Every business needs marketing. It’s one of the vital truths of managing a brand. The goals might differ across industries, niches, and growth stages, but marketing is always a must.

If you ask a CEO what the focus of marketing is, you frequently hear something along the lines of it being a function to drive more leads for sales and help grow revenue. This reflects a hyper-focus on goal setting through the revenue lens alone.

But if your end goal is to sell your company or go public, you will need to do more than bring in new business. Yes, revenue is a primary driver for valuation. However, to maximize your return, you’ll need a comprehensive strategy that catapults your brand into a must-have asset.

The strategic decisions you make today can have a dramatic impact on your organization’s value in the future. When planning for tomorrow, one of the best practices you can put in place today to not only bolster growth but your worth in the eyes of potential investors and/or buyers is investing in strategic marketing to increase the market value of your company.

Marketing should be a long-term driver of value and you should invest in it as such. Strategic marketers can help you create a brand that investors will believe in – a brand with a clear purpose, consistent messaging, and substantial equity.

Let’s take a look at some essential marketing tactics to prepare your brand for an eventual exit or IPO.

First Impressions Last – Build Your Brand Online

If your sale or initial public offering is targeted in the next ten years, you need to plan for it now. Your choices and strategies will directly influence how potential investors or buyers see your brand in the future.

Your online presence is critical.

We all know that today’s buyer’s journey is digital. More buyers are making purchase decisions based on digital interactions than ever before. In fact, nearly 70% of the buyer’s journey is finished before a buyer ever contacts sales. For both B2B and B2C companies, a robust online presence is essential to success.

Therefore, your website and digital properties must be ready for the public spotlight. Creating a strong, cohesive brand will take time and effort – but it’s worth it.

A modernized brand visual identity is a must.

An outdated website or brand identity is a huge red flag – especially for potential investors. Your first impression should always be polished and professional. Your website, logo, or brand assets are often the first point of interaction a potential buyer or investor has with your company.

You must ensure that your visual identity is modern, relevant, and engaging. Perhaps it’s time for a refresh. Many companies rush this process – and end up with a brand that doesn’t reflect their mission or values, or even resonate with their buyers. To be taken seriously, ensure that your brand is world-class.

Website design and lead funnels reveal everything.

Your website is often the first – and sometimes the only – interaction a potential buyer or investor has with your brand.

It needs to be easy to navigate and optimized for conversion so having a strategic landing page and lead funnels can be gamechangers but also reveal how well thought out your marketing really is.

Investors want to see that you clearly understand your customer and are actively working to generate leads and drive revenue in a meticulously planned and well executed approach.

SEO and paid search have to be done right.

To generate leads and drive revenue, you need to be visible online, draw in, capitalize and convert qualified inbound traffic.

That means having a solid SEO strategy in place. You must ensure that your website is optimized for the keywords potential buyers search for online. And that your content is high-quality and relevant.

Paid search advertising can also be a powerful tool. But it needs to be done correctly. You need to ensure that you are targeting the right keywords and that your ads are relevant and engaging. This is marketing 101, but I can’t tell you how many brands I see get this wrong. If you’re not coming up on the first page, what does that signal to investors?

Email marketing and automation drive customer lifetime value.

Email is still one of the most powerful marketing channels. When done correctly, email marketing can be a great way to generate leads, build relationships, and drive revenue = increase customer lifetime value (CLV).

But it’s not enough to send out a few emails here and there. It would be best if you had a well-thought-out email marketing strategy. And automation scales your efforts with ease.

Many brands make the mistake of thinking email marketing is no longer effective. But the truth is, it’s more important than ever. It is critical to have systems in place that draw people in and nurture them through the buyer’s journey.

Investors want to see CLV, as it provides a good lens into long-term business impact. Using email strategically to personalize and segment for relevancy, targeting high value customers for loyalty and referral programs, driving communication strategies to nurture for cross-sell and up-sell all contribute to higher customer value.

#SocialMedia

Social media is vital for attracting attention to your brand. Random posts don’t cut it. You need to have a strategy in place. You need to know which platforms your target audience is using and what kinds of content they are looking for.

For example, you might entice potential buyers for your millennial-centric service or product on Instagram or TikTok. But having a focused presence on LinkedIn will pay off if you’re targeting investors for your IPO. Having both will give you the comprehensive long-term strategy you need.

Beautifully designed marketing and sales materials can’t be forgotten.

All documents and materials need to be cohesive and on-brand. This includes everything from your website and pitch deck to one-pagers and case studies. Consistency is key. Your materials should tell a coherent story about your brand, products, and services. They should be free of errors and ready to present to the world.

Does your sales team often create their own marketing materials? Another red flag. A big one. Let’s put the legal risk to your company aside for a minute (inaccurate or false claims, inappropriate content such as a sweepstakes offer in the financial space or other violation of industry regulations, lack of correct legalese). I digress.

Brand consistency from tone of voice to facts and figures, down to colors and fonts, are indicators that remind your customers they are experiencing a brand they know and this builds trust. A disconnected brand experience threatens your image, reputation and promise.

If you don’t have the in-house bandwidth to create high-quality materials, consider hiring an outside consultant.

Your business prospectus is the most important document to produce.

Not just another marketing or sales piece, a business prospectus is the most critical document of any IPO process. It provides potential investors with detailed information about your company, financials, products, and services. The prospectus must be well-written, free of errors, and consistent with the rest of your marketing materials … professionally written an designed. There is an art and a science to the prospectus and shouldn’t be discounted.

Building trust over time is the name of the game.

In today’s modern buyer’s journey, there’s much talk about trust. We need potential buyers to believe that we’re the best solution to their problem and that they can trust us to deliver on our promises. The same goes for investors. They need to know that your brand is worth the time, effort, and money required to grow.