An SMSF audit firm and Facebook. A happy union?

Self-managed super fund auditors – one of the most specialised financial services in the country.

Facebook – the largest media channel in the country. With the ability to target viewers based on ‘000s of selection criteria. Home to millions of cat videos and the whole gamut of human expression.

Accountants – busy professionals. Tired after a year of unprecedented upheaval. With more change still flowing. Bombarded by bland marketing messages every day. Thick-skinned, with a high level of resistance and scepticism.

Targeted by other businesses wanting to sell services to them. Or gain access to their clients.

One of those businesses being SMSF auditors.

An improbable match.

But remarkably, accountants do have lives outside of work.

They have friends, family, enjoy sport, like eating out. And most of them use Facebook to catch up on news, connect with friends. Take part in some of the millions of special interest groups on the platform.

It’s why we have been able to use Facebook ads to attract new clients for an SMSF auditor. And financial planners. And finance companies. And insurance brokers. And town planners. And…

It counters the myth – my clients aren’t on Facebook.

Done well, Facebook Ads is a viable way to attract new clients.

A campaign breakdown to show how

Context: the independence of SMSF auditors has been a vexatious issue for years. Most of them are employed by the very accounting firms whose work they are meant to verify.

In May 2020, their professional code of conduct was updated. Auditor independence was mandated. They had to work for separate entities from the accountants.

And the ATO and all three professional accounting bodies immediately endorsed it.

The Facebook ad campaign targeted accounting firms that did both SMSF accounting and auditing in the same firm.

Fundamental principles

1. Clear objectives

What do you want the campaign to achieve? Is there a clear path between the first ad and the outcome you want?

Finding a new auditor for your existing SMSF clients. A financial planner to help with your aged parents. A divorce lawyer. They are all considered decisions.

A potential new client goes on a buyer’s journey. From Awareness to Interest to Desire and then finally takes Action. Your campaign must take them every step of the way.

2. It’s about them – not you.

Your ad needs to capture attention. People are exposed to over 3,000 marketing messages a day. 24 hours later they will remember 4-5 of them. Vaguely.

You are interrupting people’s days and competing for their attention. Even on Facebook. Your ad needs to be relevant and speak to your audience. About their world and what matters to them. Not you.

It’s the first major mistake most professional services make. They talk about themselves.

Your potential clients will always ask the question, “What’s in it for me?”. YOU is one of the most powerful words used in copywriting. This ad is all ‘we we we’.

3. And relevant problems get attention.

People are self-absorbed. It’s not a judgement piece, just based in reality. Most people think about themselves most of the time¹.  And most of those thoughts are negative².

People are hardwired to react to challenges, pain, threats, frustrations. It ensured the survival of the human race over the millennia³.

So, ads that recognise the challenges and problems of your intended audience do well. They cut through the noise, call their attention to their challenges and that you can help.

4. Empathy builds connection.

“people want to know you understand them, you care, long before they care what you know”.

A cliché that captures an eternal truth. It is why empathy is a trait of successful leaders and sales people⁴.

Put another way. The best marketing takes place in the hearts and minds of potential clients. That’s where the buying starts to take place. It demonstrates that I know you, I know your world. I get this problem and can help.

The ad connected with the emotional state of many accountants. Tired and a little overwhelmed. 2020 had been a relentless year serving on the front line of business support.

5. Test test test

A fundamental tenet of direct response marketing is to test. Because how do you know if your campaign will work? And if you get it wrong that’s a lot of money down the drain.

It is based on the one truth. The only opinion that matters is that of your potential clients.

There were two viable campaign rationales to go to market with:

Independence

A direct appeal to getting their house in order. To start making plans to separate SMSF administration and auditing. By the compliance deadline.

Overwhelm

It recognised that accountants had been under the pump for over a year. Serving on the Covid frontline, supporting small business. They were tired and behind in their compliance work. Auditor independence was just another big thing they had to deal with.

Both rationales were valid. So rather than betting the bank on one we spent a small amount testing both.

The clear winner was Overwhelm.

It generated 50% more web visits than Independence in the initial test.

6. Or was it a winner? – the case for measuring deeper.

When you are clear about your objectives you are also clear about the measures that count.

Yes, overwhelm got more people looking and clicking through to the landing page.

But as the heatmaps showed, they quickly bounced off the page.

The startling wave image and headlines were remarkably effective – but not for who we wanted.

The Independence audience read much more of the landing page. Most of them read to the end.

And it was from this campaign that we generated the enquiries.

Accountants that wanted to have conversations with the audit firm. About their expertise, their process, their service.

Enquiries that become clients. Delivering significant revenues.

And a flow of engaged conversations with potential clients. Because accountants are very considered and slow to change.

Our client has developed their own dictum:

If the initial conversation is with a city-based accountant, then they will get back in touch six months later and start using your services. If they are from a smaller regional area it will probably be 12 months.

7. But it does not stop there – continuous improvement.

Digital campaigns should never be static. There is always scope for testing. The iteration of the initial independence campaign was tested and optimised continuously. Searching for and achieving better performances.

Sadly, just as many accountants don’t like auditing, so most visitors to the landing page don’t make enquiries. And so, begins the next steps of the buyer’s journey.

Developing further pieces to address known objections that the accountants might have. Dialling down their concerns and building the value and personality of the audit firm, to increase enquiries.

This retargeting is where the real money is. It’s that old dictum of sales. People need to see and hear your message 8 times or more before they decide to get in touch.

Retargeting: continuous testing of relevant pieces and designs. It keeps your brand fresh and front of mind. So that when they are ready, your potential clients will get in touch.

And they do.

Outcome

SMSF Auditor – new clients. Active conversations with potential clients. More coming into the pipeline. Average new client value $20,000 p.a. in recurring revenue.

An ROI of 5 on total spend – campaign management and ad spend.

If you want to attract new clients to your business

call Alex Meijnen on 02 4023 5958 and he'd be happy to discuss how we could do that.

¹ Why most people are thinking about themselves. Myer and Lieberman. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (May2018)

² Why your brain has a negativity bias and how to fix it  Thorne. I Done This

³ Our Brain’s Negative Bias Marano H. Psychology Today (June 20, 2003)

⁴ Connect, Then Lead Cuddy, Kohut, Neffinger. Harvard Business Review (July-August 2013).