By Scott H. Cytron, ABC
What’s the big deal about Social Media and why should the accounting profession care?
Most of my clients work in, or provide services to, CPAs and accountants. As a communications professional, it’s my job to help them make connections, promote their businesses and grow their companies. They often turn to me for advice, and one of the most sought-after areas is social media. Specifically, they want to know how they can use social media in their companies and organizations.
Whether you blog, tweet, or have pages on Facebook or LinkedIn, some accounting professionals are doing it really well, while others struggle to understand the benefits. Several learned it all on their own; others hire consultants to help them figure it out.
Here are a few lessons learned so far in social media – which, in reality, is still very much in its infancy.
Lesson #1: Social Media is About Building Relationships
Let’s face facts. As a segment of the business marketplace, CPAs and accountants are not gregarious by nature. That’s not a generalization. Have you ever walked into a roomful of accountants where white noise is the norm rather than the exception?
If you’re an accounting firm, you can no longer get by with just doing business on the golf course. Sounds ludicrous, but I have a CPA colleague working in tax who joined a family-owned firm several years ago. He soon discovered the firm did not have a Web site, the professionals did not belong to any networking groups, and any recruitment or business development was only done on the 18th hole.
Sure, times have changed, but that’s the way this particular firm built its relationships – albeit the only way. Today’s firm must be visible every place it can, not only in person, but with technology as its ally, not its enemy.
Come and enter the world of social media, where an Internet connection and some non-billable time can get you noticed in a matter of days. One of the primary advantages of social media is that it builds relationships among friends and strangers – many of which could become your next client.
Sounds too far-fetched? Try it and you’ll see. Start with something easy like LinkedIn. Many CPAs tell me they believe LinkedIn is just a job board, but it’s really so much more than that. In fact, I consider the job postings on LinkedIn secondary to its real purpose of establishing connections. These could be people you know and, better yet, people you don’t know.
Another CPA friend, Max Jaffe, CEO of Spending Solutions, presents seminars to companies and organizations on how to manage money. Max was stumped in this economy to find a way to build more relationships and, in turn, book more speeches. He discovered LinkedIn, completed his profile and is now making connections all across the nation. And, it didn’t cost him anything but his time.
Lesson #2: Social Media is Not Hard to Learn
Let me repeat that: Social Media is not hard to learn.
Here’s a great example. Many are asking me to tell them how to tweet on Twitter. If you’re reading this and already confused, Twitter is what’s called a “Micro-Blog,” where you only have 140 characters to express yourself through what’s known as a “tweet.” There are personal tweets from individuals and corporate tweets that represent an actual company.
Twitter has gotten a bad reputation because many tweets are just downright silly. Personally, I could care less what someone has for dinner or that they are going to the gym. What I do want to hear about is a pearl of wisdom, a book they’ve read that inspired them or a referral to a helpful magazine article.
Let me show you how easy it is. Can you type? Can you express yourself in one sentence? If so, chances are you’ll discover that Twitter is a breeze.
Here’s another suggestion for a way to try Social Media: Text Messaging. Yes, the bane for most of us who have teenagers, and yet a fairly useful way to communicate with others using low-cost technology on your cell phone.
I recently interviewed a CPA for a story who was using text messaging to answer quick questions from his clients. He could respond very fast to any short-answer questions, or if the matter required more time, he would suggest the client set up a time and date to meet in person.
The CPA also used texting to know when his next appointment was in the office. If he was already in a meeting, his assistant sends him a short message and there are no interruptions by phone or with a knock on the door. Pretty effective!
Lesson #3: Determine the ROI
By now, I’m sure you’re thinking it’s about time I got around to talking about ROI, especially if you’re a numbers-person.
By nature, CPAs and accountants like to know what kind of return on investment they’ll get out of anything they do, especially something as new and somewhat mysterious as social media.
My best answer is this: It’s a mixed bag. Sometimes, you just can’t measure something in terms of hard numbers. Sometimes, you can.
Here’s an example of the “can’t.” When I handle a media relations campaign for an accounting software vendor, we might get lots of “clips” or stories, but the real measurement isn’t determined by the amount of space we took up in a newspaper or online. Rather, the real ROI comes in when you can directly tie any kind of effort to some kind of business growth and on the company’s brand – its reputation and image.
Now here’s the “can” that will, at least, satisfy your partners and business owners who are totally dependent on numbers. Did your social media activities help you retain a client? Did it result in a new client?
It did for me, recently, through a relationship I established last summer on Facebook with a friend of a friend I wanted to meet for quite a long time. We struck up a conversation on Facebook, and now, some eight months later, I just secured an 8-month contract for some really great work. Although the may or may not have been possible if I had not maintained the Facebook relationship with her, it’s a valid example of how Facebook helps make you visible.
Remember, however, that this relationship took some work and our “friendship” on Facebook blossomed into more than just a cursory message once or twice a year. We would respond to each other’s status updates or share information of mutual interest. The point here is that I maintained top-of-mind presence with her, which, when you think about it, goes back to Lesson #1 on using Social Media to build relationships.
Lesson #4: Position Yourself as an Expert
Social media has paved the way to position yourself as an expert on any subject possible.
The most concrete example is LinkedIn’s “Answers” tab. You can see any question posted by anyone in your network, and by answering a question, you demonstrate your knowledge. While you can get carried away on this section by spending a lot of time answering questions, most participants quickly see the benefits of spending as little as 30 minutes on here each week.
You also can position yourself as an expert through your status updates on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and any other social media site. How? Post useful information instead of what you’re doing at that very moment. Many accounting providers post very savvy updates, for example, on Twitter when they make observations about the economy, tax laws or something else related to accounting. In a subtle way, they gain exposure for themselves while flexing their brain muscles, easily and at no cost.
Lesson #5: Try and Try Again
You didn’t learn all 26 letters of the alphabet overnight, so how can you expect to learn all there is about social media within a week, month or even a year?
Many professionals in and outside of accounting tell me they want to take a cautious, wait-and-see approach by lurking in the background and observing, for example, what others post for their status updates. This is similar to electronic bulletin boards where we observe rather than participate in conversations.
While perfectly fine, at some point you’ll want to jump in – and there really aren’t any written rules other than to maintain “Netiquette” – politeness while on social media sites. If you have something questionable in taste to send to someone, make sure only they can see the posting, and for goodness sakes, make sure it’s something they won’t be offended to see!
Social media continues to evolve; next year this time, Twitter may be passé and we’ll be talking about something else. Regardless, you can’t ignore the potential value associated with social media.