Why AAM is Valuable to Accounting Marketers in Canada with Brittany Pitruniak

The Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) offers marketers, business development professionals, and affiliate business owners educational and networking opportunities to add value both inside and outside their firms. While we have a large American member base, accounting marketers in Canada are a growing group in the association. There are numerous benefits that you will gain from joining AAM and connecting with all of our members.

We met with new AAM member Brittany Pitruniak, Marketing Director at Crowe MacKay LLP based in Vancouver, Canada to see what her experience has been like. Here’s what Brittany had to say.

Why did you join the Association for Accounting Marketing?

A fellow Canadian member reached from a global accounting network I’m a part of and said “Hey I’m part of AAM, it’s something you should look into.” I saw there was a trial membership so I decided to give it a go. At the first event I attended, I was just really taken aback by how personable AAM is. When you’re attending events, it is very much around that personal development that allows you to be active. When it’s a virtual event you can easily zone out, but with the roundtables, they are probably one of my favorite things that I get to be a part of every month, it’s such a safe space. The attendees have different focus areas, every firm is different, and I find the chats very interactive and supportive. That’s one of the key things that really stands out to me with AAM compared to some of the other organizations that I’m a member of.

What member benefits do you find to be the most valuable?

Something that I’ve realized in myself that is really helpful in learning is also in sharing your knowledge. With AAM, not only do I get to go and listen to others, but in some of these offerings like the roundtables, I get to offer my experiences and my expertise. I feel as a professional those two go very much hand in hand. Not only do you have to learn and absorb, but you almost have to share what you’ve learned. That almost puts your learnings into perspective and into bringing them to life and implementing them.

I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to share knowledge with peers in the accounting marketing industry. I think it’s very easy to sometimes have that imposter syndrome, especially in marketing because things are changing so much. To be able to share knowledge and interact with individuals offline after you’ve met them in an AAM session instills new confidence that’s really key for everyone at points in their career.

How has AAM has contributed to your skillset as an accounting marketer?

There’s so much content and expertise within AAM that is being shared with its members. Whether it’s client reviews, online advertising, content management, content creation, and more all these topics are coming up and being discussed. These are all topics we are working on at our firms. I feel there’s a lot of other members having very similar serendipitous moments.

With the topics that AAM covers it’s like “yes thank goodness” to know the support is coming in with the content provided because we get so busy. What I’ve learned through my career is professional development is so important, but it’s the first thing we put on the back burner. Sometimes I just want something served to me on the plate and all I have to do is show up for dinner. With all the different opportunities AAM offers from the webinars to interactive tracks and honestly great how things are structured lengthwise.

Some of the sessions are only 45 minutes. They provide a quick and easy way to learn some new information, make a quick connection, and go on with my day while still feeling enlightened. Through these sessions, I’ve heightened my education and I can bring back this knowledge to the teams at my firm and into my career.

The opportunities AAM offer are really flexible. There are so many different interactive training sessions. If you’re more of a reader you can hit the blog and you can go on AAM connect to ask your questions. You can go on there and answer a question you know. There are a lot of ways to be engaged, learn, give back, grow your network, and help others while doing it.

Why should other accounting marketers in Canada join AAM?

I was hesitant in joining AAM at first because I knew they were an American-based organization. Things differ between the US and Canada, but with the trial membership, there were no risks involved so I decided to try AAM out. My reservations about our differences were put aside at the first event I attended.

At this event, I brought up some of the challenges accounting marketers were facing in Canada and asked if it was specific to our country. The overwhelming response was that it was a challenge that many accounting firms in the US and Canada were both working to solve. Through the knowledge sharing by many in AAM, I was able to get temperature checks of what the competition’s doing in other areas. This information is good for our team. We’re able to learn what others are doing, see similar things, and hear “hey this is what’s happening” in our geography. With this, I can go back to the partners and let them know what’s happening in the states and how it is trickling down to Canadian firms.

It all comes down to the knowledge sharing with AAM. Really the skills you learn with AAM can be applied to your expertise as they don’t differ for where you work geographically. The environmental scan that AAM provides is outstanding for strategic planning. That is because usually, things that are happening in the states if they’re not happening in Canada yet, they most likely could or will.

AMM can help you be proactive in your approach and be ahead of the game. I don’t know if something like AAM exists in Canada, so it’s nice to have because it focuses on the actual accounting industry, specific to marketing. AAM provides accounting marketers a network where we all share that common ground and are able to develop a strong bond.

Learn more about the different AAM memberships available to accounting marketers in Canada and join here today!