july2021 - 17

MARKETING YOUR FIRM
10 Content Development
cover this base. That's enough, right? Wrong.
Why? Because you and hundreds of other firms
are using the same content, which is a no-no in
Google's eyes. According to Search Engine People,
" Content is extremely important for SEO, without
it search engines won't have enough information
to index your pages correctly and help you rank.
Google values original content and doesn't care
much for copied or duplicate content. "
CREATE CONTENT WITH EASE
How can I create original content, without
spending a ton of time or money? It's okay to buy
content. The not-okay part is just posting it as it
is on your site, like dozens or hundreds of other
firms are also doing.
For example, Thomson Reuters' content, " IRS
Provides Guidance on Temporary 100% Expense
Deduction for Meals, " could be broken down into
many social media posts or even new content.
In the article, it mentions that restaurant and
business owners can get a temporary, 100 percent
deduction on restaurant meals. It also states what
does not qualify as a restaurant. Simple social
media and email content can be created from
boring text. Here's how.
EXAMPLE
Using Canva, an online graphic design tool, I created
two, graphical posts for Facebook. Total time
to create these? About 10 minutes. Their impact?
Huge! You have to admit, these are more fun than
text alone.
Once graphics are created, post the graphic and
the link to your article on social media. The same
content can be repurposed in email with a link to
the article on your website.
Hacks for Small Firms By Becky Livingston
IF I WERE to ask you, " Where does content development and marketing efforts for your
website rank on your to-do list? " How would you respond? Is it even on your to-do list?
Maybe you buy content from a resource to
10 CONTENT HACKS
Here are ten more ideas for building quick, simple
content that packs a punch.
■ Your mobile phone. On that device alone you have
a camera and a microphone, the one-two combo
needed to create organic content on the fly. Here's
how to make the content. Think of a client pain
point - maybe from an email you responded to
earlier in the week or an article you read. Then
record yourself giving a tip on how to solve the
pain point. Viola, instant video and audio recording.
Remember the not-so-shameless plug for your
contact information at the end.
■ Artificial Intelligence (AI). If you haven't begun
using AI in your content development efforts,
you're missing out. Here are some resources (paid
and free) to consider:
* Quill: creates meaningful content from data
* Wordsmith: translates data into text
* Articoolo: simulates human writers and delivers
unique articles on a given topic and word count
specifications (think newspapers)
* WordAI: designed to help you spin articles
on demand. If you're planning to rewrite any
existing articles on the web, without running
into duplicate content issues, this tool promises
to do the job for you.
* Article Forge: automatically researches on any
topic, reads an infinite number of articles and
then writes the article in its own words.
* Marketo: crawls your site and recommends
content based on your assets, such as videos,
white papers, case studies, and blog posts.
■ Google Docs & Chrome Browser. Did you know
Google Docs on Chrome offers a transcription
feature? Game-changer, right?!? This solution is
for those who hate typing and prefer a laptop or
desktop to their mobile device. Keep the content
simple-focused on one to three points, craft a
clever headline, include a call to action, and add
your contact information. Voila! Instant blog article.
■ Top 10. Use your website analytics to view your
top content results for a defined time period. Then
create a listicle (list article) to share on social media
and in email. It's fast, simple, and links back to
other website content. Google loves that.
■ Embrace Slide Content. Repurpose bulleted lists or
data-driven slides on social media. If a slide deck
has three bullet-point slides, that's three social
media posts.
■ Share a Poll. It only takes a few minutes to come
up with the poll question and a few options.
See last month's article, How to Use Polls to
Measure Your Clients' Needs (www.cpapracticeadvisor.
com/21222700), for polling inspiration.
■ Industry Statistics. The crazier the stats, the more
likely people will respond to it. For example, this
stats from Hosting Tribunal, " 40% of small business
owners say that bookkeeping and taxes put a
strain on running a business. " Or, this one from
Balancing Everything, " 74% of small businesses
don't understand how ghost assets affect their
taxes and accounting books. "
■ Multiple Headlines. Even one piece of content may
be shared on social media multiple times over
a period of weeks. Simply change the headline
and use a different image, but the same link and
hashtags. Hate writing headlines, use an online
headline generator for assistance.
■ Holidays. Reference the National Day Calendar for
fun topics you can share on social media. It doesn't
have to be about accounting. It just needs to be
about your firm's culture, history, community, or
staff. For example, August 14 is National Bowling
Day. If your firm is part of a bowling league, share
some photos.
■ Nostalgia. Throw-back Thursday and Fun-Fact
Friday are two days to post content about your
firm, its community, or industries it serves. This is
a great idea for firms celebrating a milestone year.
BONUS TIP - CONTENT OTHERS CREATE
Original content is wonderful. But you don't have
to be the only one creating it. Ask your followers to
jump into the fray by sharing accounting pain points,
photos of their office or community, office pets, or
other topics that put " social " into social media.
Now that you have the means, go forth and
create. Put a small amount of time aside each week
to create content for multiple postings on social
media or for inclusion in a monthly email. I can
hardly wait to see what you create. ■
Becky Livingston is the President and CEO of Penheel
Marketing, a NJ-based firm specializing in social media
and digital marketing for CPAs. www.Penheel.com
JULY 2021 ■ www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
17
http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/21222700 http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/21222700 http://www.Penheel.com http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
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