Marketing is critical to the success of your firm’s industry program. And firm leadership as well as industry practice group members must understand the real value professional marketers bring to the table.
In some smaller firms, I’ve seen marketing departments populated with self-made, homegrown marketers who were promoted from receptionist to administrative assistant, marketing coordinator and beyond. The result of this progression is they often receive little respect and are treated like order takers who are incapable of building a marketing strategy to grow an industry practice group. Not that it’s impossible for a great marketing resource to be developed in-house, but marketing is a discipline with proven methodologies taught in undergraduate and graduate school programs, very similar to programs that produce accounting professionals.
In environments where marketing team members don’t receive (or perhaps deserve) respect as sophisticated marketing professionals, accounting and tax professionals often decide they’ll develop their own marketing strategies and just have marketers act as the “doers” or order-takers, not the thinkers. While expert in their fields, accounting professionals are rarely trained and experienced in the marketing discipline! The unfortunate result of expecting accounting professionals to perform the marketing function is typically a suboptimal marketing strategic plan. Worse, the time and money the firm invests in executing marketing tactics will yield a suboptimal ROI.
Without true marketing professionals, a firm is working with one hand tied behind its back, and its industry program strategy will not be fully leveraged to assist in the firm’s overall growth and individual professionals’ personal development.
As professional services firms grow, they need true professional marketing expertise. So, while it may be tempting, it’s best not to rely on expert accountants or tax gurus to serve as the marketing “think tank.” Investing in wise counsel from marketing specialists will be money well spent when combined with a business plan to build the firm’s reputation around selected industries. If employing professional marketers is outside the budget, start with part-time or outsourced marketing consultants who can provide the strategic marketing advice you need.
