Tax Business Marketing Mix

Marketing is often a second thought when starting your own tax prep business; when the truth is, tax advertising should be the first thing you consider when constructing the foundation for a successful startup. You can be the best tax preparer, EA, or CPA in the country and be able to do taxes in your sleep, but that does not translate to a successful tax practice without successful marketing tax services and strategies to get customers in your door!  The key is not just to attract more customers initially, but also to retain them and keep them coming back tax season after tax season. It’s not difficult to market your tax prep company, but we don’t want to give you the impression that there is one “sure-fire” solution that that will work for all tax prep offices.  When developing your tax businesses’ marketing program a little help can go a long way.

Finding the right tax preparation marketing ideas for your tax business is important for so many reasons. A developed, concrete and executable marketing plan enables you to properly allocate resources to that area of the business. Unfortunately, this is one budgetary line item that many tax business owners dismiss as unnecessary spending. If done poorly or improperly, this can lead to wasted resources and a learning experience.  If done properly marketing should always bring in more revenue than the expenditure itself. Tax Business marketing return-on-investment can be estimated if we are able to determine a response rate for each type of tax season marketing campaign.

All marketing channels have a response rate. A response rate in traditional marketing is a percentage of responses that a business can expect based on the number of impressions or contacts made with a potential customer.  Response rates vary by channel. For example, the expected response rate for direct mail is approximately 2% to be considered successful, but that rate varies based on several factors. Response rates for direct mail increase with additional mailings. Other traditional types of marketing include billboards, newspapers, and other print advertising. 

Online marketing channels use different terms and phrases to express various forms of contact with potential customers. Impressions, click through rates, cost per conversion, etc. These metrics allow you to determine your ROI for the online marketing channels.  Digital marketing methods include pay per click advertising, search engine optimization, specialty placement banners, and other niche methods. 

The marketing mix that you select for your tax business will very likely be determined by your marketing budget. You might want to do everything possible to promote your tax preparation business, but without a large marketing budget for you will need to make some concessions.  The cost of traditional methods of marketing is easily determined and you can set your own budget on digital marketing campaigns, so you can start by selecting methods that you like. For example, if you are not online very much, have very little experience with managing digital marketing campaigns, choosing an online campaign may not be a great idea. 

Using a mix of traditional marketing methods complimented by online advertising is ideal, but certainly not required. If your tax office operates in a rural region with an aging population, you may be better off marketing your tax preparation business through primarily traditional methods where you are more likely to reach your audience. 

Federal Direct offers a marketing contribution to your marketing mix if you decided to do an Every Door Direct Mail campaign. Federal Direct Tax Services will contribute up to $500 toward an eligible campaign, and we help with the campaign execution. This will help increase your ROI in at least one area of your tax business marketing. 

For more tax advertising ideas with Federal Direct, visit: https://www.federaldirecttax.com/my-tax-office/marketing/?src=naea

If you are an independent tax office looking for whole tax office solutions, give us a call at (866) 357-2052 to discuss partnership opportunities. Ask about our Professional Courtesy Discount on our Platinum Partnership Package for Enrolled Agents, CPAs and Attorneys.