The game of social media reminds me of one of Coach John Wooden’s quotes. The insightful basketball and leadership legend once said: “Never mistake activity for achievement.” Sometimes I think activity on social media outlets is just tossing darts blindly without a strategy or clear path of execution. I have heard many accountants echo the same sentiments. Another Coach Wooden line also applies here: “It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.” Many firms are shooting accurately with social media, tied cohesively to their overall marketing plans and strategies; other firms need help (and most of them know it).
In that same breath, there are a lot of people who “do” the social media marketing consultancy game for accounting firms and do it very, very well. Heidi Wooden (no relation to Coach John Wooden) is one of those people. A busy professional services marketing expert and former CMO in New York, Heidi Wooden certainly has the pulse of the profession at her fingertips. Now also affiliated with Hinge Marketing, Heidi has some opinions based on her experiences. Marketers and partners, take note. Here are a few nuggets:
“The challenges–and opportunities–for marketing people at public accounting firms lie in how they differentiate their firms and its partners. Getting partner buy-in is key in all of this, though.”
“Involve key stakeholders and partners–and highlight those partners through social media.”
“Firms need the data behind proposed marketing strategies to back it up. This is part of what we (marketers) do. The traditional marketing model has evolved to a digital marketing model.”
“Use of social media in the business development process is smart, but it’s important to determine which platform(s) is the best match to your prospects and clients. LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook…align what suits your targets the best to gain greater momentum.”
“My advice for accountants is that they have to be more than what they’ve been trained to do. By that, I mean, embrace the role of trusted business advisor.”
Ooohhh…trusted business advisor. We’ve all heard that term before! Are you living and breathing it? Social media knowledge is now a key component of what makes up that quest for being a top-notch business advisor. Is your game on? Whether it is or not, tune in to what Heidi Wooden has to say. Details on this engaging live online Q&A session are below. Attend, participate and make Coach Wooden proud.
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In this iShade Ask The Expert, Heidi Wooden, will answer your questions about leveraging Social Media for Lead Generation. Learn about:
- Does Social Media work?
- The importance of integrating your marketing efforts with a social marketing strategy.
- What are the right best practices to follow?
- How do you integrate Social Media with Business Development?
- Selecting the right Social Media platform(s).
- How do you generate more leads online?
- Practical methods for meeting new clients through Social Media.
Login to iShade Thursday, May 17, 2012 between 2:00pm and 4:00pm Eastern, go to the Practitioner to Practitioner Group and look for the Discussion Topic, “Ask the Expert: Heidi Wooden – Social Media“. Heidi will be online, answering your questions and sharing her experience and expertise.
Heidi Wooden is Founder & Managing Director of The Wooden Hub, a Growth Strategy and Marketing Services firm that delivers marketing solutions to Professional Services Firms. With a commitment to excellence in service, Heidi is responsible for formulating and executing metric-based strategies that yield measurable results. Prior to founding The Wooden Hub in 2009, Heidi was VP, Global Marketing at International Institute for Learning, Inc. Heidi is a volunteer member at New York Cares, New York City’s leading volunteer organization and a volunteer marketing advisor to The New York Women’s Foundation. She has received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from University of California, Berkeley, and a Master of Business Administration from Columbia University, Columbia Business School.
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