New Research Reveals What High Growth Firms Do Differently
The 2025–2026 AAM Marketing Budget Benchmark Study
Lexington, KY, May 21, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — What drives the remarkable marketing performance of the fastest growing accounting firms? The Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) wanted to find out.
The newly released 2025-26 AAM Marketing Budget Benchmark Study explores how accounting firms across the nation use their marketing budgets, providing a broad overview of the industry. At the same time, the study focuses on the investments of High Growth accounting firms—offering detailed insights and benchmarks that any accounting firm can use to assess its own marketing program and emulate the habits of their fastest-growing competitors.
Meet the High Growth Accounting Firms
High Growth accounting firms’ revenues grew at a rate of 38.5%—up to 7X faster than their slower growing peers. High Growth accounting firms are defined as the top 25% of all participating firms by revenue growth. Low Growth firms are those that fall in the bottom 25%.
Key Findings
The study, conducted by AAM and Hinge, explores 37 different categories of marketing spending. Three characteristics of High Growth firms stood out above the others:
- High Growth firms spend twice as much on marketing than all other firms
- They invest two-thirds more in employer branding and recruiting
- They budget more for conferences and events
1. Marketing Budgets
High Growth firms spend twice as much on marketing (excluding compensation) than all other participating firms (2.1% of revenue vs. 1% of revenue). This finding suggests a strong correlation between the level of marketing spend and revenue growth.
“When it comes to marketing, the accounting industry tends to be risk averse and invests less than most other professional services industries,” says Liz Harr, Managing Partner at Hinge. “But the data shows that those that spend more on marketing are getting superior results.” The report looks at how these high performers allocate their budgets compared to their slower-growing counterparts.
Some of that money is invested in their marketing team. High Growth firms have a higher ratio of marketing staff to full-time equivalents (FTEs) than Low Growth firms (1:49 vs. 1:57, respectively). Interestingly, the average salary of a High Growth marketing team member is 27% less than at the slowest-growing firms.
2. Employer Branding and Recruiting
Recruiting and retaining top talent is a perennial challenge at accounting firms. High Growth firms rise to this challenge by spending more on recruiting and their employer brands—the reputation, culture, employee experiences and marketing that entice prospective hires to choose a firm over another. The best-performing firms spend 66% more of their budget on these activities than the Low Growth group. These firms are tapping their marketing departments in the pursuit of top talent.
3. Conferences and Events
Face-to-face marketing remains a critical component of accounting marketing, and High Growth firms know it. That’s why they invest 21% more of their marketing budget on conferences and other in-person events than their Low Growth peers. The High Growth cohort allocates 29.6% of their budget to conferences and events, compared to 24.5% among the Low Growth group. Conferences and events represent accounting firms’ second largest marketing spending category (after people and resources), so this 21% differential adds up to a significant number of dollars.
“Today’s high-performing accounting firms are taking a somewhat more balanced approach to marketing,” says AAM President Laura Metz. “Digital and content marketing budgets are on the rise, but perhaps more than anything, High Growth firms are focused on nurturing relationships in person, whether at industry conferences or their own client appreciation events. These gatherings aren’t just line items, they’re growth strategies where the strongest connections, best leads, and boldest brand moments take shape.”
87 firms participated in the study, representing 1,037 offices, 66,000 employees and combined annual revenues of more than $16 billion.
You can purchase the full report or download a free executive summary on AAM’s website.
About AAM:
The Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) was formed to enhance the accounting marketing and practice growth profession through education, networking and thought leadership. Founded in 1989, the association has nearly 1,000 members, composed of marketing professionals, business developers, CPAs, consultants, service providers, partners and firm administrators. To learn more about AAM visit www.accountingmarketing.org.
About the Hinge Research Institute:
The Hinge Research Institute, a division of Hinge, conducts and publishes independent research on professional services firms to uncover the marketing strategies of the most successful organizations—and supplies professional services firms and associations with the data and insights they need to understand and profit from an evolving marketplace.
Attachment
- The 2025–2026 AAM Marketing Budget Benchmark Study
CONTACT: Lisa Bankston Hinge PR (a division of Hinge) lbankston@hingepr.com
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