Marketing Tech Stack for CPA Firms: Go-To Tools for All Budgets

If you’re a CPA firm looking for marketing technology, it can feel like there are too many options to choose from. You might be overwhelmed by the number of tools available, or maybe you’re not sure which ones are right for your firm. This article will help simplify your decision and equip you with ideas on how to build a marketing tech stack that works best for your business.

What is a Marketing Tech Stack?

Your marketing tech stack often referred to as martech, consists of different software and technology that your team uses to achieve its goals and improve the customer experience. These tools provide automation and efficiency to help you streamline processes and reduce manual activities that waste time. Below are a few go-to tools for all budgets that your CPA firm should consider adding to its accounting marketing tech stack.

1. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

HubSpot

HubSpot is one of the most robust and popular choices for CRM systems. This tool allows you to create personalized campaigns, track conversions, and measure ROI across every channel while maintaining one central database where all your contacts are stored.

It also provides an easy way for salespeople to collaborate on deals via project teams or shared folders within the app itself. This makes everything from prospecting new leads to closing deals much simpler than ever before! Plus, if you’re looking for more robust features such as predictive analytics or automated workflow management, then HubSpot will be a great choice.

HubSpot offers a great free CRM package. You always have the choice of upgrading later.

Zoho

Zoho is another CRM for CPA firms that provides many great features. It has a lead management system with sales pipelines, allows you to track leads from one stage through another, and lets you run marketing campaigns directly from within the tool. It integrates seamlessly with other tools like Microsoft 365, Slack, Zoom, and more.
Zoho also provides a marketing automation suite that allows you to generate leads from social media platforms such as Facebook and Google Ads. It is a great tool if you are looking for an affordable CRM with plenty of features. Pricing starts as low as $14/month.

Salesforce

Salesforce is a sales-focused CRM designed to help businesses get more leads and close more deals by creating efficiencies and boosting productivity. It is a very popular platform among businesses with over 150,000 companies utilizing its products.

Salesforce offers a complete suite of products from marketing, sales, and commerce in one platform to easily share information across departments. Each product is sold separately, typically starting at $25/month.

2. Content Management System (CMS)

HubSpot

Again, Hubspot is a notable contender. Its CMS platform allows you to manage your blog, website pages, workflows, and much more, all from a central program. Since it doubles as a CRM platform, you can easily manage a majority of your marketing tasks in one spot and through simple automation. You can get started with HubSpot CMS free or upgrade to a paid plan at any time.

WordPress

WordPress is the CMS platform of choice for almost half of all websites across the internet. This tool is easy to use and customize to your needs. The platform itself is free, but many of the pre-built themes and plugins necessary to build your site cost money.

3. Project Management System

Asana

Asana is a great free project management tool for small marketing teams looking for better project coordination and organization. This tool offers a great way for teams to communicate seamlessly within one platform (and from any device). It also allows users with different roles within the organization to collaborate on projects efficiently without confusion around who owns what task or what stage of project completion.

Microsoft Planner

Many firms use Microsoft Outlook and have access to their full suite of products. So, why not utilize a program within a tool you are already paying for? Microsoft Planner is another great tool for project management. You can seamlessly create and assign tasks to those who have access to your business’s Microsoft account to track deadlines and stay on top of your team’s workload.

4. Email

HubSpot

HubSpot also offers email as part of its marketing hub package. So, if your team is already using HubSpot, this is a great option to keep the majority of tasks on one platform.

Mailchimp

Mailchimp is a well-known email marketing tool that’s great for small marketing teams. Their pricing model is based on the number of contacts in your database. Pricing starts at $11/month for 50,000 contacts and goes up to $299/month for unlimited contacts.

Sendinblue

Sendinblue can help marketers send great-looking, responsive emails with over 70 design templates to choose from. It’s a great option for small marketing teams on a budget. It offers great features like SMS marketing, chat, and segmentation. They have a free plan, or pricing starts at $25/month for up to 20,000 emails.

5. Analytics

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is the most popular free analytics tool available for marketers. It’s simple to connect with your other programs, allowing you to receive in-depth insights for free in no time.

You may also want to consider SEMRush or AHrefs if you plan on doing any PPC advertising. These tools provide keyword research capabilities that allow marketers to analyze which keywords perform best for them based on cost per click (CPC) and keyword volume. Both are very similar in cost, with SEMRush starting at $99.95/month and AHrefs beginning at $99/month.

6. Communication

Microsoft Teams

Microsoft Teams is a combination of instant messaging and video chatting in one. It is part of the Microsoft Suite, so this is an excellent tool included in business packages. The platform has plenty of features that make it useful for internal communications, including chat rooms, video calls, and file sharing.

Slack

If you’re looking for an option that has a bit more personality than Microsoft Teams but still provides plenty of options for team collaboration, Slack is a great choice. With channels where you can organize conversations by topic or project name, this platform is designed around being social—and it shows with its fun emojis and GIFs built right into the interface.

Zoom

While not all CPA firms will need Zoom‘s video conferencing tool, if yours does, it could be worth considering this platform as part of your marketing tech stack. It comes with everything from full-screen sharing capabilities to a new whiteboard feature so that everyone on the call can see what’s going on at once.

7. Graphics/Images

UnSplash

Unsplash is a photo stock platform that allows you to search through thousands of high-quality images by local artists, edit them, and use them in your marketing efforts. The best part is it is completely free!

Canva

Canva is a popular tool for graphic creation, image editing, and downloading quality stock photos. It has excellent free and paid options. It has an intuitive interface, and there are hundreds of templates for every kind of project you could think of. Additional features include drag-and-drop layouts, filters, color scheme suggestions, and more! A basic membership is free, or you can opt for a pro or team account to get additional benefits.

Adobe

Adobe is the priciest option of them all but the most robust. You can create your own graphics or bring photos to life through illustrator and photoshop. You can also use their extensive library of stock images for purchase. Applications are sold separately or get access to all programs through a creative cloud subscription which starts at $54.99/month.

Importance of a Marketing Tech Stack

Technology is constantly evolving, and CPA firms must be prepared to innovate. A well-thought marketing tech stack can help marketers simplify processes, remove barriers to productivity, and better track their customer’s journeys.

You need a marketing strategy that’s customized to your firm, and you need technology that supports it. Use this guide as a starting point for building out your own CPA firm’s marketing tech stack, or just see which tools might be best suited for your budget and needs! Learn more about related topics by visiting our blog.