Have you recently acquired another company? Is your organization preparing for a post-acquisition rebrand after you’ve acquired another business? 

If you’ve ever struggled with what to keep or how to navigate the marketing challenges that come with absorbing another business, our Revelation Creative team is here to help. 

Today, we’re addressing some of the most common post-acquisition marketing quandaries teams face and the solutions we suggest to help you feel more confident during this period in your company’s growth. 

During business acquisition planning, you’ll want to maintain strong efforts to build lasting relationships with both your new team members, as well as the customers you’ll now be serving as a result of the acquired company’s book of business now falling under your umbrella. But there may be a few things below that you may not have considered, which we want to call to your attention now so you avoid any unforeseen icebergs. When done well, acquisitions can add talent to your team, address gaps in staff knowledge, and augment products and services you offer your customers. But when done poorly, acquisitions can have the exact opposite of their intended purpose – resulting in business interruptions, disjointed teams, and reduced customer focus – all of which can negatively impact your bottom line. So if this is your first acquisition, or you’re experiencing challenges that you’ve never encountered before, look no further than to the team at Revelation Creative for the marketing guidance to help you succeed during this challenging and exciting time!

1. The Challenge: Getting the Marketing and Sales Teams on the Same Page

One of the most important post-acquisition steps you can take is to get your marketing and sales teams on the same page straight away. 

Whether you’re starting fresh and hiring additional sales and marketing team members or absorbing a team from your newly acquired organization, it’s important that you set expectations. Provide time for team members to get to know one another, and make sure that goals and SOPs are clarified and reiterated regularly. 

In addition, ensure that your team supervisors are ready to answer any questions you anticipate from these new staff or team members. Getting them prepared for what lies ahead will make the transition easier to manage.

Next, acclimate new team members to how you run your marketing and sales procedures – from day-to-day responsibilities to annual strategy development and planning. With new players on your bench, assess strengths and areas for improvement for both departments, teams, and individual contributors. From there, you can decide whether you need to realign how your team player resources are allocated and dole out the marching orders to follow. This allows both new and previous staff to know exactly what their role is and how that works within the growing organization, leading to greater cohesion. 

2. The Challenge: Navigating the Adjustment of the Acquired Company’s Clients to the New Name

Acquiring an organization means you’ll also need to navigate how that organization’s current clients will address them now that they’ve become part of your organization. This can be especially challenging during the transition period. After all, they’ve known them by one name for years and now there’s been a significant change.

Be sure you help your newly acquired organization sunset its old name and branding effectively. Communicate that change to clients with ease by ensuring there is consistency in HOW you message that change. The less confusion a current client experiences, the more likely you are to retain these loyal clients after the transition is complete. And be sure to use a multimodal approach to message delivery – USPS mail, email, and a phone call by the representative who will be managing their account are some good ways to make sure no messaging gets lost in translation.

3. The Challenge: Recognizing the Strengths of the Acquired Company in Your Marketing Assets While Continuing to Honor Your Own 

Acquisitions require you to navigate a host of new experiences including deciding how to honor the new organization’s strengths alongside your own. Recognizing what your new addition brings to the table is an excellent way to boost morale. But, an even better way to enhance your marketing and sales approaches is to acknowledge exactly WHY the purchase was made. What gap did you have in your products or services? What did you need to improve with your staff? Ultimately answer this question in order to succeed with melding the acquired company’s talents with your own: How does this benefit our customers? 

Focus on the benefits your clients will experience from the acquisition. Maintain this perspective throughout the transition process. Give all the praise necessary to both organizations. It then becomes much easier to create a buzz around the WHY this is such great news for your customers. And from there, you put their fears aside, continue to build trust with transparency, and reap the rewards of open communication as it positively impacts your P&L.

4. The Challenge: Making Your Presence Known – And Sharing Why Your Customers Are the Ones Who Benefit Most

It’s important to emphasize the benefits that immediately befall the customers you work with due to the new resources, skill sets, territory, and other assets you’ve now acquired. But getting the word out can be a challenge

For many, the solution may be multichannel marketing or omnichannel marketing with a focused messaging strategy. Utilize a set number of curated marketing outlets to share a strategically drafted message that reflects your brand’s perspective. Those channels will be the drivers that deliver the benefits of the acquisition to your customers. 

From press releases to postcards to videos to blogs to social media posts, a multi-modal approach will allow you to ensure news of your expansion reaches all of your key audiences.

And when you address both your current audience and the audience of your newly acquired organization with specifically tailored messaging unique to them, you can be sure the information is heard loud and clear.

5. The Challenge: How to Market Effectively While Juggling All the Transitional Pieces of the Acquisition Puzzle

When you acquire another organization, you might move into a new building. That organization’s team may move into yours. Or, you may be joining forces remotely. Either way, the hustle and bustle may lead to some confusion beyond the typical day-to-day work that occupies your time.

Balancing all of the demands that come along with the acquisition process in addition to marketing the benefits of the acquisition can be a daunting undertaking. Many organizations lean into working with an agency partner. This support can help you to market your acquisition strategically and bring your new team members on board with ease. It will also help you to put a set of standard operating procedures in place for marketing and sales departments to handle future acquisitions. And this can set you up for success now and in the future.

More than that, when you work with a trusted agency partner or virtual CMO, you’ll have access to a wealth of support and guidance during a busy and often chaotic time in your organization’s growth. That can have immense value in the near- and long-term health of your business. And above all, you’ll be partnering with experts who have done this before and know how to do it well. Avoid the icebergs entirely by having advisors in your corner who know exactly how to navigate the challenges an acquisition can present.

Would You Like Some Support Marketing Your Business Acquisition Process?

We’d love to help you address your marketing needs as you acquire an organization or prepare for future growth. To learn more about how we can help, contact our Revelation Creative team to get started!