Stand out professional services marketing: Common elements

I recently joined Cal Partners as an Account Executive, working with a variety of clients and projects, helping them to market the professional services they provide. It’s been great to learn about different sectors and get stuck in. Before joining, I worked in-house at a national accountancy firm supporting their regional marketing function. Moving to the agency-side has brought a lot of variety to my day to day, although not everything is completely new.

What I have found interesting is that there are some fundamental strands and strategies that are universal across all types of professional services marketing. Here are some common themes that I have found so far.

Know who you’re marketing to 

It might seem simple, but it’s surprising how many businesses bring a service to market without a clear demographic in mind. We know that all our clients are experts in their area who can provide valuable services to help people. To communicate this to prospects effectively, it is important to drill deeper into who your ‘people’ are. Building a client persona or profile will help with this. 

Client personas

Being clear on your target audience’s age demographic, key behaviours, ambitions, and challenges will inform how you communicate with them, and through which channels. Make a list of all the characteristics and key statistics that define the decision maker you want to reach. Think about how best you could communicate with them.

As I have discovered through working with a range of different professional services businesses ranging from law firms to accountants to healthcare providers, always remember that one marketing strategy might not work for everyone especially if you have a broader client base.

Identify pain points

When it comes to persuading clients that they NEED your services, it’s not enough to simply list off benefits. You’ll need to show them how your service can solve their individual challenges, otherwise known as pain points.

Identifying a pain point can grab the attention of those it applies to, relating to a physical, emotional or logistical unmet need. A range of research methods can be used to identify pain points such as social listening across social media, competitor analysis conducted by reviewing your competitor’s communications and service offerings, and by asking for feedback from your current clients.

Communicating pain points is best through the language of the audience you’re trying to reach. For example, avoid using overly technical jargon or coming across as patronising which is likely to alienate them. That’s why investing in great copywriting as part of your marketing plan is always a great idea, no matter what industry you’re in.

Content will always be king

Employing simple, persuasive, and short copywriting techniques to create a concise narrative around a prospect’s pain points and your solution in response will make them feel understood and not sold to.
And when it comes to communicating with prospects, storytelling, copywriting and content across various channels is key in the professional services space. Remember, people buy from people.

Trust is vital in professional services

Once you have highlighted a pain point and a solution and built a rapport through content, the rest of the ‘sales funnel’ hinges on building trust.

Building trust requires strategic planning when it comes to marketing your business and the services you offer. It’s built in several ways and applies to all forms of professional services marketing:

Thought leadership builds authority

Thought leadership has long been a marketing buzzword, but it’s mentioned often for a reason. When it comes to the B2B and professional services spaces, creating content that demonstrates your knowledge within your industry will position your business as an authority within your field.

Sharing valuable insights with key takeaways for prospects and peers can help you influence industry trends, build credibility and establish your business as a trusted leader on a specific subject. This can be done through valuable industry relevant content distributed across blogs, articles, whitepapers, newsletters, webinars, video, animations, podcasts etc and published on social media platforms such as LinkedIn.

Referrals speak volumes

When it comes to professional services, word of mouth can never be underestimated. In Alison’s article on The Power of Social Proof, she talks about just how much influence industry peers have on decision making when it comes to buying services in particular. 

Referrals and reviews can be left on a range of platforms, from Google to Trust Pilot and even your own website. The more reviews, referrals and testimonials you have to back up your case, the more trustworthy and credible you will be, ‘de-risking’ the buying process for the prospective client.

Client experience takes priority

And how do you gather good reviews? Good client/customer experience, of course. It’s never enough to simply win a client and provide an average service. Efforts to retain your clients by adding value where possible should take priority. After all, the satisfied clients you have today will be your biggest advocates and in turn promoters – they will do your marketing for you!

A strong brand will set you apart

Standing out in professional services

Branding is how you show up and it’s how your business is recognised. When people see your brand colours, logo and read your copy, your business should be instantly recognisable because it’s your DNA. 

A strong brand is made up of a range of visual and written elements which communicate not only what your business does, but other forms of key messaging including your values, and how you want to be perceived by your target audience. Common branding considerations include business name, logo, tagline, colour palette, typography, imagery and tone of voice. These elements combined can potently promote a sense of trustworthiness, capability, together with any other key differentiators, such as being a niche provider in your specialist sector.

It all comes down to a great online presence

When combined, all these factors can make for an effective online presence, which is crucial for any business providing a professional service. Being online is like putting your business on the map, vital for ambitious firms looking to grow and also attract and keep the best talent.

Once you have your brand, service and you’ve mastered how to effectively communicate, it’s important to get your website seen. One of the most important tools for this is Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). 

SEO to drive conversion rate optimisation 

SEO is an ever-evolving practice, dictated by Google’s changing preferred practices. Over the years we’ve seen shifting preferences when it comes to the use of keywords on webpages, link authority between websites, the optimal length of content on blogs and pages, and how authoritative a piece of content is. These only scratch the surface of the many factors you need to consider if you want your website or content to rank well on Google.

We have previously highlighted one of 2024’s key developments when it comes to ranking guidelines – the EEAT method. In summary, this is using experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness to rank higher on Google listings. 

If done right, SEO will allow you to rank for the services you’re offering. The more people who visit your website and are met with great content that demonstrates your expertise and trustworthiness, the higher your conversion rate will be – there’s no point in only measuring how much traffic you get to your website. 

Staying up to date with SEO best practices, as well as constantly supplying quality content to your website results in effective conversion rate optimisation across all kinds of professional services.

Cal Partners can put you on the map

We’re an award-winning specialist marketing and social media agency working with a range of professional services businesses including law firms, accountants, financial advisers and property professionals, to attract their ideal clients and drive leads. 

From setting up and managing social media accounts to generating blog content for thought leadership and implementing search engine optimisation strategies, we have helped businesses successfully leverage their marketing strategy to meet their business goals.

Given our professional services industry experience and backgrounds, we understand our clients’ target audiences. We can keep up with the latest trends across all professional services marketing and use them to maximise your budget so that you can focus on your day job.

For more information or a free consultation, complete our contact form, call 0333 050 6015 or email hello@calpartners.co.uk.