One of my favorite calls to receive starts with, "Amy, we've never really done marketing before. Where do we start?"
Since 2014, I've worked with financial firms that collectively manage more than $300 billion in assets. Some had established marketing departments and existing strategies. Others had never invested in marketing at all.
Ironically, the firms that had never done marketing were often in the best position to grow.
Why?
Because we weren't trying to fix years of disconnected initiatives or undo investments that never delivered results. We weren't trying to explain why a website built eight years ago no longer reflected the firm, or why a dozen different marketing vendors had all taken the firm in different directions. Instead, we were starting with a blank slate.
That's an incredible advantage.
When you have a clean canvas, every decision is intentional. Every investment builds on the one before it. Instead of cleaning up the past, we're building the future.
So where do we start?
The first step is almost always your brand.
Before we redesign a website or think about SEO, social media, or content, I want to understand who your firm really is. We interview leadership, gather feedback from clients, conduct surveys, and identify the common themes that make clients choose your firm over everyone else. We define your ideal client, your positioning, and what you want your firm to be known for over the next decade.
Once that foundation is in place, we build your website.
Your website is your storefront. Every marketing initiative eventually leads people back to it. Whether someone finds you through Google, YouTube, LinkedIn, a referral, or a conference, they're almost always going to visit your website before deciding whether to contact you. It needs to clearly communicate who you are, what makes your firm different, and why someone should trust you. It also needs to be fast, mobile-friendly, and easy to navigate.
Only after that do we focus on driving traffic.
This is where your marketing engine begins. We develop content that answers the questions your prospective clients are already asking. We build an SEO strategy so your firm appears when people search for solutions online. We create articles, videos, social media, and thought leadership that reinforce your expertise and continue bringing qualified visitors back to your website.
I'm a big believer in organic growth. While there are many ways to market a financial firm, I've consistently found that creating valuable content and building long-term search visibility generates some of the highest-quality opportunities. It takes time, but it compounds year after year.
The firms that have never done marketing often think they're behind. I see it differently.
They're starting with a clean foundation, no bad habits to undo, and the opportunity to build a marketing strategy the right way from the beginning. In my experience, that's one of the best places a firm can be.
A growth consultant for CPA firms helps owners win better clients, train partners to sell and build marketing that brings steady results. Many accounting firms have grown on referrals for years, but referrals alone are no longer enough to meet growth goals. In this guide, Select Advisors Institute explains what a growth consultant does, how to set a marketing budget and how to measure real results. Founder and CEO Amy Parvaneh has 25 years in financial services, has taught at Pepperdine University and holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business. She has worked with RIAs, asset managers, credit unions and trust companies. We share practical steps managing partners can use to choose a consultant, fix business development and plan for succession.