Mary Yanocha

Accounting and advisory firm marketers are uniquely positioned to transform their partners’ mindsets. By linking traditional marketing metrics with firms’ strategic growth KPIs and nuanced client experience feedback, marketers can help partners see their marketing investment’s true value and significant return.

Kimberly Ellison-Taylor has spent her professional career as a business leader, adjunct professor, keynote speaker, and volunteer advocate. She has been recognized among Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting and Certified Public Accountants’ Practice Advisor's 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting. She currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Board of Directors, and Founder and Chief Executive Officer… Show more

Kimberly Ellison-Taylor has spent her professional career as a business leader, adjunct professor, keynote speaker, and volunteer advocate. She has been recognized among Accounting Today's Top 100 Most Influential People in Accounting and Certified Public Accountants’ Practice Advisor's 25 Most Powerful Women in Accounting. She currently serves as Immediate Past Chair of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ (AICPA) Board of Directors, and Founder and Chief Executive Officer of KET Solutions, LLC. In this Q&A, Kimberly shares well-informed advice on how accounting marketers can help position their firms to stay ahead of trends and forces shaping the future of the profession. Show less

Going to market by industry allows firms to present more of their specialty services to prospective clients at once and, if they are strategic enough to gain a foothold in an emerging industry, stake an early claim to a large share of the market. As alluring as new industries can be, they are not without inherent risks. This article shares two examples of firms and accounting marketers who seized new opportunities and reaped the rewards.

Cheryl Foster, director of practice growth for St. Louis -based Brown Smith Wallace, leads the firm’s integrated marketing and business development function, in addition to being an active committee member of the firm’s Diversity and Inclusion (DI) program. She also serves as co-chair of the Association for Accounting Marketing’s recently formed DEI Task Force to help marketers play an integral role in advancing DEI initiatives within their firms.

As owner & Chief Learning Officer of The Rainmaker Companies, Adelaide Ness has brought some of the brightest minds in marketing, business development, training, and leadership to help accounting firms build stronger cultures and stronger brands. She shared her perspectives on practical sales and marketing strategies helping firms weather the current socially distant landscape. See page 16.

As CEO of Koltin Consulting Group and co-author of CPA Firm Merger Strategies That Work, Allan Koltin is recognized as one of the top M&A consultants in the accounting industry. As one of the first to be inducted into AAM’s Accounting Marketing Hall of Fame, Allan shares his thoughts on marketing’s involvement in the M&A process. See page 17.

The concept of promoting and supporting diversity in the workplace isn’t new, but it is quickly evolving beyond simple representation of differences. This article shares what several accounting firms are doing to support diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across their organizations. See page 6.

To gain more insight into the minds and practices of accounting marketing professionals, Growth Strategies surveyed Association for Accounting Marketing members to determine what matters most to both firms and marketers, on what firms are looking for from marketers, and where they see the role heading. The good news: while still a work in progress, firms are relying more on marketers as valuable growth allies. See page 10.

Mary Yanocha is the author of the chapter, Project Management for Marketing: Keep it Lean, Don't Slow Us Down (Chapter 47 under the Industry Applications of Project Management Practice section).

The book compiles essays and advice from the field's top professionals and features new chapters on stakeholder management, agile project management, program management, project governance, knowledge management, and more. Updated with fresh examples, case studies and solutions to specific project… Show more

Mary Yanocha is the author of the chapter, Project Management for Marketing: Keep it Lean, Don't Slow Us Down (Chapter 47 under the Industry Applications of Project Management Practice section).

The book compiles essays and advice from the field's top professionals and features new chapters on stakeholder management, agile project management, program management, project governance, knowledge management, and more. Updated with fresh examples, case studies and solutions to specific project management dilemmas, it remains an essential reference to the critical concepts and theories all project managers must master. Show less

We so easily get bogged down by trying to fix or change too many things at once. Once your focus is diffused, you lose a decisive edge. Stop and pick the most important mission and “mass” (focus) your power against the single goal. As business disruptions come along at an accelerated pace, we as leaders need to be smart enough and agile enough to change the strategy.

Gone are the short-sighted days when just being on time and on budget mattered. Stay focused on the business goals when developing your own KPIs and metrics, keep them simple, and use them as a guide in making sound business decisions.

Managers should gather real evidence that consultants are delivering value, and work with consulting vendors to obtain this evidence as a standard business practice.