Yesterday evening as the working day was winding down we were hit with a one-two punch of government announcements: first, that the Autumn Budget was cancelled and, secondly, that the Chancellor had a few announcements to make.
My first reaction, honestly? Oh no, not again.
Fortunately, the content team at PracticeWeb has got good at coping with these unexpected ad hoc fiscal policy events from Rishi Sunak. As a result, it didn’t take long to scope out what the announcements might cover and put together a plan ready for covering his speech which took place at around 11:50 this morning.
We’ve sourced quotes from industry bodies, tracked down all the key stats and facts, and pinned down the narrative in plain English.
At the time of writing, just after 3 o’clock on Thursday afternoon, we’ve managed to produce for PracticeWeb clients:
- a special bulletin covering all the key announcements
- a story for client newsfeeds covering the key points in brief
- a short explainer video.
These will be made available to all the accountancy firms we work with as part of our ongoing commitment to supporting them in keeping their clients up to date with the latest news on government support during the ongoing coronavirus crisis.
There are various ways you can use this content.
First, it’s an opportunity to head off queries. We’ve been told by several accountants that the worst thing about the constant flow of announcements from Government is that the minute Mr Sunak sits down after one of his speeches, the phone starts ringing: How does this work? When can I get the grant? How do I apply? The sooner you can send out a brief, easy-to-understand summary that answers those questions, the sooner you can win a bit of breathing space.
Secondly, it’s a good way to get across that you’re on the case and can explain what it all means more clearly than the competition. We know from our recent research that your clients value communication skills, especially when, as know, things feel a bit hairy.
Finally, we know that lots of our clients find this kind of content useful as way of briefing themselves and their teams. That’s not what it’s designed for but it makes sense. Government bodies haves got a lot better at explaining themselves clearly in recent decades but their output still comes shrouded in jargon and spin. Becuase we write with our clients’ clients in mind, we always aim to make our explainers absolutely clear and totally objective. If that make them useful for busy accountants too, that’s great.
Personalise and customise
I wouldn’t recommend copying and pasting any of the written content straight onto your accountancy firm’s blog – that’s not great for your search engine presence.
Instead, I’d suggest rewriting it as much as possible, adding quotes from your own partners and management team, and including references to the industry sectors and regions you’re targeting.
Don’t be afraid to express an opinion, either. We can’t do that — we’re writing for hundreds of accountancy firms at once – but you definitely can, and should. Do you think the new job support scheme is too little, too late? Or is it just the right balance of prudence and generosity?
Using the video
Apart from a little discreet PracticeWeb branding at the very end, the video is good to go on your social media channels, or to be embedded on your website or blog.
Again, don’t just dump the link and run – add your own commentary to create additional value for your clients.
More on the way
We’ll continue to cover developments as they emerge in our daily newsfeed, fortnightly newsletter content and our monthly business and tax pack.
In the wake of the news of the cancellation of the Autumn Budget, we’ve also got some very cool plans for a bumper publication to fill the gap for Business and Tax Pack subscribers.
In the meantime, if you’d tailored blog posts for your firm’s website, get in touch to find out how our expert writing team can help.