| Why Accountants Don't Advertise | | | | accounts during the seventies and eighties, |
| After the second world war most consumable | | | | however it was becoming very apparent that |
| items were scarce, thus there was little or no | | | | their existing model and self imposed conduct |
| need to advertise. Solicitors and accountants | | | | towards advertising would have to change. |
| services were also limited to larger accounts and | | | | Not an easy task to undertake as the financal |
| the upper classes. Because accountants deal in | | | | industry imposed strict ethics and moral codes |
| figures that are measurable, they historically have | | | | amongst its members that if they were to |
| had difficulty relating to advertising as being | | | | advertise it would be seen as stepping outside the |
| quantifiable and view it as something purely | | | | guidance of their peers. |
| speculative. After all why would you advertise a | | | | Many accountant practices moved out from the |
| service that has very little demand to the | | | | city and started to appear in the shires in the |
| ordinary public? Spending money on stationary | | | | nineties, placing considerable pressure upon |
| that was unnecessary went against the grain to | | | | individual sole accountants to actively seek out |
| most accountants way of thinking. Putting it | | | | new clients that previously would have found |
| bluntly, it just didn't add up; cost outlay for an | | | | them with much effort on the accountants part. |
| unknown return on an investment didn't make | | | | The good news was that the leading regulatory |
| good financial sense. | | | | bodies recognized that they needed to modify |
| The culture and stereotyping of accountants | | | | their policies on advertising to allow accountants to |
| were perpetuated in the fifties. Accountants were | | | | compete at getting clients on a competitive basis |
| seen as very serious, stuffy people that were | | | | with each other, yet many traditional accountants |
| typically members of the round table or rotary | | | | buried their heads in the sand when it came to |
| clubs and freemasons and mixed with their own | | | | advertising and clung to outdated principles. Not |
| social class to the benefit of all involved. Normally | | | | surprisingly their workload diminished along with |
| only one accountant would be invited to join such | | | | their client base. |
| a group in the earlier days, so, again there was | | | | Dot-com hit then crashed in the early part of this |
| little need to advertise as they were well known | | | | decade with many accountants muttering 'told |
| within the business community then. | | | | you it wouldn't last' but unfortunately for them it |
| The sixties saw a dramatic increase of | | | | was just a hitch that wouldn't last. Many still hold |
| entrepreneurialism with ordinary people setting up | | | | the view of accountants as pinstriped suits in oak |
| new ventures and projects outside the scope of | | | | paneled offices with seventies styled furniture, |
| small shop retail outlets. Builders, plumbers, | | | | whilst the reality is most accountant practices are |
| decorators and mechanics were now setting up | | | | located in airy modern offices that utilise the |
| larger operations. Technology had also made | | | | advancement in technology and online facilities. |
| advances in the world of commerce. Yet at this | | | | A modern accountant now realizes the |
| time accountants still carried on conducting the | | | | importance of advertising and marketing and even |
| way they had done business in the previous | | | | have a budget dedicated to its sole purpose of |
| decades without any significant change, all be it | | | | increasing client retention and acquisition. |
| maybe a small discrete advert in the local yellow | | | | They are no longer adverse to getting |
| pages. | | | | themselves out in the market place, networking, |
| Excisting on goodwill and word of mouth | | | | using social media, internet marketing, email |
| recommendations was still the mantra of most | | | | campaigns and even video marketing. |