Social networking: How does the Top 50 stack up?
A REVIEW ofhow professionals in the Accountancy Age Top 50 use LinkedIn, highlights that social media is a mainstream tool.
For instance, research by Kelso Consulting shows it is used by tens of thousands of accountants at the Top 50 firms, while a recent survey by accountancy software business CaseWare found that a third of accountants use it regularly, and a further 37% use it occasionally. However, 30% don't use it at all and a similarly large number have no idea what their own firm does on social media (if anything).
Our research also indicates that of its accountancy users, most are pootling along in first or second gear. This is strange as most accountants know their best leads come from their own network - and sites such as LinkedIn (and other business social media like Forum and SlideShare) are all about keeping in touch with your contacts, enlarging your network and interacting with them.
Does it matter that most accountants and their firms do not use LinkedIn particularly well and are in the slow lane on other social media? Well yes. Whether it is identifying suppliers, networking or recruiting, far more of the selecting and buying process is conducted online by clients than in other avenues - whether entrepreneurs, businesses, the self-employed or private individuals. This includes using social media, which is already an established and widely used way of communicating for whole swathes of the population, especially many business owners, finance directors, executives and fellow professionals.
Don't believe the hype
Social media was over-hyped in its early days - just as ecommerce was during the dotcom boom and bust of 15 years ago: but now ecommerce is mainstream and online stores are steamrollering the shops on our high streets.
The same is happening to the many accountancy firms who are anonymous online, through low Google search rankings and their poor use of social media. They are finding it harder and harder to attract enough suitable leads, because 1990s marketing is no longer as effective as 2013-style marketing. Of course, talented rainmakers will always be able to find leads "down the golfclub" and through their network - although these people are also the partners most likely to be utilising LinkedIn properly.
There are still many accountants hoping that social media will "go away". Sadly that will not happen any time soon. The way we communicate has changed dramatically in the last 20 years. Fax machines have come and gone, handwritten letters have become a novelty, and many households now have no landline - instead preferring to rely on mobiles. These changes won't be wound back - fax machines, rotary dial phones, and quill pens are now nearly obsolete, as better technologies have taken their place. The same applies to business communication with the rise of social media.
While your firm won't close tomorrow through not being social media-savvy, it is chronic condition cutting you off from many sources of work and sending a negative message to prospects, clients and recruits that you are hardly the place for leading-edge business advice.
The names of the biggest are well known - Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter are well known to accountants. Other common parts of the online landscape, such as YouTube, are also social. Many accountants use them, whether for business development, recruitment, job-hunting or client interaction, but there are still a significant minority who feel they can stand against innovation and improvement. That is good news for the many accountancy firms which are getting to grips with social media and starting to use it effectively - they will be well positioned to be the most attractive to clients and recruits.