The Difference Between a Marketing Strategy & Marketing Plan

If I asked you right now whether your accountancy firm has a marketing strategy, what would you say?

Most firms would say yes. But when I dig a little deeper and ask what that strategy looks like, the answer is usually a list of marketing activities. A content calendar, some social media posts, maybe a plan to attend a couple of networking events.

That’s not a marketing strategy. That’s a marketing plan. And the difference between the two matters more than you might think.

In this article I break down what a marketing strategy and a marketing plan are, why you need both, and how to figure out which one your firm is missing.

What is a marketing strategy for accountancy firms?

A marketing strategy is the thinking behind your marketing. It covers the big questions:

• Who are you trying to attract as your ideal clients?
• Why are you targeting them specifically?
• What makes your firm different from every other accountancy practice?
• How does winning these clients help you hit your wider business goals?

A strategy gives your marketing direction and purpose. Without it, you are essentially guessing; posting content, attending events, and running campaigns without really knowing whether any of it is reaching the right people or saying the right things.

A good marketing strategy for accountancy firm includes:

• A clearly defined ideal client profile:  The type of business, sector, size, and stage of growth you work best with.
• Your firm’s positioning:  What you stand for and what sets you apart from others.
• The channels you will focus on and why: For example, LinkedIn because your ideal clients are active there.
• Your key messages: What do you want your ideal clients to think and feel when they come across your firm?
• How your marketing goals connect to your overall business growth targets.

If you’re not sure if your ideal clients know you are the right firm for them? This is a positioning challenge that many accountancy firms face. I wrote about this in more detail here [Do Your Ideal Clients Know You’re the Right Firm for Them?]

Here is an important question worth thinking about. When did you last update your marketing strategy?

For many accountancy firms, the answer is either never, or a very long time ago. If your firm has grown, your services have changed, or your ideal client has shifted, your strategy needs to reflect that.

What is a marketing plan for accountancy firms?

A marketing plan is the “doing”. It is the practical roadmap that sets out what you are going to do, when you are going to do it, and who is responsible for making it happen.

A marketing plan for an accountancy firm may include:

• A content calendar of what you are posting on LinkedIn, when, and who is writing it.
• A schedule of networking events or industry conferences you plan to attend.
• Email campaigns you want to send and when.
• Any paid advertising or sponsorship activity.
• Deadlines, budgets, and responsibilities.

A plan is incredibly useful. It keeps your marketing consistent, stops things falling through the cracks, and helps you stay accountable. But here is the problem, a plan without a strategy is just a to-do list.

Why your firm needs both a marketing strategy & marketing plan

This is where so many accountancy firms get stuck. They have a plan. They are busy doing marketing. They are posting on LinkedIn, going to events, sending emails. They are ticking things off the list. But the enquiries are not coming in, or the wrong type of clients are getting in touch, and nobody can quite figure out why.

The reason is almost always the same, the activity is not grounded in a clear strategy.

Without a strategy, your marketing plan has no direction. You might be posting brilliant content on LinkedIn, but if you have not defined who you are talking to and what you want them to do, it is unlikely to convert into the right conversations.

On the other side, a strategy without a plan is just a document that sits in a drawer. Good intentions and clear thinking are only valuable if they are executed together.

Think of it this way:

• Your strategy tells you who and why
• Your plan tells you what and when

You genuinely need both for your marketing to deliver results.

If you are unsure what your firm should be posting online, I have put together a guide on exactly that. Take a look here: [What Content Should Accountants Post?]

How to know if your firm has either a strategy or a plan?

Here are a few honest questions to help you work out where you stand:

You have a marketing strategy if you can answer YES to these:

• We know exactly who our ideal client is and why we want to work with them.
• We understand what makes our firm different and can articulate it clearly.
• Our marketing goals are directly linked to our business growth targets.
• We have reviewed and updated our strategy in the last 12 months.

You have a marketing plan if you can answer YES to these:

• We have a content calendar or schedule of marketing activity.
• We know what we are posting, sending, or attending and when.
• There is someone responsible for making the marketing happen.
• We have a budget allocated to marketing activity.

Watch out for these reg flags if they sound familiar:

• We post on LinkedIn when we remember to.
• We know we should be doing more marketing but are not sure where to start.
• We have tried various marketing activities, but nothing seems to work.
• Our marketing strategy is the same one we wrote three years ago and has not been looked at since.

What does this look like in practice?

It is one thing to talk about strategy and plans in theory, but what does it look like when an accountancy firm gets both right?

Here is what Frank Harling, Partner from Harling and Kirk Accountants had to say after working together:

Highly recommend Sarena, who has been invaluable for our business. She has helped us devise a marketing strategy and overseen our whole marketing plan and output. We have seen the results of this with more engaged clients and new business enquiries. Thanks Sarena for all that you do for us! — Frank Harling – Harling and Kirk Accountants

That combination of strategy and plan, working together, is exactly what drives results like more engaged clients and new business enquiries coming through the door.

Next steps

If you have read this far and realised your firm has a plan but no real strategy, or perhaps neither, you are not alone. This is incredibly common in accountancy firms, particularly those where marketing has grown organically rather than being built intentionally from the ground up.

Start by going back to basics and asking yourself the big strategy questions. Who do you really want to be working with in three year’s time? What do you want your firm to be known for? What makes you genuinely different?

Once you have clarity on those answers, building a plan that delivers, becomes so much more straightforward.

If you are ready to get your marketing strategy properly in place, take a look at my [Marketing Strategy, Audits & Roadmaps for Accounting Firms] service page to find out how I can help your firm get started.

Ready to find out more?

This is exactly the kind of work I do with accountancy firms.

I work with a small number of firms on a monthly retainer basis, helping them build a clear marketing strategy and then managing the implementation of their marketing plan. From content and LinkedIn through to messaging, positioning, and everything in between.

If your firm is ready to get some proper structure behind your marketing, and start seeing results from it. I would love to have a conversation.