May 16, 2018 (Portland, OR) - Nicole Gantz, marketing partner at Dubuque, Iowa-based Honkamp Krueger & Co., has received the Association for Accounting Marketing's (AAM) 2018 Marketer of the Year award, sponsored by INSIDE Public Accounting (IPA).
The winner was announced by IPA May 16 at AAM's 2018 Summit in Portland, Ore.
Gantz leads strategic marketing, communications and client experience initiatives while also offering marketing consulting services to other CPA firms and businesses. Honkamp Krueger (HK), the largest Iowa-based CPA firm, is ranked No. 60 on the 2017 IPA 100 list of largest accounting firms in the country.
HK President and CEO Gregory Burbach praised Gantz' vast experience and "ahead-of-the-curve" approach to social media, website upgrades, development of a client patronage app and a new marketing automation program.
The client patronage app, which received national attention, allows the firm's 500 employees to purposefully shop at firm clients, find locations, get driving directions, submit spending amounts and win prizes. The app, which has tracked $14.2 million in spending and almost 57,000 receipts submitted since its launch in 2014, increases client retention and referrals, and attracts new clients who want to be part of the program. The marketing automation tool, Pardot, was implemented early last year, and in nine months produced 58 qualified leads to business developers, which resulted in five new clients.
"Nicole and her team are that nice balance of being creative and innovative, but not so over the top that they forget the end goal or ROI and effectiveness I want to see in our marketing investment," Burbach says. "We believe so much in her that she became our first marketing partner Jan. 1, 2018."
Gantz, who calls the recognition the "honor of a lifetime," thanks IPA, AAM, her firm leaders and the talented accounting firm marketers from whom she has learned so much. "With the support and leadership of Greg Burbach and our business development partner, Ryan Hauber, Honkamp Krueger nurtures a strong marketing and growth culture. Our innovative and entrepreneurial partners are continuously supportive and value our talented marketing team's efforts and role in our organization. Together, we have a deep passion for our clients' successes, and I feel lucky to play a small part in that."
Art Kuesel, president of the Kuesel Consulting, says, "It's hard enough to earn a partner spot at a firm when you directly generate hundreds of thousands of dollars in billable time - but when you can earn that position via a combination of direct measurable contributions and indirect hard-to-measure contributions, you've truly achieved something special. And HK has someone very special in Nicole."
Gantz also serves as director and marketing consultant for the HK Alliance, made up of nearly 30 member CPA firms that are wealth management affiliates of Honkamp Krueger Financial Services. She's heavily involved in HK's accounting association, CPAmerica International, and serves as a board member and volunteer for eight nonprofit organizations around Dubuque.
This is the fifth year that IPA has sponsored the Marketer of the Year award. A panel of independent judges, themselves leaders in the profession, were selected by IPA to review and score each of the nominees.