Get news coverage for your CPA firm

Thirteen tips for being included in a news story

News appearances are a great benefit to CPA firms.

News media coverage is important and necessary for CPA firms because it improves your company’s overall reputation with the public. Inclusion in news stories also helps place your CPA firm at the forefront of new customers’ minds as well as solidify your company as the best choice for current customers.

The hundred dollar question you may be asking yourself is how does a CPA firm get in the news?

After working with several CPA firms, we’ve found two main reasons why they fail to get coverage in the news and be included in news stories:

No. 1: CPA firms don’t always know how to spot newsworthy events.

No. 2: CPA firms aren’t pitching their companies the right way.

Let’s say you’ve tried getting your CPA firm news coverage and haven’t succeeded. Then chances are you and your company are making one or both of these mistakes.

We are here to help! We want you to find newsworthy events that will attract the media’s attention, so we made an easy-to-review list that will help jumpstart your CPA firm’s news coverage.

Check out these 13 tips for getting media coverage:

To stop people from dreading Tax Day, celebrate April 15 with food and prizes. Host an event to get people excited about tax changes, and then invite the media to the event.
Be sure to follow legislation changes that impact the accounting industry, tax time, and your consumer base. These are great opportunities to provide insight to the media. Also, draft social media posts and blog posts on this topic.
In addition, review what your company has recently published on your blog and social media. These topics can be used for pitching to the media. If you find out you’re not blogging, then why aren’t you? Now is the time to start.
Take a moment to review and submit for local, industry, and national awards for your company through your local business journal, industry trade media, and business magazines, newspapers, websites, and other publications. There are a number of benefits to entering for awards for your company.
Research editorial calendars in industry publications like Accounting Today for ways to add insight to upcoming articles and trends.
Don’t forget seasonal stories and opportunities. For example, offer ways people can prepare for tax season before they get their W2 forms. Keep in mind that tax season starts months before the April 15 tax deadline.
Take time to share notable hirings and promotions at your CPA firm with local business journals and news outlets and share your executive appointments and promotions with the industry’s media.
What strategic partnerships, mergers, and acquisitions are on the horizon? Your pipeline contains newsworthy items that are great to share with the news media.
Share your company’s charitable giving by distributing and submitting news briefs to the local community, business, and national industry trade media.
Your company can also submit your blog posts as a bylined article, letter to the editor, or opinion column for an industry publication.
Highlight the efforts and contributions of employees who provided outstanding service.
If your company has multiple locations/branches, then you can share your CPA firms’ news from several different angles. You can share your headquarters news with local communities using our Avalon system where we dive into hyperlocal community news outlets. And don’t forget about what may be happening at your branches because media coverage shouldn’t rely only on what’s happening at HQ.
Celebrate your firm’s anniversary.

Were you able to find three opportunities that you hadn’t thought of for news coverage? Congratulations!

Now is the time to take action together and get your CPA firm in the news. It’s not the time to let these ideas gather dust on the shelf.

If you’d like to speak with a PR expert, contact us at 888-PR-FIRM-8 (888-773-4768), and let's chat about where we go from here to get your CPA firm positive news coverage.