Many accounting firms are not aware of new capabilities that Google has added around targeting affluent users, and users who are currently in the market for accounting/tax/CPA services. With Google Search, Youtube, and Google’s Display Network becoming increasingly ubiquitous in our livest, accounting firms who ignore these channels are missing a huge opportunity. Google Ads provides an enormous array of options for advertisers that can be overwhelming. At Vizala Digital, we cut-thru the extraneous details and layout a strategy that accounting firms can use to growth their businesses with Google Ads. Some of the key themes include….

• Ads are exclusively shown to “In-Market” audiences. This includes users whose online behavior (searches and sites visited) indicates that they are currently looking for a CPA firm.

• Other targeting options are layered on top including location, age/income demographics, and retargeting

• Tracking and various controls are used to continuously optimize campaigns, allocate spend, and hit budget targets

These tactics along with other optimizations outlined in this whitepaper can help CPA firms include Google Ads as a cost effective channel for generating leads and new business.

High Intent Google Searches

Since you are only charged for clicks, you want to avoid appearing for searches that are not likely to be prospects. We do this by only appearing for high intent searches. This includes searches where the prospect appears to currently be in the market for CPA services. Searches like “accountant near me,” “find a tax advisor” and “small business CPA firm” all indicate that the searcher is likely to be in the market.

By contrast, we would avoid appearing for topics that are overly broad like “bookkeeping” or “income tax brackets.” We would also avoid topics where the searcher is probably just doing research and is not necessarily looking to hire a CPA. “Capital Expenditures” and “tax credits” are examples.

High Intent Display Ads

With Display Advertising, we have access to most well-known business and financial websites, apps, and Youtube Channels. We never target entire websites but instead target specific articles and sections of websites. The goal is to replicate the intent that you have with Search ads. In this example, the article “Tips for Finding the Right Tax Accountant for You” is likely to be read by a person who is in-market.

The ad on the right is highly relevant to the article, and a click on the ad will send the prospect to the firm’s website.

Precision Location Targeting & Affluent Targeting

The following table is an example of how location targeting can be used in Google Ads to maximize ROI. In most cases, it makes sense for local CPA/tax firms to limit their ads to within 15-50 miles of their office, and for keyword bids to be higher for searchers who are closer to the office. Additionally, for some businesses you will also want to have higher bids in zip codes with a lot of high income residents. In the last column “Example Keyword Bid,” both location and IRS data has been used to adjust each keyword bid up or down. Likewise, every keyword should have its bid adjusted based on the zip code.

Instead of just drawing a circle around your office, you can get better results if you specifically target the locations where your clients are most likely to come from.

Affluent Neighborhood Targeting

In addition to zip code targeting, we can target much more specific locations. This can include company headquarters, office parks, universities, medical centers, and affluent neighborhoods.