At the start of 2020, no one could have predicted how drastically our world would change. Businesses were operating as usual and expecting to use momentum gained in 2019 to continue growing. Whether that meant the predicted success of short-form video service Quibi or the expected IPO of booming vacation rental industry titan AirBNB.

Both titans are prime examples of the unexpected shift in our economy and daily lives that has risen due to Covid19. Earlier this month Quibi announced it’s shutting it’s services after only 6 months on the market and AirBNB had to shift its primary focus from the tourism industry to remote work and connecting families during the pandemic.

The fact of the matter is, how business’s reaches their audience must drastically change and adapt to the current hurdles we face. For the accounting industry, that means shifting from in-person client meetings and accounting conferences or events (like Quickbooks Connect) that are no longer safe to participate in. Embracing new ways to connect with potential clients and old faces will help you market your accounting app in 2020.

The first projects to focus on to market your accounting app in 2020 are;

  1. Defining your ideal client & targeted industry verticals, and,
  2. Defining your values and messaging to match the current reality of your ideal clients.

Using data from previous sales years might not be the best way to predict new sales targets and define revenue goals but you can use that data to help you discover which verticals or customer segments were previously most engaged and active with your product or service. If you find that historically, most your clients were accountants for the Food Services and E-commerce industry, you can use your knowledge of how Covid19 has affected both industries and direct your attention to e-commerce, which saw a 43% growth in sales during September alone.

How to Market Your Accounting App

Now that you know who you want to reach, you can engage in strategies that will help you reach your target audience. Some of these strategies to market your accounting app include;

1. Modify your content strategy to promote more relevant content:

This includes keeping up-to-date on federal and state level emergency plans, emerging industry trends, and any product enhancements that will make your client’s lives easier during the pandemic (offering a product discount or showing how a new feature results in time savings are great places to start).

2. Update your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) plan:

Instead of physically promoting yourself at conferences and meet-ups, think about how you can get in front of your audience digitally. This is the new equivalent to providing parking in-front of your store.

3. Increase your reviews and make sure you have a Google Business location;

Closely tied to your SEO is using Google’s features such as “near me”, Google reviews, and the Google Business listing that can tie ratings and location functionality together.

4. Rethink your lifecycle marketing campaigns:

Just as you are re-imaging your marketing strategy, so are all other businesses interacting with your audience. This is the best way to talk to your users and leads, so think about reducing how much content you send and instead looking at the quality and value of what you’re sending. Just think week, Insider Inc. acquired a majority stake in the marketing newsletter Morning Brew proving that value-led email marketing is alive and thriving during the pandemic.

As we enter the last quarter of 2020, it’s important to remain hopeful and optimistic of the year to come. Adapting your marketing plan doesn’t have to be a daunting task; instead use it as a test for innovation on your marketing team. It will take new ideas to market your accounting app in 2020 and into 2021.

We might not be able to solve all your marketing hurdles, but we can take away your CPA firm’s struggles with our accounting workflow templates and other cloud-based productivity tools. Try it for free and see what we can do to improve your accounting workflow processes today!