Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Cheap Marketing Strategies & Advert. For New Tax Business

Posted by dv_radu on 11/23/2015 at 10:53 PM ET 250 Points
I am a new tax business owner, previously an accountant. I am trying to attract clients and I have a small marketing budget($500). What suggestions do you have for me to help me build a new clientele? Also, if you could suggest any websites where I could purchase attractive & reasonably priced door hangers, postcards and Door to Door mailing.

Price-wise, would you suggest to offer $25 off the current price or a percentage off of the taxpayer's last year tax bill? What would be more attractive for the prospective client?

I live in S/W Texas, but do not speak Spanish so, catering to Hispanic people would not be the case; though my software offers all forms and interview in Spanish.

Thank you very much.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 11/24/2015 at 11:57 AM Accepted
    First, where are your prospective clients located? All local to your town/location? Or more widespread than that?

    Whoa re your target clients? All personal taxes? Or business taxes also?

    I would avoid discounting right up front. If you market correctly and provide a good service, you shouldn't have to discount. or if you use discounting, use it judiciously. Perhaps as a way to get people to get their info to you outside of the busy time (giving someone a discount to give you their tax info on April 14, when you likely will already be too busy, would be a bad idea).
  • Posted by mgoodman on 11/24/2015 at 12:14 PM Accepted
    How did you arrive at the budget figure of $500? How many clients do you need? How much is each client worth to you? It's possible the problem is that you don't have a sound business plan or a marketing strategy that will deliver your objectives.

    If that's the case, you probably need to start from square-one and determine exactly what the goal is and what it will take to accomplish the goal. You may need to adjust either the goal or the marketing budget (or both).
  • Posted by dv_radu on 11/24/2015 at 12:24 PM Author
    I need around 200-250 clients. How much should I be spending per prospective client to be efficient? I don't have marketing training so any advice is appreciated. I am starting as a home-based business, and my target is individuals/ families as well as students and possibly military families but I also target small businesses (contractors) for which I am planning to do bookkeeping for the rest of the year . I am planning to purchase large door hangers for around $250/3000 -I am in the process of placing the order -and will spend another $200 or so for postcards.

    I was thinking to offer $25 off for the first 50 clients. How does that sound? In February I could do another campaign once I receive some cash into the business.

    Please advise.

    Thank you.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 11/24/2015 at 1:06 PM Moderator
    If you are prepared to spend $25 in discounts to 50 clients, why wouldn't you spend that same $1,250 on marketing to get those same clients at full revenue? Discounting to them suggests you are worth less than what you normally charge. Why do that to yourself?

    This actually sounds like a great candidate for a small Adwords campaign. You only pay for your ads when a client clicks and goes to a landing page on your website. Do you currently have a website where you can put a landing page? You will need to learn the ins-and-outs of Adwords, but it's a great way to reach your local target audience.
  • Posted by dv_radu on 11/24/2015 at 1:21 PM Author
    I do not have a website at the moment. It seems too much right now, I still have a lot to do in preparation of the tax season. In conclusion, I will get rid of the discounts, I will add a Cash referral plan (which I learned works much better) and will invest more in advertising -full price.
    Any other suggestions?

    How much would be a fair price paid per prospective customer?

    thank you.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 11/24/2015 at 7:17 PM Member
    "Cheap marketing strategies".

    See, there's your number one problem right there: reverting to cheap.

    This is a huge mistake.
  • Posted by mgoodman on 11/24/2015 at 8:17 PM Accepted
    Fair price for a qualified lead: Up to, but not more than, the projected lifetime value of the customer. This is especially true when you are in start-up mode and not at capacity.
  • Posted by dv_radu on 11/24/2015 at 10:34 PM Author
    Thank you all for your ideas and suggestions.

    Happy Thanksgiving!
  • Posted by Peter (henna gaijin) on 11/25/2015 at 12:41 PM Member
    The main goal of a new business is to get word out Your type of business does well when you get repeat and word of mouth support, but the challenge to this in your first year is that the primary need for your business is really in a 2 month period once a year, so getting referrals in year one will be hard (but you hopefully will get some) and getting repeat in year 1 is impossible.

    I still think limited discounting is best. We can't answer the fair discount per person without more details, such as how much you are charging, costs, what others in area charge, how much a customer is worth to you (presumably someone who files the simple form is worth less than someone who files long form, home business, etc.), etc. But as I said in a prior message, I would only discount to fill in people during times when you are less busy. You likely will have too much work and be working long days the last few days before the 15th. So maybe give a discount for people who get their taxes to you before 3/15 or the like.

    A second form of discounting would be to provide some sort of incentive back to a person who refers someone else to you. Maybe give a gift card for each person referred.

    A web site is much like a business card now - pretty much needed for every business. A basic site is usually enough for something like yours. Here is some inf o on cheap/easy ways to make a web site: https://smallbiztrends.com/2010/08/7-free-website-builders-small-businesses...
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