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2012 Email Marketing Benchmark Report:

CPA Firms

Email Marketing Benchmark Report: CPA Firms

©BizActions 2011-2012. All Rights Reserved. 2 of 19 www.bizactions.com/go/E-Marketing

Table of Contents Letter From Our Director ........................................................................................................................................................ 3

Overall Reports ....................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Emails Sent By Type (Percentage) ....................................................................................................................................... 4

Emails Sent By Type (Totals) ............................................................................................................................................... 4

Average List Size By Firm Revenue...................................................................................................................................... 5

Average List Size By Type in Quartiles ................................................................................................................................ 5

Frequency Reports .................................................................................................................................................................. 6

Launch Frequency Percentages .......................................................................................................................................... 6

Launch Frequency Totals .................................................................................................................................................... 6

Emails Sent By Day of the Week ......................................................................................................................................... 7

Daily Send Rates By Revenue .............................................................................................................................................. 7

Daily Send Rates By Region ................................................................................................................................................. 8

Send Rates By Hour of the Day ........................................................................................................................................... 9

Activity Reports ..................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Open Rates By Type .......................................................................................................................................................... 10

Open Rates By Region ....................................................................................................................................................... 11

Open Rates By Firm Size.................................................................................................................................................... 11

Open Rates By Type In Quartiles ....................................................................................................................................... 12

Click Activity Rate Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 12

Click Activity By Type ........................................................................................................................................................ 13

Click Activity By Firm Size .................................................................................................................................................. 13

Click Activity By Region ..................................................................................................................................................... 14

Click Activity By Type In Quartiles ..................................................................................................................................... 15

Definitions ............................................................................................................................................................................. 16

Email Marketing Tips For Success ......................................................................................................................................... 17

E-Marketing Solutions From BizActions ................................................................................................................................ 18

http://www.bizactions.com/go/E-Marketing�



Letter From Our Director

We are proud to release the first annual Email Marketing Benchmark Report: CPA Firms and to be in the position to present this type of information. This is the first definitive benchmarking study for CPA firms in the marketing industry. It is our goal to release an updated report every year, making improvements as more data becomes available that may be presented in informative and useful ways. The 2012 BizActions Email Marketing Benchmark Report: CPA Firms (based on 2011 data) analyzes current email marketing trends compiled from our accounting firm clients. This report examines several critical email marketing metrics, including click activity and open rates, over the course of two years. It also explores the performance of each geographic region based on various list sizes as well as launch day and time and identifies the quartiles for each metric reviewed. The world of e-marketing is exploding at an exponential rate with the rise of social media. However, email continues to be the preferred medium for marketing messaging, not only due to the high return on investment, but also based on consumer feedback. Facebook and Twitter may catch up to the power of email eventually, but current statistics show that 56% of US internet users interact with businesses through marketing emails only, as opposed to 1.3% who rely on Twitter solely or 0.7% who prefer Facebook for brand interaction.1

The best practice is to combine email and social media marketing efforts, using each medium to complement and supplement the other. Social media has been proven to bolster the effectiveness, reach and growth of business email campaigns. MarketingSherpa’s 2010 study found that social sharing elements in email campaigns "extends the reach of email content to new markets" (81%) and "increases brand reputation and awareness" (78%).2 Lyris found similar results, with 54% of online marketing professionals claiming that combining the two media produced better results.3

Our Email Marketing Benchmark Report: CPA Firms reinforces the importance of email marketing as a means for accounting firms to reach their clients and, ultimately, to grow their businesses by interacting directly with their contacts and calling prospects to action. Email continues to succeed as the most effective (and profitable) marketing tool for accounting firms of all sizes. We hope that you find this inaugural report valuable and welcome any comments you may have. Gary R. Kravitz Director BizActions A Thomson Reuters Business NOTE: The data for this Email Marketing Benchmark Report: CPA Firms is based on over 15 million email messages compiled from nearly 400 BizActions accounting firm clients located within the United States. The comparative data has been culled from the 12 month periods ending June 30, 2010 and June 30, 2011. Open and click activity rates do not include team member (employee) data, which has been excluded from the statistics.

1 ExactTarget "Subscribers, Fans, and Followers: The Social Profile" (2010) 2 MarketingSherpa “Email Marketing Benchmark Survey” (2010) 3 Lyris Inc "The Lyris Annual Email Optimizer Report" via EmailStatCenter.com (2010)

Gary R. Kravitz


http://www.exacttarget.com/subscribers-fans-followers/social-profile.aspx�

http://www.marketingsherpa.com/EmailMarketingReport2010ESum.pdf�

http://www.emailstatcenter.com/Social.html�



Overall Reports

Emails Sent By Type (Percentage) Any accurate analysis of electronic communications must begin with a substantial distribution quantity to measure. This Email Marketing Benchmark Report: CPA Firms provides data on over one million email communications delivered every month through the BizActions platform. From our client sampling, the majority (55% and 53% in 2010 and 2011, respectively) of emails sent were to Prospects, followed by Clients (30% and 33% in 2010 and 2011, respectively). Additionally, of all of the email messages sent out, including newsletters, 17% and 19% were our proprietary on-demand email radars (email blasts) which may be segmented and targeted to reach particular audiences based on a number of client-specified factors.

Emails Sent By Type (Totals) BizActions e-newsletters are delivered on a pre-determined schedule to clients, prospects and referral sources. Email radars are sent on demand to target individuals or a specific group that meet explicit criteria. In 2010, BizActions’ accounting firm clients sent out over 15 million e-newsletters and email radars. In 2011, that number rose to over 16 million, with the majority of recipients being classified as prospects.

Total Clients Prospects Referrals Email Radars

12 months ending June 30, 2010

15,432, 663 4,650,080 8,555,024 2,227,559 2,611,471

12 months ending June 30, 2011

16,054,230 5,224,412 8,558,079 2,271,739 3,000,823

BizActions is the only email service provider that enables (and requires) users to specify and classify the contact type when someone is entered into the database. There are four member (contact) types: Clients, Prospects, Referrals and Team Members (Employees). Every member uploaded into the system is classified into one of these four types (additional subcategories are available). Segmenting the list into the proper type allows the CPA firm to tailor its messaging to each specific membership type in order to target markets and cultivate relationships. It also enables measurement and comparison between member types. Member types may be updated by the account manager as well as by the recipient.

30%

55%

14% 17%

33%

53%

14% 19%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Clients Sent Prospects Sent Referrals Sent Email Radars Sent

Emails Sent By Type

12 months ending 6/30/2010 12 months ending 6/30/2011




Average List Size By Firm Revenue There is an obvious correlation between firm size and list size. Our accounting firm sponsors with revenues over $20 million have significantly larger databases (with an average list size of approximately 5,000 contacts) than their smaller counter parts. This may be attributed to several factors, including budget, staffing and other resources.

Average List Size By Type in Quartiles This chart defines the list size of accounting firm sponsors (clients) using the BizActions platform and how their lists are segmented by recipient type (client, prospect, referral source). Prospects are the largest demographic in all of our sponsors’ lists, representing over half of the total number of contacts in the list. This statistic is attributed to the fact that most businesses utilize email marketing not only to nurture existing clients and referral sources, but also to develop new leads and generate new business opportunities. Therefore, it is expected that there be a larger number of prospects than any other demographic.

Number of Firms Under $2M:

99

Number of Firms $2M-$10M:

170

Number of Firms $10M-$20M:

44

Number of Firms Over $20M:

25

Average List Size Firms under $2M:

1,451

Average List Size Firms $2M-$10M:

1,876

Average List Size Firms $10-$20M:

2,717

Average List Size Firms Over $20M:

4,873

-

1,000

2,000

3,000

4,000

5,000

6,000

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

Under $2M $2M-$10M $10M-$20M Over $20M

Average List Size by Firm Revenue

Number of Firms Average List Size

Num

ber

of F

irm

s List Size

1,960

3,667

1,034

465 469

123 111 68 9 -

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

Clients Prospects Referral Sources

Average List Size By Type In Quartiles

Upper Average Lower




Frequency Reports

Launch Frequency Percentages Bi-weekly newsletter launches are the most common sending frequency amongst the CPA firms in this study (44%), followed closely by weekly newsletter launches (35%). Monthly (every fourth week) launches are less common at only 12%, with the smallest percentage (9%) of CPA firms either scheduling their newsletters to go out every three weeks or on an ad hoc basis. Our sponsors have commented that bi-weekly newsletters provide excellent top-of-mind awareness and the ability to share timely information without cluttering their contacts’ inboxes.

Launch Frequency Totals Determining your ideal sending frequency involves a little bit of science and a little bit of art, along with a testing period. Our CPA firm sponsors have tested and tried various launch schedules for their newsletters and email radars and the most common frequency for these professional service firms remains clear: bi-weekly (every two weeks) newsletter launches, with over 7 million newsletters scheduled to launch every other week. Monthly launches (every four weeks) are not as popular, with just under 2 million emails set on that schedule. It is hypothesized that monthly launches, unless supplemented with email radars (not shown in the chart below), are not frequent enough to retain high visibility and enhance interaction and engagement with the recipient.

5,610,278

7,129,555

1,938,838 1,375,559

-

1,000,000

2,000,000

3,000,000

4,000,000

5,000,000

6,000,000

7,000,000

8,000,000

Every Week Every Second Week Every Fourth Week Other Frequency

Num

ber o

f Em

ails

Lau

nche

d

Launch Frequency Totals

35%

44%

12%

9%

Launch Frequency Percentages

Every Week Every Second Week

Every Fourth Week Other Frequency




Emails Sent By Day of the Week The timing of email marketing launches, including the day of the week and time of day, may affect click activity and open rates. Our clients select their launch schedules with input from our Customer Support Representatives. Frequency of launches may also impact click activity and open rates. BizActions typically recommends sending no more often than bi-weekly, and no less infrequently than monthly, for optimal results. We examined our accounting firm clients’ sending habits, including the day of the week and time of day shown in the graphs below. Business to business (B2B) communications are typically not sent on weekends and holidays; therefore BizActions does not offer weekend launching for email newsletters or email radars. Retailers may benefit from weekend delivery, but business executives and other professionals read their B2B emails during business hours. Scheduling the delivery of email to result in the highest readership is shown here in a comparison of 2010 and 2011 data.

Daily Send Rates By Revenue Based on our data sampling, there appeared to be no correlation between size of firm (determined by annual revenue) and the day of the week they launched their e-newsletter or email radars. In 2010, Tuesday appeared to be the most popular launch day of the week for both the smallest firms (50%) as well as the largest firms (46%). The day of the week accounting firms launch their email messages based on the revenue generated by the firm is shown below for 2010.

7%

32%

32%

25%

4%

6%

26%

38%

25%

5%

Emails Sent By Day of the Week

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Inner Circle: 2010

Outer Circle:

2011

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Daily Send Rates By Revenue 2010

Under $2M $2-10M $10-20M Over $20M




In 2011, the trend shifted to Wednesday for the smallest firms with over 40% launching their marketing messages mid-week. Large firms continued to show a preference for Tuesdays, with Thursdays a close second with over 30%. It should be noted that historically, B2B email marketing has been less effective on Mondays and Fridays, a trend which may be changing but continues to be followed by the majority of our accounting firm clients, regardless of size.

Daily Send Rates By Region Different regions of the country exhibit different tendencies for preferred day-of-week email delivery. Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursdays remain the preferred launch days of the week for all regions. The Northeast Region demonstrated a clear preference for Wednesday launching in 2010. Email launching and the results of the day or time can be tested. You are encouraged to review your click and open rates on a quarterly basis and perform a limited case study to determine if a different day or time might be more effective for your particular target audience.

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%


Daily Send Rates By Revenue 2011

Under $2M $2-10M $10-20M Over $20M

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%


Daily Send Rates By Region 2010

Northeast South Midwest West

South: AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV Northeast: CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI, VT Midwest: IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD, WI West: AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OK, OR, TX, UT, WA, WY




In 2011, the Northeast Region continued to demonstrate a clear preference for mid-week delivery. The other regions remained fairly consistent in their day of the week delivery from the previous year.

Send Rates By Hour of the Day The time of day that a B2B email is sent may also impact readership. Traditionally, email messages that are scheduled for delivery first thing in the morning generate the highest open and click rates, presumably because recipients are just getting settled in the office, reviewing emails and voice mails received overnight, and have not yet begun to concentrate on the tasks for the day. While the majority of our accounting firm clients schedule delivery around 10AM (just in time to hit the inbox during the mid-morning break), the new trend is to launch as early as possible. The peak periods of the day our clients are sending their pre-scheduled emails are below. Times shown reflect the local time of the sender.

Our clients have begun scheduling their routine email newsletter launches for as early as 5AM. Currently, our system only launches between 5AM and 11PM, with no overnight delivery options. As other studies have shown a direct correlation between early morning delivery and readership, we may adjust our delivery options accordingly. However, historical data as well as other studies indicate that all morning deliveries are more highly read than afternoon and evening deliveries.

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%


Daily Send Rates By Region 2011

Northeast South Midwest West

-4.0%

1.0%

6.0%

11.0%

16.0%

5AM 6AM 7AM 8AM 9AM 10AM 11AM 12PM 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM 6PM 7PM 8PM 9PM 10PM 11PM

Send Rates By Hour of the Day

6/30/2010 6/30/2011




Activity Reports

Open Rates By Type Tracking the number of emails sent, as we did in the previous section of this report, is inconsequential without correlating the number of those emails that have been opened. The Open Rates segment of the Email Marketing Benchmark Report: CPA Firms provides data on approximately a quarter million electronic communications opened every month through the BizActions platform. Open rates are calculated by dividing the number of emails opened by the number delivered. Due to the fact that some email programs are configured to automatically “mark as read” when an email is moved, clicked on or hovered over, as well as other email programs that may not mark an email as read if images are not turned on or manually downloaded, open rates are not a reliable statistic. However, they remain a useful guide to determine the effectiveness and results of a particular campaign. NOTE: Open rates by themselves do not reflect any call to action taken by the recipient. Calls to action are tracked by click activity, coming up shortly in this report.

NOTE: Referral Sources have higher open rates than Prospects, presumably because, like Clients, they have an established relationship and familiarity with the sending firm. As expected, Clients have the highest open rates. Email Radar open rates include all three recipient types: Clients, Prospects and Referral Sources.

28.6%

12.9%

19.7% 16.7%

30.1%

14.1%

20.3% 18.5%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

30.0%

35.0%

Client Opens Prospects Opens Referral Opens Email Radar Opens

Open Rates By Type

6/30/2010 6/30/2011

No “Team Member” (employee) data is included in the Open Rates shown in this section.




23.1% 28.8% 18.0% 28.1% 19.8%

24.3% 31.9%

17.1%

33.4%

17.9%

Average Opens

Client Opens

Prospect Opens

Referral Opens

Email Radar Opens

Open Rates in the West

West 6/30/2010 West 6/30/2011

26.8% 33.6% 21.0% 21.7% 22.1%

26.4% 34.0%

19.7% 21.8% 23.6%

Average Opens

Client Opens

Prospect Opens

Referral Opens

Email Radar Opens

Open Rates in the Midwest

Midwest 6/30/2010 Midwest 6/30/2011

Open Rates By Region The following charts delineate different regions of the country over a two year period and the associated percentage of e-newsletters and email radars opened by each recipient type. The Midwest Region showed the highest percentage of opens, with 26.8% and 26.4% averages in 2010 and 2011, respectively. The West Region had the second highest averages, with 23.1% and 24.3% in 2010 and 2011, respectively. The South Region had the lowest rate of opens, with 15.9% and 17.9% in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

Interestingly, the accounting firms in the Midwest Region have demonstrated the highest open and click activity rates among all four U.S. Regions analyzed for this report. With over 30% open rates in both 2010 and 2011, as well as the highest click activity (see next section), the region leads the nation’s accounting firms in readership and client engagement.

Open Rates By Firm Size Open rates among the different sizes of firms analyzed in this report were fairly consistent, with the $10-20 million size demonstrating the highest open rates (with 22.4% and 24.1% in 2010 and 2011, respectively), followed closely by the over $20 million size (with 23.2% and 22.4% in 2010 and 2011, respectively). It is interesting to note that the $2-10 million firm size had the largest increase in the number of opens between 2010 and 2011 with a 1.8% hike, along with a 1.7% increase for the $10-20 million sized firms.

18.5% 27.7% 12.3% 18.7% 15.4%

18.8%

28.3%

12.9% 18.9% 15.2%

Average Opens

Client Opens

Prospect Opens

Referral Opens

Email Radar Opens

Open Rates in the Northeast

Northeast 6/30/2010 Northeast 6/30/2011

15.9% 23.8% 8.7% 16.7% 14.3%

17.9% 25.7%

10.8% 16.0% 19.2%

Average Opens

Client Opens

Prospect Opens

Referral Opens

Email Radar Opens

Open Rates in the South

South 6/30/2010 South 6/30/2011




The smallest and largest firms both showed a slight decrease in open rates over the two year period, with the firms under $2 million dropping 0.5% and the firms with over $20 million in revenues dropping 0.8%. Both decreases in open rates is negligible and could be attributed to a variety of reasons, including list changes, frequency changes, economic conditions and administrative changes, to name but a few potential influencing factors. The chart below confirms that open rates ranged between 18.5% and 23.3% in 2010 and between 19.75% and 24.1% in 2011 based on firm size (determined by annual revenue), which demonstrates an average (overall) increase in open rate activity of just over one percent (1.025%) from one year to the next for these demographics.

Open Rates By Type In Quartiles The open rates per launch by member type are shown below with the upper, average and lower quartile averages.

Click Activity Rate Introduction BizActions’ accounting firm clients show comparably higher click activity rates with their e-newsletters and email radars than many other Email Service Providers (ESPs)4

4

. We attribute this metric to the fact that our newsletters and email

MailerMailer “Email Marketing Metrics Report” (2010)

20.2% 18.5% 22.4% 23.2%

19.7% 20.3% 24.1% 22.4%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

20.0%

25.0%

Under $2M $2-10M $10-20M Over $20M

Open Rates By Firm Size (determined by annual revenue)

2010 2011

-

50

100

150

200

250

300

Upper Average Lower

Average Opens By Type In Quartiles

Clients Prospects Referral Sources


http://www.mailermailer.com/resources/metrics/2011/click-rates.rwp�



NOTE: The clicks shown in this report are unique clicks; no individual’s multiple clicks have affected the data. Additionally, team members (employees) have been excluded from the click activity statistics. Click activity rates have been calculated by dividing the number of unique clicks in an email message by the total number of recipients.

radars include educational, informative content that is written by professional writers specifically for intended audiences in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, payroll, human resources, employee benefits, financial services, banking, real estate, law, healthcare, non-profit, technology and biology. Delivering articles that relate to the recipient has been proven to increase interest and engagement with the message. Relevancy matters. Clients and prospects truly value being sent information that is clearly tailored to them, their needs and their interests. There is no better way to customize your messaging than by drilling down through your database to identify and tag as many specific data points as you can. Segment your list by industry, geography, interests, assets, gender, age, income, current products, goals, needs… The more data points you classify, the more targeted your messaging can be and the higher your reader engagement quotient will rise. The click activity associated with an electronic communication represents the interest the recipient has in the firm or the perceived value of the information delivered. Clicks capture data associated with who the communication was sent to and provide a window of opportunity for action by the firm sending the email.

Click Activity By Type It is no surprise that the client demographic shows the highest level of click activity, or reader engagement, with 6.4% and 6.5% in 2010 and 2011, respectively. Referral sources show the second highest levels of click activity, with 4.1% and 4.2% in 2010 and 2011, respectively. As with the open rates, we attribute this statistic to the fact that referral sources are familiar with the sending firm. Prospects, as expected, have the lowest click activity rates, as the nurturing process takes time.

Click Activity By Firm Size With over half a million clicks in 2010 and 2011, our accounting firm clients have seen significant reader engagement. While the graph below shows the click activity rates by firm size, with the firms in the $10-20 million and over $20

4.4%

6.4%

2.6%

4.1% 4.5%

6.5%

2.8%

4.2%

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

Average Clicks Client Clicks Prospect Clicks Referral Clicks

Click Activity By Type

6/30/2010 6/30/2011




million ranges showing the highest amount of clicks, we believe that these figures are also affected by list size (not shown in this graph). Historically, the larger the firm, the larger the list. The larger the list, the more opportunities for click activity. However, it is interesting to note that even our smallest accounting firms are seeing 4% or better click activity (engagement) with their client demographic. Click rates essentially capture the level of reader engagement with the email message. Recipients who click on content within the email demonstrate a higher level of interest in the material and/or the sender. Calls to action play a significant role in motivating recipients to click, as does the quality of the content. Click activity rates are the marketer’s best metric to determine effectiveness not only in the campaign, but also in the topics that each recipient prefers, enabling them to maximize their target marketing efforts.

TIP: What might affect click activity rates? Poor list hygiene, lack of list segmentation, inadequate content and undeliverable email messages are the most common obstacles to high click activity. A lack of clear calls to action is another key barrier.

Click Activity By Region The following chart delineates different regions of the country over a two year period and the comparative percentage of clicks by Client, Prospect and Referral type. Client click activity continues to reign supreme in all regions, with the exception of the West Region, where Referral Source click activity takes the lead with 5.5% and 5.7% in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

8.0%

6/30/2010 6/30/2011 6/30/2010 6/30/2011 6/30/2010 6/30/2011 6/30/2010 6/30/2011

Under $2M Under $2M $2-10M $2-10M $10-20M $10-20M Over $20M Over $20M

Click Activity By Firm Size (determined by annual revenue)

Client Clicks Prospect Clicks Referral Clicks




Click activity by region shows no change in the trend. Average click activity rates range from 2.5% in the South Region in 2010 to 6.5% in the Midwest Region in 2010. Nearly all click activity rates rose from 2010 to 2011, with a slight decline in the number of prospect clicks in the Midwest and West regions.

Click Activity By Type In Quartiles The following chart shows the average click activity by type per launch in the upper, average and lower quartiles.

As expected, clients consistently demonstrate the highest level of engagement, determined by click activity, within the newsletters. Prospects follow closely behind in their click activity, presumably because there are typically significantly more prospects in each database than referral sources.

-

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

Upper Average Lower

Num

ber o

f Clic

ks P

er L

aunc

h

Click Activity By Type In Quartiles

Clients

Prospects

Referral Sources

6.5% 6.4%

4.8% 5.0%

8.5% 8.6%

5.2% 5.6%

2.6% 2.6%

1.4% 1.9%

5.2% 4.9%

2.9% 2.6%

3.6% 3.5% 3.3% 3.3%

5.6% 5.8% 5.5% 5.7%

0.0%

1.0%

2.0%

3.0%

4.0%

5.0%

6.0%

7.0%

8.0%

9.0%

10.0%

2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011 2010 2011

Northeast South MidWest West

Comparative Click Activity By Region

Client Clicks Prospect Clicks Referral Clicks




Definitions

BizActions Sponsor: A BizActions sponsor is a client, or customer, who has purchased an account and uses the BizActions email marketing system. Our clients are called sponsors so that our clients are not confused when we discuss their clients, or clients in their databases, or analyze client data. Click Activity: The clicks shown in this report are unique clicks, meaning that no particular individual’s multiple clicks have affected the data. An individual is based on a unique email address. Click activity rates have been calculated by dividing the number of unique clicks in an email message by the total number of recipients. Additionally, team members (database members that have been categorized as the sender’s employees) have been excluded from the statistics. Client: A client is one of the four primary member types that our sponsors use to categorize their contacts in their BizActions databases. Clients may be further subcategorized within each database as 1) recurring clients, 2) non-recurring clients, 3) tax-only clients, and 4) ex-clients. The client data in this report includes all clients in our CPA firm sponsors’ databases, regardless of sub-categorization, unless they unsubscribed or were bad email addresses. Firm Size: Firm size has been calculated based upon the number of partners and professional staff members within each firm and the estimated annual revenue that such a firm would generate, and has been estimated. List Size: For the purposes of this report, the list size equals the total number of unique active email addresses in an account’s database, including Team Members (employees), Clients, Prospects and Referral Sources. Unsubscribed and bad email addresses are not included in list size data. Midwest Region: For the purposes of this report, the Midwest region includes IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, OH, SD and WI. Northeast Region: For the purposes of this report, the Northeast region includes CT, ME, MA, NH, NJ, NY, PA, RI and VT. Open Rate: Open rates are calculated by dividing the number of emails opened by the number delivered. Prospect: A prospect is one of the four primary member types that our sponsors use to categorize their contacts in their BizActions databases. Sponsors are required to classify their database members upon upload to the system, which not only provides the ability for them to segment their databases for more targeted marketing, but also provides metrics that inform them of any adjustments in messaging, frequency or other campaign changes that might improve the effectiveness of their marketing. Quartile: The quartiles of a population are the four subpopulations defined by classifying individuals according to whether the value concerned falls into one of the four ranges defined by the three points that divide the data set into four equal groups, each representing a fourth of the population being sampled. Referral Source: A referral source is one of the four primary member types that our sponsors use to categorize their contacts in their BizActions databases. Referral sources typically include other professional service providers who may refer business to the CPA firm but who are not the CPA firms’ clients. South Region: For the purposes of this report, the South region includes AL, AR, DE, DC, FL, GA, KY, LA, MD, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA and WV. West Region: For the purposes of this report, the West region includes AK, AZ, CA, CO, HI, ID, MT, NV, NM, OK, OR, TX, UT, WA and WY.




Email Marketing Tips For Success

Content Marketing There is no better way to educate, connect with and influence prospects in becoming clients than with content-rich email marketing. Content marketing is a strategy that involves the creation and distribution of relevant and valuable content to attract, acquire, and engage a clearly defined and understood target audience – with the objective of driving profitable customer action through calls to action. Content marketing is the art of communicating with your clients and prospects without selling. It is non-interruption marketing. It focuses on helping your prospects make better, more informed decisions and minimizes or eliminates overt sales pitches about services and products. The premise of this strategy is founded on the “quid pro quo” philosophy: if we provide consistent and valuable information to our audiences, they will return the favor with their business and loyalty. Content marketing works, particularly when used in conjunction with email marketing. Regardless of which industry you are in, your content should be conversational, factual, engaging and (this is an industry secret) it should tell a story. The story need not be a fairy tale, or overly emotional, or simplistic. It should, however, deliver the facts, include insightful nuggets of information and weave a tale of value in a compelling manner. However you implement your content marketing strategy, the epicenter of your plan should be about providing value and quality material that your prospects and clients will value, appreciate and share with others. Deliver the Right Content to the Right Audience The email list is one of your most valuable assets – particularly when it comes to lead generation and business development. There is no other type of marketing that can generate the kind of return on investment that email marketing yields. Your list is the money maker, but there is more to it than that. The trick is to manage the list and the way the list is used in order to maximize its power. Know that your referral sources will value different messaging than your clients. Similarly, relationships with prospects require a little more cultivation and a softer approach. Clients want to know that you understand them and their individual and business needs. Your ability to successfully cultivate relationships in order to generate leads with each of these groups directly and independently depends upon your capacity to provide content that they value. The Future of Email Marketing Email continues to excel at converting conversations into revenue. To maximize your e-marketing efforts, remember to integrate new and emerging communication channels and opportunities for engagement into your traditional campaigns. Consider how they will fit in to your overall strategy, how they will enhance your brand, how they will improve your messaging, how they will build relationship capital and how they will ultimately boost your bottom line. Target your audience, measure and track your metrics, and position your business for long-term e-marketing success and longevity. Email continues to be the most effective method for reaching, communicating with and prompting action by prospects and clients5 and earns the highest return on marketing investment (ROMI) than any other medium, with an estimated $44 return for every $1 spent, according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA)6

. The DMA also predicts that commercial email will drive $63.1 billion in sales in 2011 (up from $57.8 billion in 2010), $67.8 billion in sales in 2012 and $82.2 billion in sales in 2016.

5 Econsultancy "Email Marketing Census 2011" (2011) 6 Direct Marketing Association (DMA) “Power of Direct Marketing” (2011)


http://www.the-dma.org/cgi/dispannouncements?article=1590�



E-Marketing Solutions From BizActions

The BizActions Email Marketing Benchmark Report: CPA Firms may be used to compare your success with others in your industry and determine areas for improvement. Get this report branded to your organization – free! This report is available in electronic format, branded to your group or organization on the cover page, at no cost to you. We encourage you to request a branded copy for distribution to your organization’s membership, for download on your website, or for print copies to keep in your lobby. Please contact Becca via email at [email protected] or by phone at 866.240.8477 ext. 121 for details. Speaker opportunities are also available Need an engaging and qualified speaker to discuss email marketing and CPA firm marketing strategies at one of your events, webinars or conferences? Please contact Becca via email at [email protected] or by phone at 866.240.8477 ext. 121 for details. Why do accounting firms use BizActions? Accounting firms require a consistent and reliable stream of new business to sustain and grow revenues. Our strategic solutions for client communications and lead generation are proven and effective because they work together toward the same goal. For over ten years, BizActions has been helping CPA firms:

• Dispense valuable information, including tax and legislative updates, business strategy and industry-specific articles

• Generate and identify new leads • Enhance your brand • Improve your visibility and extend your reach to new prospects • Retain clients and establish long-term relationships • Measure your effectiveness and return on marketing investment • Grow your business

Clients expect you to communicate with them on a regular basis, inform them and provide important information in an accessible format. BizActions’ integrated e-marketing solutions are designed to help you:

• Educate clients, prospects and referral sources on your full line of products and services • Efficiently cross-sell and up-sell specialized offerings that may boost your bottom line significantly • Target your messaging to best fit each recipient’s needs, concerns and interests, including industry-specific

niches • Showcase the talents and skills of your team members • Motivate prospects with calls to action • Build relationship capital through relevant, consistent messaging


mailto:[email protected]�

mailto:[email protected]�



Where is your marketing strategy taking your business? Shift into high gear with the premier e-marketing, email newsletter and communications provider. For over 10 years, BizActions has been helping accounting firms grow their revenues. BizActions’ fully integrated suite of e-marketing solutions were designed to work seamlessly and synergistically to drive more traffic to your website, and ultimately, directly to you. Ask us about our E-Newsletter, Client Relationship and Integrated Online Marketing Solutions. Ready to see exactly how BizActions can help you build your business one impression at a time? Schedule a strategic meeting where we will demonstrate your expected return on marketing investment by implementing the BizActions suite of dynamic and integrated e-marketing solutions. Call us today at 866.240.8477 ext. 121.

2013 Email Marketing Benchmark Report: CPA Firms Reserve your copy of the next report now

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