Business Research - Week 2 Part B

Social media is an essential way to drive interest and revenue for any business. As an accounting major, I found it informative to see how accounting firms, small and large, use social media to enhance their business.

Lawrence Lathrop, CPA

http://www.nautiluswealth.com/

Lawrence Lathrop has been a CPA since 1981 and is the sole owner of Nautilus Tax and Wealth Solutions. He founded his business in 2006 and serves the local community of Canyon Lake and surrounding areas. The website contains multiple pages but no links to social media. The business would benefit from a social media presence.

J & T Accounting Services 

https://www.jandtaccounting.com/

J & T accounting services is a two person firm. They have served the local community for five years and have ten years of experience. I was able to find 15 Yelp reviews. The social media icons at the bottom of the page link to Wix, a website builder. The business would benefit from a social media presence and not a link to their website builder!

Hughes Ferguson Grigg, LLP 

https://hfgcpas.com/

Hughes Ferguson Grigg, LLP has two locations located in El Cajon and Lake Elsinore. It consists of three certified public accountants and has been in business since 2006. The top of the website contains links to their blog, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Facebook  -  3 followers. The page was created in October of 2020 and contains five posts, the last being August 25,2021.

LinkedIn - 7 followers. No posts.

Twitter    - 0 followers. Since the inception of their Twitter profile in 2020, there have been three posts,  all related to business and personal tax suggestions.

Hughes Ferguson Grigg, LLP does not utilize social media very well. The posts were the same on Facebook and Twitter , but the number of followers and posts were very low on all platforms.

Withum

https://www.withum.com/

Withum is a national CPA firm founded in 1974 with 1,300 employees. Their website has multiple pages and at the bottom of the main page are links to their social media pages, as well as their blog and podcasts.

LinkedIn - 16,436 followers. The last post was September 1st with a link to their Podcast and other posts. There are multiple posts weekly.

Twitter - 2,530 followers. The last post was September 1st. Withum has posted 6,350 tweets.

Facebook - 2,663 followers. The last post was September 1st.

Instagram - 1,636 followers and 1,599 posts. 

Withum has a strong social media presence, but not a lot of followers. The posts range from recruiting, podcast webinars, work culture, diversity, and business technology and are consistent throughout the platforms.. Their social media seems more focused on the employees and their support and culture. The most informative information for businesses would be from the podcasts.

Deloitte

https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en.html

Deloitte is one of the Big Four accounting firms. Founded in 1845 and now having 334,800 employees, they provide multinational professional services. Links to their social media can be found in the bottom left corner of the main page.

Facebook - 1,537,511 followers. Their page is well used and consists of multiple posts, the last being September 7th.

Twitter - 132.2K followers. Deloitte connects with many topics over their 18,000 tweets. The last tweets were September 7th. They post multiple tweets daily.

LinkedIn - 8,273,794 followers. Most of the posts are business related , with a strong focus on business  and AI. There are multiple posts daily.

Instagram - 36,000 followers. This page is about life through the employees eyes.

Deloitte has a large following in social media. LinkedIn provides more business geared information, where the other platforms provide more of a personal touch. Facebook and Twitter are consistent with the content on both platforms and post regularly.

In my overall research I discovered that the bigger the firm, the more social media is used. Larger firms provide a mix of information and add a personal aspect by spotlighting employees and activities. By doing many posts, they keep followers engaged with the new content. If professional information is required, LinkedIn is the best source for businesses.

The medium sized firm that I researched uses social media, but does not have many followers. Ferguson Hughes Grigg, LLP only started using social media last October. While they have a presence, they only have a few posts ( 3 and 5 to be exact). The posts are business related and ways to help small businesses but they could really post more information to help draw in potential clients.

The small local firms are those needing  better usage of social media. This is a way to help showcase their knowledge and expertise for small businesses. A small CPA firm today cannot rely solely on word-of-mouth. It is important to get their information out there and draw in more clients.

I think that it is important for a business to keep their clients engaged and wanting more. Small CPA firms could take a from larger firms and post content that not only educates clients, but also puts a personal spin on content.