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I have taken it upon myself to campaign against US accounting firms who still resort to sending canned content to their high value clients.
After attending this year’s AAM Summit in Chicago and speaking with several attendees, clients should be warned that a lot of firms plan to continue sending them Canned-SPAM!

I subscribed to email newsletters from the firms I met at this year’s conference. I consequently received virtually identical newsletters from a number of different firms featuring the same canned articles. Rather than naming and shaming, I have included screen shots with no reference to the individual culprit firms below.

I’ve highlighted in orange the canned content that appears in both these firms’ newsletters. It is puzzling because the two firms in question provide different services in very distinct markets. The canned article in this case covered Intellectual Property concerns when expanding one’s business into China.  I hope that they are appropriately segmenting their lists to ensure that only an appropriate section of their clients (those considering expanding into the Chinese market) are receiving this relevant content – but I doubt it.

One observation was clear; both firms use the same email marketing provider. I’ve noticed that this provider’s clients send emails with the same design, merely selecting different colors for headline blocks as you can see. The designs do leave a lot to be desired. Concep recently held an Email Best Practices Webinar, which discusses design tips and the proper use of email templates as well as strategy. Click here to view the webinar.

The examples below are not the first and they certainly won’t be the last we see of canned content for some time to come.

There are certain steps accounting firms should take to address issues with content. A few firms I’ve spoken to are looking for experienced writers who could work with marketing and individual partners.  If you cannot get your CPAs to write then hiring a ghost writer to help could be a worthwhile option.

Personally, I’ve always been against canned content as it provides little or no value. I have the pleasure of working with a number of law firms who know the benefits of applying a real, personal approach to the content they send their clients. Apparently accountants don’t have the same skills “dealing with numbers all day” as one marketing manager recently told me. Perhaps that’s not giving accountants enough credit. I understand potential implications to the billable hour but content creation and subsequent email campaigns are business development – when it’s done right it can generate new business!

Contrary to popular belief there are accountants out there who can write just as there are accountants and firms with personality! For proof check out this hilarious video titled “I got a feeling – more than just a job” by WithumSmith+Brown http://www.withum.com/popupvid_music-video.html - Their Managing Partner and CEO, Bill Hagaman even dedicates time to blogging http://ceothinks.com/  Good on ya Bill!

I often wonder what accounting firms expect their clients to do after receiving canned newsletters. With no author or real person at the firm for clients to follow up with after reading an article, these firms are simply blasting content out the door. Un-targeted, irrelevant marketing will not help bring new business opportunities through the door.

Time and time again, marketers seem to forget that email addresses are real people: they are your firms’ clients. An accountant wouldn’t shout out irrelevant news stories or make useless analogies in a face-to-face meeting with a client so why should a firm do the same in its email communications?