Also, high-growth firms are more than 3X as likely to publish original research as a part of their content strategy.
Conducting primary research can be a significant investment but many high-growth firms do not shy away. What percentage of your overall revenue are you currently reinvesting in marketing?
Secret #3: High-growth firms enjoy a skills advantage with their subject matter experts.
As you can see in the chart below, the new research shows that high-growth firms find ways to make their expertise visible. One way is by leveraging their in-house subject matter experts (SMEs). These SMEs brand their firms and themselves by dramatically doing more face-to-face engagement, webinar and podcast speaking, article or blog posting and social networking.
All of these activities have shown to produce a stronger brand, build trust and generate more sales opportunities. How many SMEs does your firm have and what are they doing with their skills?
Secret #4: High-growth firms target clients on both digital and traditional marketing channels.
Striking the right marketing balance is easier said than done. However; high-growth firms take the time to work out the right effectiveness and efficiency for their business models.
If you desire more digital marketing in the mix, keep in mind that it is not just about technology. Do you have the right staff and skill sets to succeed? Do you know what new processes need to be implemented?
Do you have the ability to measure and analyze results? Are you willing to make the investment of time, money and resources to fully leverage digital marketing technology?
Secret #5: High-growth firms are 67% more likely to leverage mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Before you dismiss this as a secret and say that M&A is the way professional services firms such as accountancy firms get their high growth, I would like to tell you what the study shows. It indicates that only 17.4% of the growth generated by high-growth firms was from M&A—so 82.6% of the growth was organic. While M&A was part of a growth strategy it did not dominate the other growth components.
There’s the secret. In comparison, M&A made up 27.2% of the growth for average growing accountancy and professional services firms. If you do implement an M&A strategy, just beware that it could create new branding, demand generation and operational challenges.
Conclusion
High-growth professional services firms have overcome massive changes to industries and buyer behaviors. These firms have spent a lot of time, money and resources uncovering these high-growth secrets.
Download the free executive summary of the Hinge 2019 High Growth Study to get more details and start applying lessons learned from the best-performing firms in the industry. Fast growth is possible for firms of any size.
