Three Private Equity Trends
Libby Covington from Craig Group recently appeared on the “The Adaptive Executive” podcast with host Greg Ballard. Topics discussed included private equity trends, tracking ROI, innovation, and B2B marketing strategies.
Both private/family held B2B companies, as well as those that are private equity owned, can drive business growth with inbound marketing. As Covington explained on the podcast, more growth is what is needed in an increasingly aggressive B2B landscape. Below, she outlines some of the ways high growth companies are achieving success.
PRIVATE EQUITY FIRMS ARE HIRING A WHOLE OPERATING TEAM TO WORK ON THEIR PORTFOLIO COMPANIES, NOT JUST OPERATING PARTNERS.
The landscape of private equity firms is very competitive. Covington says there are thousands of firms all looking to invest in the same family or entrepreneur owned businesses. Because of the competition, they’re finding themselves paying higher multiples for portfolio companies. So they expect bigger dividends from their investment and they are putting in more of their own resources to make this happen.
On the whole, B to B companies have likely not focused on digital marketing in the past. But this trend is changing because the cost of acquiring new customers is becoming more expensive and digital marketing is a cost effective way to scale quickly.
COMPANIES BACKED BY PRIVATE EQUITY ARE ONLY GOING TO GET LARGER.
The goal of a business backed by private equity is continued growth. To prepare a company for sustainable growth, a solid infrastructure with a clear understanding of the customers and audience must be built. Having a well thought out plan that addresses the customer’s problem is key. Showing a buyer how you can solve their problem will move them down the sales funnel and bring qualified leads the sales team can convert.
MIDDLE MARKET COMPANIES ARE PUTTING MORE FOCUS ON MARTECH.
Marketing spend tends to rise every year along with the competition. Middle market companies are specifically interested in finding solutions that offer automation and scale for their campaigns. Middle market companies are increasingly embracing new marketing technologies and they need help navigating what tools make sense for their business as they analyze their marketing ROI. The most meaningful tools and marketing plans create and then track conversions. Conversions are going to create profitable growth, not just clicks to the website.
A well executed marketing strategy for B2B will engage the right stakeholders, identify the pain points of their target audience and use the available tools to faithfully track their progress towards a goal. Doing these things will enable B2B companies to stand out in the marketplace. Listen to the entire discussion on the “The Adaptive Executive” podcast.
Listen to Libby and Greg’s full conversation on Apple, Google, and Spotify.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Tricia Eaton tricia@craigmarketinggroup.com