You've closed a successful deal, and now, what better way to build brand awareness and engage prospective clients than to announce exactly what type of deals your company attracts.
To do this effectively, you have to contact the right players in the market. Traditionally, this was done primarily through the investment bank that handled the M&A deal. However, within this digital age, technology has transformed the capabilities of a post-acquisition marketing strategy. Below we will be reviewing how post-acquisition marketing strategies have shifted through the decades, including how M&A software has revolutionized the entire experience.
Traditional Methods
Before the technological advancements of the digital age connected everyone constantly, the success or failure of post-deal marketing fell on four primary resources:
- The investment bank's internal database of contacts - This contact list includes PE firms, investment funds, and family operations that are looking for new investment opportunities. Obviously, this favored larger firms who have an extensive background and network within a given industry niche.
- Market research - Spreading the word about a deal closing could also be accomplished through identifying relevant players in the space who would be interested in the information. This involved manual research to identify relevant industries, finding lists and databases with potential investment opportunities, and researching each group to find contact information. It took a lot of hard work and due diligence to start the process.
- Issuer's contact list - When a company is large enough to close an M&A deal, chances are they've built up their own reservoir of contacts. Companies that have approached them and prior investment opportunities provide further opportunities for communication about deals closing.
- Broad outreach - Contacting relevant news and information spaces within the industry is the shotgun approach for any M&A marketing strategy.
Technology developed as a way to fix gaps and democratize these methods for firms without the resources of large investment banks.
Problems with the Past: Barriers of Entry
The primary downside of these traditional methods is that an investment firm's contact list mattered. Having access to other investment opportunities to market your M&A deal was necessary to keep the ball rolling. Success begets success, and with one deal could come many - if you had the connections.
Today, technology has transformed the way in which this market research is done and connections are made. The research that used to take weeks for analysts to complete can now be performed within minutes using technology and specialized M&A tools. The four traditional methods still work, but thanks to various digital platforms, these efforts are streamlined and more effective.
Moving into the Future
There are three critical areas in which technology has transformed the post-acquisition marketing strategy. Those are:
- Enhanced market research - Relying on the investment firm's previous market knowledge runs the risk of missing key updated information and omitting other relevant private companies from your communication strategy. Accurate data changes by the day, and without an automated facet to the process, opportunities could slip through the cracks of manual research.
- Identifying contacts - In the past, contact lists were built name by name, contact by contact. Networking meant physically putting yourself into a position to meet more people and develop relationships. Getting in contact with private equity firms and investment groups without these connections was impossible. Now, with a company data platform like Sourcescrub, this contact information is readily available for your post-deal marketing campaigns.
- Spreading the word - Communications. If there is one aspect of post-deal marketing that the digital revolution has impacted the greatest, it is arguably the enhancement of communications to be more rapid and constant than ever before. The wide-spread communications accessible through a company's website and social media outlets help spread the word more effectively than traditional methods.
How Sourcescrub Can Help
Sourcescrub provides an M&A pipeline management platform with the tools necessary to enhance your marketing strategy. The functionalities of the platform were designed to help you:
- Optimize your searching - With an intuitive, simple-to-use platform, searching through industry niches for target contacts and potential leads has never been easier. Plus, once the platform understands the type of business you're searching for, it will suggest similar opportunities to optimize your search results.
- Quickly analyze the market - By applying your taxonomy of industry keywords, the research process will be focused on providing the market data you need (data related to investor information, growth and performance metrics, and other key firmographic points). This data can equip you to more specifically direct your communications and marketing strategy to the most relevant target sources.
- Establish effective contact lists - Aggregating lists from across multiple industries and verticals allows you to build a broader, more effective contact database. Private firms, otherwise hidden to manual research, are available for your investigation. Plus, contact information is included for key decision-makers.
How Post-Deal Marketing Has Evolved
What used to be an "insider's game" of who you know and whose contact information you have access to has completely changed. Technology has improved post-deal marketing by enhancing market research capabilities and enabling access to vital contact information. Plus, with the curated search results provided by Sourcescrub, it cuts the research time to a fraction of what can be done manually.
Getting the word out about your M&A deal effectively can lead to further investment opportunities and secondary deals. If you are looking for a more streamlined integration and acquisition process, Sourcescrub can help. Implementing an effective post-deal strategy can lead to future success for your bank or firm in the way of deal sourcing and relationship building. Sourcescrub gives you the necessary tools for success. To learn more about how to use M&A tools, visit our website today.
Sources
1. Forbes. The New Era of Democratized Business.
2. Entrepreneur. Conducting Market Research.
