Marketing

I found myself engaged in an interesting debate not too long ago regarding the work ethic of millennials vs. boomers.  So of course I hopped right up on my soapbox and grabbed my megaphone!  It seems that mine is a fairly unpopular opinion – depending on which generation to whom I’m making my case.  In this particular discussion I was engaged with someone on the cusp of the boomer generation, and I was planted firmly on the grounds that Millennials (full disclosure I’m right on the edge of the GenX/Millennial split) are far more capable and advanced than they are given credit for.  And based on this premise, they are actually much easier to market to than their predecessors.  Obviously, this warrants further explanation but before I make this in to a high-school history assignment, let me try and summarize for a second.

The highlight of my position on Millennials is that they are without question one of the smartest of recent generations.  Information has been at their fingertips since birth, and their ability to consume and process that information is astounding – particularly when you consider the pace at which they are able to “compute”.  Some of us on the cusp still find multi-tasking a challenge, whereas the skill seems to be genetically coded in the more solidly positioned Millennials.  For example, I can type really fast on a keyboard, sometimes faster than I can think of the words which becomes problematic – let’s just say my backspace key is worn out.  But admittedly I’m still a bit slower on the smart phone.  True Millennials, however, look like Mr. Spock jamming away at the controls of the star ship Enterprise as they manipulate their smartphones with a flutter of thumbs.  It’s nothing short of impressive, but it also demonstrates the speed at which they are absorbing the world around them.  The implications for marketers are intimidating, yet this generation seems to be much more critical of advertising because they have grown up with it.  They won’t ignore the ads, but rather review and critique before moving on at light speed to the next stimulus.  On the flip-side, those in Generation X view advertising with a cautious eye as if constantly aware that they are being scammed…resulting in their inclination to ignore it.

And what about the old guard?  Well…marketers have wrestled for decades with how to attract Boomers with their messaging.  They are both the single biggest buying group and the single toughest to attract…so…regardless of the outcome of the debate, how can anyone – let alone a CPA firm – effectively market across the generations?  I believe the answer is fairly clear.  Don’t.  Baby Boomers are retiring at an accelerated rate and their businesses will soon find their way in to the eager hands of Generation X.  Focus on the messaging that drives the young(er) generation and embraces their pace, their capacity for information, and most importantly – their smartphones.  They are attention deficit by design and prone to experiential marketing efforts – the kind of stuff that intentionally diverts their attention away from their phones only to pull it back with a connected message.  Marketers should genuinely embrace technology…and by “technology” I don’t mean email blasts and a Facebook Page no one manages.  I believe we should be thinking next-level stuff, think Minority Report minus the Tom Cruise budget.  Let’s focus more on the habits of our new targets and devise ways to get their attention – even if it’s only 3 seconds.  For Millennials, 3 seconds is forever.  Don’t believe me?  Watch a Millennial try and download something…heaven forbid they can’t find LTE or Wi-Fi and have to rely on 3G…ew, gross….

Good luck…but be patient.

Tricky…but not necessarily impossible.  Imagine a pinup calendar with your CPA on your birthday month wearing a strategically placed calculator…and not much else.  Whoa, good luck shaking that visual.  But that’s not necessarily what I’m talking about (unless of course you have some very brave CPA’s on staff).  It’s a tremendous challenge to differentiate what your firm does, especially in a crowded marketplace.  So as I define it “sexy” simply refers to the ability to stand out in a crowd.  To be the firm that catches the clients’ eye while scanning through a sea of sameness.  And that’s not as difficult as some would make it out to be.  We find ourselves in a time where popular culture has dominated our collective conscious.  It’s SO difficult to shut out the outside world, and if you’re strong willed enough to still use a flip phone I commend you…but also, I feel a little bad for you.  Those who embrace the popular culture for what it is will find themselves having a much easier time capturing the attention of today’s clients…

…which brings me to social media.  Those who know me will chuckle whenever I mention social media.  It’s a passion of mine, but not just because I love posting pictures of my kids or sharing videos of bad lip reading spoofs – but because it’s a ridiculously powerful platform that has literally changed the way that we communicate, and how future generations will collaborate.  I heard recently that if Facebook was a country it would now be the largest in the world by population.  It’s a great factoid for party conversation, but it’s also a stunning statistic for businesses to notice, and embrace.  When used effectively the social space can be a lead-generation platform, an advertising weapon, and without a doubt the single best business intelligence platform in existence.  Social, however, is not the only answer.  However great your quarter back is, he can’t play against the opposition’s entire defensive line alone…not even Tebow can pull that kind of miracle (relax it’s a joke).  Social is one piece of a Rubik’s cube that when manipulated as part of a larger program enables successful marketing…and a little bit of sexiness that firms so desperately desire.

Sexy marketing for accounting firms, to me at least, is a comprehensive-multi-media-theme-based program leveraging every arrow in the quiver collectively: email, direct mail, video, social, events, phone, advertising and any other creative platform you can think of.  When all these things work in concert you get a marketing symphony where you’re the maestro.  It’s obviously more difficult than I’m making it sound but regardless of the complexity or creativity it is the execution that really matters.  Whether it be a small targeted effort, or a massive database blaster – it’s more about how it’s executed and ensuring the right follow up is in place.  For a few thousand dollars a creative idea can become a sexy little multi-touch/multi-media marketing program.  And with the right follow up plan in place, sexy results in $$$.  So the next time you’re faced with hosting a “seminar”…as we so often do…think about spending that money on a small targeted multi-touch effort.  Less waste, and you avoid the professional eaters looking for a free meal and some corporate schwag.

The mention of “accounting” will likely never illicit 50 shades of anything.  But a firm who embraces technology, social media, video content, dynamic graphic design, and creates a presence for themselves will certainly get a second look…and maybe, just maybe even a slightly wicked smile…

I’m not one to make waves.  (I almost typed that with a straight face)  Who am I kidding!?!?!?  I’m a virtual wave machine…and in my humble opinion marketers in my related industry face increasingly difficult times ahead.  In my best Dennis Hopper voice – it’s the information age man…we’re multi-tasked, multi-media’d, data tsunami’d and socially swamped.  We’re at a point where we have over inundated our consumers with content – content that we’ve all been schooled to regard as the “king” of our collective marketing strategies.  So have we been led astray?  Misguided to believe that by producing “valuable” content we are positioning ourselves for an onslaught of leads from the ‘old interwebs???  Yes.  And No.  But also Maybe.

I’m of the mindset that it’s a bit of a catch 22.  We simply cannot deny the interplay of digital platforms and the importance of searchable content.  Having said that, we need to re-acquaint ourselves with marketing’s oldest trick in the book – targeting.  Without question, targeting will always be the most important – though oft overlooked – component of an effective marketing strategy.  Slightly unrelated story – I sold ad space for a few big publications for a few years, and I believe my best clients were the ones who didn’t pull any punches when I presented my demographics.  I extrapolated and exaggerated the data, it’s what we did (insert crooked smile here)…but those who saw through that nonsense were the ones who I respected tremendously.  How does this relate to content strategy?  You see, creating content for the sake of SEO is foolish.  I see it all the time, ghost-writers hammering away blindly based on some simple direction around current news articles.  They work diligently creating blogs and white papers and all sorts of stuff that contributes to the rising tides of the data flood.  Content for content’s sake is like standing on a soapbox in an empty parking lot and professing your love to the girl of your dreams…who isn’t there.  (not in any way a personal story)  Tying back to my slightly unrelated story – it’s like spending boatloads on an advertisement in the wrong magazine – one who’s demo doesn’t line up with your product.  Strategy, in this case, would be to create targeted content for a specific demo or subset of your audience.  One step further, “personalizing” this content turns out to be the missing link.  It HAS to be representative of the voice of the firm, otherwise it’s wallpaper…background noise…another stick floating by in the flood waters.

I don’t claim to be an expert with extensive source information and factual reports.  I subscribe to the foundation of common sense marketing – understanding ones consumer, their behaviors, and putting yourself in their shoes.  Read some of the content you produce, and if you find it actually valuable and targeted than maybe it will succeed.  If you fall asleep and start drooling on your freshly pressed white shirt after the first paragraph…shake it up, and stir in a bit of excitement and targeted messaging and instead of a stick floating through the flood waters it just might become a raft…