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Practice management

Rank higher on Google by leveraging integrated marketing

ByLee Frederiksen
September 7, 2022 11:09 AM

Google makes substantial changes to its search algorithms several times a year. The most recent was the helpful content update in August. According to Google, the update will "ensure people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results."

While these Google core updates are supposed to improve the quality of searches, they can also devastate your website rankings. So, how can accounting firms continue to rank in searches despite continual updates to the Google algorithm?

Leveraging an "integrated marketing communications" approach offers resilience and success when coaxing clients to the top of Google search rankings — even in the midst of continual algorithm changes. The strategy relies on balancing the four media cornerstones of integrated marketing communications: (1) owned media, (2) earned media, (3) paid media, and (4) shared media. 

This article offers an overview of the four media cornerstones of IMC and how to use them best.

What is IMC and how does it improve Google rankings?

Integrated marketing communications blends multiple marketing techniques and media channels into a cohesive, multipronged strategy. The cornerstones of this strategy include the four types of media — owned, earned, paid and shared. 

By publishing media across all of these channels, IMC campaigns reach the largest and broadest range of potential accounting clients. They also reach the influencers that these accounting clients organically respond to. Most importantly, they skyrocket marketing efficacy while lowering costs. 

When traditional media, internet blog posts and influencers across the internet begin to reference your content as a primary source of truth (and when web searchers spend time on your website and share its content), Google perceives your website as providing "helpful content." This supports the rise in the ranking of your content and websites in Google searches. 

4 cornerstones of integrated marketing communications

Let's look at the four cornerstones of an IMC strategy in detail so you can ensure your content marketing efforts stand firmly on all four pillars:

Owned media

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Owned media includes anything your firm directly owns, controls and has full rights to. This may include website content such as product pages, blog posts and thought leadership content. It also includes your firm's email communications, YouTube videos and marketing assets like two-pagers, whitepapers, etc.

Strategies for maximizing your use of owned media are: 
  • Putting your website on a user-friendly content management system like WordPress;
  • Adding website features that help you capture new email addresses for growing your audience; 
  • Leveraging email marketing platforms like Mailchimp and Constant Contact (for smaller firms) and Pardot, HubSpot and Eloqua (for larger firms); and,
  • Tracking campaign success metrics with a free tool like Google Analytics to determine traffic sources and conversion rates.

Earned media

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Sergey Nivens - Fotolia
Earned media includes any media that brings public attention to your accounting firm and its services without paying for it. This may include:
  • Unpaid brand mentions on websites, blogs, videos, radio stations, television, news channels, magazines, newspapers, etc.;
  • Speaking engagements where a representative of your accounting firm is invited to give a presentation;
  • Guest articles where a representative of your accounting firm is asked to write a blog post, magazine or newspaper article;
  • Interviews where a TV, radio, internet, podcaster or magazine journalist asks to interview a representative of your firm; and,
  • Free mentions and links to your business on the website of a strategic partner.
Some of the most successful earned media campaigns hinge on a well-maintained list of media contacts. To cultivate your list, services from Muckrack and Meltwater can help you get in touch with journalists, bloggers and editors associated with the accounting field. Your goal is to have these contacts write about your firm or invite your team to publish thought leadership content on their platforms.

Paid media

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Fotolia
Paid media is the opposite of earned — because you are actually paying for your content and advertising assets to appear on blogs, ads, social media pages, pay-per-click search engine marketing, audio ads and other types of display advertisements. Paid media spots include:
  • YouTube ad campaigns;
  • Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media ad campaigns;
  • TV ads;
  • Radio ads;
  • Paid publishing of an online article;
  • Online article exchanges;
  • Newspaper ads;
  • Billboard ads; and,
  • Paid link-building opportunities.
It's easy to put your paid media out there — all it takes is a little bit of capital. Making your paid media successful and productive requires laying some groundwork with a website that is optimized for converting interested leads into paying customers, or at least collecting their email addresses or contact information. It also requires knowing and understanding your audience and customers, their interests, and the needs or pain points that drive them to secure your services. 

Finally, it's important to track the right key performance indicators to measure the success of your paid media campaigns. For example, does your campaign require the tracking of impressions, engagement, candidates, sales opportunities or a combination of these?

Shared media

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Shared media happens when an influencer, important brand, media outlet or everyday people share your promotional content to their groups — usually on social media, but it could also be on their blog. Audiences and potential customers tend to be more open to shared media because it comes from a source that they follow and trust. Examples of shared media include:
  • Social media shares;
  • References to your content on YouTube; and,
  • Linking to your content on another blog.
A successful shared media campaign requires you to publish high-value content that solves your customers' problems and/or tells a relatable story. In the age of LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and TikTok, the strategic use of hashtags is also important for getting your stories in front of the audiences and influencers who will share your content with their connections. 

Build your marketing foundation and make it strong

Focusing on the four cornerstones of integrated marketing communication provides a well-rounded strategy for preserving and improving the Google rankings of accounting firms, despite the unpredictable nature of Google's continual algorithm changes. 

When your owned, earned, paid and shared media campaigns inform customers about your services and website across all channels, you will build a strong marketing foundation — and this will help you rise in the ranks of Google searches like never before.
Lee Frederiksen
Managing partner, Hinge
Practice management Marketing Social media Business development
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