The Key to Pre- and Post-Acquisition Success in Private Equity Marketing

And Why More Firms are Outsourcing to a Team of Digital Experts to Do It

In the ever-evolving world of marketing, it can be hard to keep up. But when you’re investing your time and money into a new company, you don’t have the luxury of ‘figuring it out as you go.’ Today’s complex digital ecosystem poses new challenges and opportunities that require fresh, independent perspectives and data-driven decisions. And in order to create a strategy that connects, engages, and inspires the right audiences in the right places, you need to put in the work initially.

That’s where an outsourced private equity marketing team comes in — equipping you with a team of experts led by a seasoned executive to own the creation and execution of your entire strategy. Curious how it works? Here’s everything you need to know about developing and deploying a private equity marketing strategy that will ensure a successful future for your portfolio company.

What is Private Equity Marketing?

Private equity marketing is more than just having a digital presence; it’s translating a deep understanding of your portfolio company’s customers, your competition, and your market into an actionable plan that positions you for faster growth and long-term success. So whether a private equity firm is looking for pre-acquisition advisory or post-acquisition planning, it all starts with a digital deep dive to uncover the truth behind the numbers and get clarity into the investment. Without it, your long-term private equity marketing strategy will be built on a precarious foundation.

Once that strategy is built, the next step is execution. This means preparing all the necessary marketing materials, creating digital assets and deploying on predetermined platforms, monitoring performance, and reporting on all established KPIs. Having a private equity digital marketing team that is not only expertin the necessary platforms and tools, but also understands how to build content that informs, inspires, and excites makes all the difference. These experts will blend bold creativity with sharp practicality to ensure the best results from your campaign, offering full transparency and guidance into the results to help you make effective adjustments along the way.

Finally, having a full team that brings these two phases together – strategy & execution – seamlessly is another major component to a successful private equity marketing strategy. This is why more and more firms are relying on outsourced marketing services that provide both a Fractional CMO to lead their digital due diligence and a team of digital marketing experts to see it through to fruition. This dynamic eliminates the risk involved in adding another point of responsibility which requires additional handoffs and external communication.

Why Do I Need Private Equity Marketing Services?

While pursuing a new acquisition, there are a handful of common problems that private equity firms may face:

• The emergence of new trends or changes in the market that impact the portfolio company’s business model
• The current marketing team lacks the experience or leadership to successfully bring the company into the digital age
• The company is underperforming against its competitors and targets
• The company needs a fresh outlook and executive-level insights into the company’s processes, commercial tactics, and strategy
• The company’s marketing has been merely a part-time effort up until this point
• The firm wants to accelerate the company’s growth post-acquisition and needs someone to lead those efforts
• The company has strong executive leadership in place but needs a team of digital marketing experts to execute

What to Look for in an Outsourced Private Equity Marketing Team

Outsourced private equity marketing services offer a more flexible and efficient way to get your portfolio company on the right track, so that when it is ready to hire full-time people, it will have solid processes in-place. An experienced agency will help make the transition a lot more seamless by developing the right organizational structure and hiring the right people for long-term success.

Here’s what you should look for in a private equity digital marketing team:

• Full Strategy & Execution with a Fractional Mindset
  • The ability to provide pre- or post-acquisition advisory through hybrid or on-demand models, allowing you to delegate full responsibility in only the areas you need it most.
• Battle-Tried & ROI-driven Leadership
  • A fCMOs that brings proven experience both on the agency side and in leading a strategy to the creation and execution of your growth plan
• Digital Expertise
  • A digital-first CMOs and marketing teams that are seasoned experts in practical execution to help you maximize the best solutions for growth in today’s digital age.
• Personalized CMO Selection
  • The chance to meet and interview your potential fCMO and digital marketing team prior to your commitment, so you can find the right fit for your niche offering, industry, and goals.
• A Flexible Engagement
  • An engagement that is flexible, or “on-demand,” allowing you to navigate the important phases of the acquisition with support that’s on your terms.

To learn more about the benefits of outsourcing your private equity marketing services, or how &Marketing can help take your private equity digital marketing strategy to the next level, contact us today.

About the Authors

As the Founder & CEO of &Marketing (www.and-marketing.com), Raj and his team strive to provide growing businesses unparalleled marketing strategy and execution services. Raj has more than two decades of experience in B2B and B2C marketing, sales, & strategy. He has led nearly 100 high-profile marketing strategy projects for Global 100, mid-sized clients, and SMBs, plus over a decade with General Electric and General Mills. He is a sought-after advisor and facilitator, with experience across five continents. He is known for bringing the best of ‘big company’ marketing and strategy to smaller companies without the baggage, his bias for practical implementation, and his unrelenting customer focus.

We’re happy to announce that &Marketing is officially certified as an MBE (Minority Business Enterprise) through the National Minority Supplier Development Council (NMSDC)!

These certifications are increasingly essential for credibility and validation in today’s business climate. Additionally, many organizations have Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion procurement requirements (or preferences). There are a variety of benefits of working with an MBE, so let’s break those down.

What Does It Mean to be MBE Certified?

An MBE certification means the business is primarily owned by an individual who is a minority and has applied for and received a minority-owned business certificate from the NMSDC. Minority group members are United States citizens who are Asian-Indian, Native American, Black, Asian-Pacific, and Hispanic. Ownership by minority individuals means the minority individuals own at least 51% or, in the case of a publicly owned business, one or more such individuals own at least 51% of the stock.

The Benefits of Working with an MBE

Partnering with a certified MBE offers many benefits and opportunities, like allowing you to tap into new perspectives and fresh takes. It can also help your business grow and help your company culture evolve toward more diversity and inclusion. Here are some more specifics about the benefits of working with an MBE:

Tax Incentives

The U.S. government offers many state and federal tax incentives, breaks, and rebates to organizations that partner with MBEs. In addition, MBEs themselves are eligible for tax liability reduction for projects funded by state and federal grants and loans.

Additional Revenue

In addition to maximizing your profit margin through tax incentives, you can expand your client base to a larger demographic. With 23 affiliate nationwide regional councils and over 1,450 corporate members like Goldman Sachs, Coca-Cola, and FedEx, the NMSDC helps connect over 12,000 certified MBEs to an extensive network of corporate members looking to meet diversity spend requirements. NMSDC certification for programs designed to help eliminate barriers to participation in public-sector contracts is accepted by 17 states and 25 cities. Most states have specific targets and set aside contracts just for MBEs.

Many NMSDC and MBE-related events and conferences also bring other MBEs and larger organizations together around the U.S. to help both expand their networks. In addition, many MBEs are well-connected to other local businesses and can access training programs, mentorship programs, and workshops that allow them to bring more innovative strategies and cost savings measures to your business.

Showing Support for Diverse Communities

Partnering with an MBE helps you foster diversity and support minority communities. It allows your organization to build a more diverse clientele. It brings insight that can help you offer that clientele even more value. MBEs offer innovation that can help you stand out from your competitors, and they can help your business with brand recognition and community outreach so you can help strengthen the community you do business in.

Interested in Partnering with an MBE?

If you have an opportunity that requires MBE certification, don’t hesitate to contact us! We are excited to use our unique viewpoint to help organizations meet their diversity spending requirements, support more diverse communities, drive more revenue, and innovate in their industry. To learn more about how we can help you drive long-term success, contact &Marketing today.

About the Authors

As the Founder & CEO of &Marketing (www.and-marketing.com), Raj and his team strive to provide growing businesses unparalleled marketing strategy and execution services. Raj has more than two decades of experience in B2B and B2C marketing, sales, & strategy. He has led nearly 100 high-profile marketing strategy projects for Global 100, mid-sized clients, and SMBs, plus over a decade with General Electric and General Mills. He is a sought-after advisor and facilitator, with experience across five continents. He is known for bringing the best of ‘big company’ marketing and strategy to smaller companies without the baggage, his bias for practical implementation, and his unrelenting customer focus.

Content Specialist Kim Steinmetz helps brands and thought leaders discover and develop their unique voice and tone while establishing authority on a topic through compelling messaging and copywriting. An accomplished writer and marketer with over a decade of experience, Kim is well-versed in both B2C and B2B content.

From Strategy to Execution: A Full Team Approach with a Single Point of Responsibility

As a private equity investor, you’re an expert at seeing the potential in a business. But you may also be familiar with the fact that in many cases, the founder of that business doesn’t have the background or knowledge as to how to actually reach it. This is why more and more private equity firms that invest in small- to mid-size businesses or start-ups ready to scale up are leveraging the benefits of fractional CMOs.

What will a Fractional CMO do for my Private Equity Company?

Fractional CMO services offer the full executive power of seasoned Chief Marketing Officer through a fully customized commitment. These subject matter experts work with you for a fixed amount of time in a given month, utilizing their proven experience and success to assess the risk, value, and potential of your acquisition through a flexible investment.

A fCMO will lead, manage, and deliver a return on your investment by:

• Managing the day-to-day function of the marketing team
• Working closely with your leadership team and other stakeholders, such as CEOs, CSO, VPs, the Board, as well as Salesforce
• Delivering ROI to determine whether to continue to invest in each area of the marketing programs
• Working closely with the sales group to ensure that leads generate receive the appropriate attention and follow through (this is key!)

This model is perfect if your portfolio company needs a marketing reset, its current management team lacks senior-level marketing talent, it cannot afford/doesn’t need a full-time marketing department, or it wants to reduce the risks of developing and implementing a new business marketing plan.

Setting the Stage for Fractional CMOs in Private Equity Companies

The marketing landscape is rapidly changing, and recent trends are amplifying the benefits in using fractional CMOs and digital marketing team.

1. Smaller to mid-size businesses are starting to invest much more in online marketing but cannot afford a full-time marketing department — or they just don’t need one.
2. The startup scene is thriving. Over 800,000 new businesses are emerging every year (SBA, 2021) only an estimated 20% of which will be operating in five years. Fractional CMOs are a great fit as these companies start to scale up, but many are pursuing these partnerships early in the development stage to make their product or service more appealing to intial customers.
3. Advancing technology and the rise of remote working has made it easier to collaborate with fractional CMOs and fractional digital marketing teams.

When a Fractional CMO can Help Your Portfolio Company

fCMO services could be a great fit for your portfolio company if one or more of the following applies:

• The company needs to accelerate growth, but either lacks a complete marketing department or executive guidance and leadership.
• You’re interested in getting an independent, outside perspective on the business, its marketing strategy, and its commercial tactics.
• The company is a startup needs to hit the ground running but currently does not have the time or budget to hire a full in-house team.
• The company needs marketing leadership and support to keep up with competitors but isn’t in the position to incur the high costs and risks in searching, training, and developing an in-house team.
• The company’s CEO (or another senior leader) is spending more time on marketing at the expense of other priorities.
• The company is starting to launch more products and services and needs to increase bandwidth quickly or needs specialized expertise.

Accelerating Growth & Value Creation Pre- and Post-Acquisition

&Marketing not only helps you uncover the true potential of your investment, but it can also complement your fractional CMO with a full team of digital marketing experts to handle the entire creative execution. Unlike other providers who leave that to the company or a third-party, &Marketing offers a full-team approach with a digital-first fCMO that becomes a key part of your leadership team supported by our digital marketing experts who will take full responsibility of your company’s strategy — from pre-acquisition due diligence to post-acquisition delivery.

We’ve built a network of 40+ digital-first, ROI-driven fCMOs with proven experience as external consultants and leading in-house marketing departments to ensure every facet of your strategy is connected in the most effective way. These battle-proven executives lead your marketing due diligence, while digital marketing specialists handle the creative execution to ensure your efforts drive the most meaningful results.

Helping Portfolio Companies Succeed

Your team of digital experts will help you gain a deeper understanding of the market’s dynamics, key segments, primary and secondary competition, and most importantly, current and potential customers.

Through a single point of responsibility, you’ll receive:

• A marketing leader on the management team, experienced enough to work with stakeholders, including shareholders, CEOs, and other functional leaders
• A deep understanding of the market dynamics, competition, and customers
• A robust marketing strategy
• Positioning that is “true, distinct, and compelling”
• Content that “informs, inspires, and excites”
• Strong branding and positioning
• Product pricing and new products/services luanches
• Online and media optimization; SEO, Account Based Marketing, PR, etc.
• Customer retention and loyalty programs
• Salesforce marketing material and qualified lead conversion

How Much Does a Fractional CMO for Portfolio Companies Cost?

Full-time CMOs in the U.S. average a salary of $175K, plus benefits, earning between $200-300/hour (Glassdoor). With a time commitment starting at one week per month, our full team of marketing experts led by a fractional CMO start between $15,000 to $25,000 per month (plus any out-of-pocket expenses). This team includes the fCMO, a Marketing Manager, and the subject matter experts needed to creatively execute your digital marketing programs. That means you can get a full team without going through a lengthy and expensive search and hire process — AND the money saved can be used to develop more effective marketing programs and initiatives.

Let a Fractional CMO Lead Your Growth Marketing

Pre- and post- acquisition digital due diligence and a strong marketing strategy allows companies to build their branding, attract new customers, generate leads, maintain customer loyalty, accelerate growth, and more. That’s why executing the best marketing strategy possible is crucial to the growth of your portfolio company in the digital age. A fCMO supported by a digital marketing team offers a single point of responsibility to ensure your business strategy and execution is done in the most effective and successful way.

To see our full roster of seasoned fCMO or learn more about how we can help your acquisition drive long-term success, contact &Marketing today.

&Marketing Case Study: Healthcare Digital Marketing Strategy Simplified

A cutting-edge healthcare technology company (BUDDI.AI), whose target audience includes C-level healthcare executives, was poised for major growth in 2021. However, they were playing in a fragmented competitive landscape that would require them to creatively “break through the noise” in order to build and maintain brand awareness, drive lead generation, and achieve tangible results. To become a true thought leader and partner of choice in the industry, they needed to enhance their digital presence.

About &Marketing

&Marketing provides the robust outsourced marketing department growing companies need without the high overhead costs of big agencies or full-time employees. Our variable model empowers businesses to reach their growth goals through access to the guidance and expertise of senior level strategists and a flexible execution team.