Case studies: Social media
technews
Accountants share their success with Facebook, Twitter and more
BY SETH FINEBERG
And so ;rms of all sizes are engaging in
some form of social media e;orts, which can
range anywhere from gaining basic knowledge of all the available tools and sites, to
hiring speci;c personnel or even having everyone in the ;rm contribute to social media
initiatives.
;e reality is that most ;rms are still feeling
their way around with social media and don’t
have a clear plan yet. ;e few that are making
some strides are seeing notable results from
their e;orts. Below are several case studies
on how ;rms are utilizing social media for
speci;c purposes and their experiences in
doing so.
forts to share these articles via Facebook and
Twitter on the ;rm’s site, as well as the sites of
the partners. Hertzig, along with the market-
ing coordinator and the blog writers, would
share their articles with their respective fan
bases and followers, and engage them further
where appropriate.
“We are all about selling our brand, who
we are [as a ;rm], and wanted to establish
ourselves as thought leaders,” she said. “It’s
very cool for [our writers] to have something
published and they share with their own
friends and followers as well. In accounting,
the personal and business worlds do cross
over; you do get referrals from friends and it
helps people connect with the ;rm.”
Results: Many of the results of the social
media sharing of blog articles were positive
— albeit anecdotal, according to Hertzig.
“People here will say so-and-so found me
via LinkedIn or Facebook and they e-mailed
about a quote on business, or they would
say they read an article one of our experts
wrote,” she explained. “When we prospect a
company, we do try to see who knows who,
but people do contact us from the blog posts
we get. We are de;nitely noticing an uptick
in business and attendance to events we
have, as well.”
Next steps: ;e ;rm is currently reworking
its Web site so that the home page aggregates
blogs, Twitter and Facebook feeds, e;ectively
“bringing the personality of the blogs to the
home page,” said Hertzig, who stressed that
social media e;orts are a long-term commitment, and that the results of some plans may
not be immediately evident.
“It takes a couple of years to gain traction
and credibility through social media; it’s not
always an immediate result and you have
to keep it going and keep sharing,” she said.
“;e next generation of business owners are
researching information online; this is who is
;nding us and following us. You really have
to know what you are using [social media] for
before you get started.”
Accountants are increasingly realizing that social media is more
tool than toy, and one that can be vital to their marketing,
recruiting, and connection with current and potential clients.
Building blogs
Firm: BCG & Co. / Akron, Ohio
Size: 100 sta;
Product/service(s):
Facebook and Twitter
Commencement date: 2010
On record: Marketing manager Jenny
Hertzig
Challenge/objective: To get tra;c back to
blogs written by “expert sources” via social
media, further positioning thought leadership in the ;rm. Target was existing clients
and potential referrals.
Amount spent: Nothing.
Process: ;e ;rm started some recruiting
e;orts via Facebook in 2009 and evolved it
over time, adding photos and videos to show
the “fun” side of the ;rm to potential hires,
according to Hertzig. Social media in general
also grew in importance, with each new hire
being trained on Twitter and LinkedIn. ;e
;rm also hired a marketing coordinator to
assist with its social media e;orts.
More important, several of the ;rm’s partners had been selected to blog articles on
their respective areas of expertise, and the
firm wanted to drive more traffic to them,
e;ectively “sharing thought leadership,” explained Hertzig. In 2010, the ;rm began ef-
Taking on Twitter
Firm: Fuoco Group / Hauppauge, N. Y.
Size: 80 sta;
Product/service(s):
Twitter
Commencement date: Early 2011
On record: Marketing director Krysta
Marie Lyon
Challenge/objective: To educate the ;rm on
the power of Twitter, how to use it, and become active in using it for news, ;rm updates
and information of interest to clients.
Amount spent: Nothing.
Process: ;e ;rm’s foray into social media
was a decision, in part, by its marketing director, who wanted the process to be “simple.”
She found Twitter ;t their purposes, as it has
a limited number of characters, and many of
the ;rm’s vendors and clients were already on
that social media site. Lyon helped oversee a
series of “lunch and learns” at all of the ;rm’s
o;ces to educate and explain the objectives
with Twitter, as well as what each partner and
sta;er could contribute.
In the fall of 2010, the ;rm established a
social media policy and made it effective,
shortly before o;cially rolling out its e;orts
on Twitter Jan. 1, 2011. “We are a brand and
have to make sure the information we put out
there is shared by our employees and re;ects
the quality of the brand. If you want your own
account you can have one, but if you tie in
the Fuoco Group name, we have rules,” explained Lyon.
She also manages the ;rm’s tweets through
HootSuite, so she can schedule and edit what
is broadcast over Twitter from Fuoco Group.
In addition, Lyon will speak to directors who
have Twitter accounts and inform them of
what she is sending out so there is no oversaturation of information.
Results: ;e Fuoco Group’s social media
e;orts may not yet have directly impacted
its earnings, but Lyon indicated that the ;rm
currently has over a dozen of its sta; members active on Twitter, which translates to
posting anywhere from a few times a week
to a few times an hour. ;e ;rm’s e-newsletter
readership has also increased as a result of
BLACKBAUD TO ADD MOBILE
ACCESS TO RAISER’S EDGE
CHARLESTON, S.C. — Nonprofit-focused accounting software developer Blackbaud
Inc. previewed some of the upcoming
features in its fundraising software The
Raiser’s Edge, including a way to score
donors, database administration improvements, and a mobile application.
The database administration operational
improvements will be available in March,
while the mobile app should be available
during the first half of the year.
SIMPLY ACCOUNTING 2012 ADDS
NEW PAYROLL FEATURES
IRVINE, CALIF. — Sage North America
has released Sage Simply Accounting
2012 English/Spanish, with new features geared towards providing payroll
processes with increased efficiency and
compliance for bilingual small businesses.
Newly redesigned windows allow the
ability to switch between paying one
employee to multiple employees on the
fly. The software can now automatically
calculate payroll advances with withholding amounts. It also offers the ability to
filter out inactive customers and vendors,
while accounts with zero balances can
be omitted from financial reports. In
addition, the Enterprise edition is now
available for up to 40 users.
XCM SOLUTIONS RELEASES V. 9.0
BRAINTREE, MASS. — Cloud-based workflow
software provider XCM Solutions has
released XCM 9.0, the next generation
of its firm-wide workflow automation
software featuring greater customization,
expanded knowledge management, and
enhanced usability for all roles across
the firm. Some of the key additions to
the flagship product include customized
status creation and automation within the
extension process. Knowledge management capabilities throughout the application include information on checklists
and within issues/points, questions, and
instructions. The software also provides
usability enhancements on the My View
page, and the ability to designate linked
Web pages and files from integrated
document management systems to automatically carry forward to the next period.
