Your messaging about your merger or acquisition was strategic and thoughtful. What happens now that you’ve moved beyond that process? How do you create a cohesive and engaging post-merger or acquisition messaging strategy? How can you be more confident in your path ahead?

The answer lies in data-driven marketing decisions, and in this blog, we’ll walk you through some of the important aspects of the evaluation process to keep in mind. After all, according to Forbes contributor Dee Bloom, companies often struggle with communication post-acquisition, either becoming silent as they focus on integration or overpromising too quickly. 

So, our Revelation Creative Team has put together ten strategies to help you use data to refine your post-merger or post-acquisition messaging strategy. These approaches will help you skip the pitfalls and aim for a more balanced approach to the ways you brand your organization well beyond that merger or acquisition date. And because you’re relying more on data than crossed fingers, you’ll craft assets and campaigns that align with your values and resonate with your audience’s needs, leading to an even greater impact on your bottom line. So let’s get to it! 

Tip 1: Assess Your Current Messaging

First, we recommend that you begin by reviewing the existing messaging from both companies to fully inventory and understand what you have. 

You can utilize data here like website metrics, social engagement, and heat maps from email blasts to get a feel for what resonates with customer bases and what falls flat. The useful data points and tools here would include customer feedback and engagement rates.

Tip 2: Define Your Key Messaging Goals

No process initiation would be complete without outlining your goals. So, be clear about what you want your messaging to create for you after the merger or acquisition. The role of data here is to give you specific and truly measurable goals to reach. 

Perhaps you’ll want to reach a particular customer retention goal or increase brand awareness. Whatever you choose, be sure you’re clear about how to measure it and that everyone is aligned on your key performance indicators (KPIs). 

Tip 3: Analyze Customer Feedback and Market Trends

Dissecting market trends and exploring customer feedback is also key. You’ll want to collect and review information from a variety of sources from social media to customer surveys so you can identify any insights or potential data trends. These insights can help you shape your messaging to more effectively reach your audience. 

Tip 4: Evaluate the Strengths of Each Brand

Another excellent benefit of this data deep-dive is that it will allow you to define and utilize the unique and powerful selling points of each brand so you can decide what to keep, discard, and shift as you build the foundation for the next evolution in your messaging. This may feel like a decision brands make with their “gut”, but data should always be part of the process. Insight garnered from data reflects the engagement and buying decisions of your audience and customers, positioning you to avoid icebergs and reap rewards. 

Tip 5: Craft a Unified Messaging Strategy

Now it’s time to merge the strengths of both brands into one clear message. Use data to test different messaging options and see which ones perform best with your audience. 

This A/B test for your brand messaging allows you to evaluate how your different campaigns perform with target audiences or subsets of those audiences. 

It also allows you to see how different messages might fare on various platforms or in varying formats. This controlled variance can help you make more informed decisions in the future as your company expands and thrives.

Tip 6: Implement and Monitor Your Messaging

It’s time to launch. When launching your chosen strategy, you’re still not done with data monitoring. You’ll launch your new messaging strategy while continuing to keep track of how it performs. 

You’ll also use analytics tools to evaluate your key metrics like engagement and conversion rates to gauge success over time.

Tip 7: Adjust and Optimize Based on Data

As with all things in marketing, you’ll need to review and recalibrate based on feedback and data updates. It’s vital to routinely review the data to see how your messaging is landing with your audience and customers. Making data-driven adjustments to improve your messaging and ensure it aligns with your goals is the name of the game here.

Tip 8: Communicate Changes Internally

No matter where you are in this process it’s key to make sure your team is with you. They’ll need the new messaging strategy and you’ll want them on board with the new direction.

While this can feel easier said than done at times, you should consider using data to explain the reasons behind the marketing changes. 

This is a concrete way to show how any shifts in “business as usual” are expected to benefit the company.

Tip 9: Share Your New Messaging with External Stakeholders

You’ll need to thoughtfully introduce your new messaging to customers, partners, and other stakeholders. Data plays an even more essential role here. 

You’ll not only need to display the validity of your messaging strategy choices, but you’ll also want to evaluate their effectiveness over time to keep these stakeholders informed when they ask for routine updates on your progress. 

Transparency is a great tool. Data affords this process and allows you to show the effectiveness of your efforts.

Tip 10: Reflect and Plan for Future Adjustments

Finally, you’ll want to routinely reflect on messaging performance. This means taking periods of review and planning. Examining the data, coupled with feedback from your customer-facing employees, allows you to assess what’s been successful and what might need to shift. 

This is also your chance to look at your marketing efforts from a bird’s eye view and stay sharp on your details too. You’ll need both perspectives to keep your messaging clear, refined, and relevant as your brand messaging and your organization overall continue to grow year after year.

Data Holds the Key to Major Messaging Improvements

Now that you know how to make the most of your data to create a real impact in your marketing messaging post-merger or acquisition, it’s time to put your insight into action.

Our team encourages you to use data to refine and optimize your strategies on a routine basis so that you continue to see the evolution of your business and your marketing endeavors. This will also allow you to get a better sense of what data is the best indicator for how your messaging is landing and positively impacting your bottom line. 

…Because there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to marketing. Experiment, adapt, and lean into data to make well-founded decisions to grow your business. 

Our Team Is on Your Side Through Marketing Changes

If you happened to miss our previous blogs be sure to check them out:

• 5 Key Marketing Challenges Businesses Face When Navigating an Acquisition
• Competitive Analysis How-to: Must Make Steps to Turn Marketing Inspiration into a Successful Strategy
• 4 Ways To Use Data to Strategically Refine Your Brand Messaging

These pieces offer insight into navigating acquisitions and mergers with greater confidence.

And if you’d like support in addressing your post-acquisition, post-merger, or new-year marketing messaging strategy, our team is here to help.

Contact us here to learn more.