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This is a great question and really depends on your goal.

If the goal of your current efforts is to generate leads and sales then the importance of an email signature is much lower. But if your goal is brand awareness or recognition then the email signature becomes much more of a priority, as it can play a big role in that effort.

Here we’ll explore each of these scenarios a little further.

 

Are There Email Signature Rules?

There really are no standards or rules for email signatures.

Of course many people recommend including a lot of the same things so we are confident in telling you that in most cases you’ll include…

  • Your First and Last Name
  • Email Address
  • Company Website
  • Office Number and or Direct Phone Number
  • Company Address
  • Company Social Media Links

 

Including these things gives you a more complete signature that makes you at minimum, professional looking and gives people the ability to reach you!

But in some cases you may not want to include some of this for privacy reasons which is okay and again points to the fact that there really are no rules.

 

Importance of Email Signature for Lead Generation and Sales

If your goal is to generate more leads and sales then it’s less important to focus on the email signature because you are basically trying to get people to see you, find you and talk to you. If all of your time is spent debating on what goes into an email signature like the color, the language, the exact links, etc. then you’ll be wasting time not selling.

But a reason for focusing on the email signature is that it does allow the prospect to have direct contact information for you which is important to ensure you can connect and close deals with people that you’re emailing.

 

Importance of Email Signature for Branding

This is what you’ll hear most often about when researching if email signatures are important.

And if your goal is to create stronger brand awareness and recognition then the email signature can be an important piece of that since it will be seen by every one of your customers and prospects.

Email Signatures for Brand Recognition

By keeping things consistent more people will know it’s you when they see the same branded elements over and over. 

Email for Brand Awareness

By having strong branded elements in your email signature it can amplify your brand’s awareness in the marketplace as an option and stand out among competitors.

Trust Building in Email

Combining the elements of brand recognition and awareness builds trust with existing customers and prospects allowing you to nurture relationships more effectively, maintain and grow your business.

Likeability Through Email

Your brand sets you apart and you want the people who like you to work with you, so including elements that showcase your uniqueness will increase how much those people like you!

 

So YES! The email signature does matter, but it matters differently and in different amounts for specific situations. What’s your company’s goal or email signature situation!

 

If You Are Looking to Focus on Getting More Leads & Sales (not Branding) or Have Questions, Call Us at 866-357-7422

Or Submit your information below

    We talk with a number of Private Equity firms each month and the one thing that comes up about 50% of the time in our conversations is “Should their firm being doing SEO?” and “Does SEO even work for Private Equity?”

    The other half believe that SEO for Private Equity works but needs to better understand how so they move forward on getting the results they need it to produce.

    Here we explore how your firm can increase exposure, acquire new investors, increase deal flow and attract talent to your firm all using SEO tactics specific to the Private Equity space.

     

    Does SEO Work for Private Equity Firms

    Yes. Private Equity firms are actually in a position to capitalize on SEO better than many other industries. The reason being that the majority of firms aren’t actually doing it. Many firms just don’t think about it or they don’t think it’s necessary, but this is old school thinking that you see across a lot of industries (manufacturing as an example) that hang on to only the tactics of the past and keep out any of the new methods to market and attract investors, deals or talent.

    The basic logic of how SEO works alone makes sense for all firms to be doing it. If someone searches for your firm, searches generically for a private equity firm or searches for a private equity firm specializing in a specific industry you would want your firm to show up.

    Some would argue that no one is searching for private equity firms online but that is simply untrue.

    Take a look at the Keyword Chart below that shows almost 10,000 searches per month for Private Equity Firms, 720 searches per month for Dallas Private Equity Firms, 2,900 searches per month for Providence Equity Partners and 90 searches per month for Private Equity Firms Energy.

    seo for private equity keyword chart

    This example shows that people are searching for firms in different ways, in specific areas and in specific verticals.  So Yes, SEO does work for Private Equity firms.

     

    Build Awareness for Your Private Equity Firm Using SEO

    By implementing an SEO Strategy for your Private Equity firm it will immediately bring you new visibility that you previously did not have. Image showing up in the search engines for a variety of different searches with different intents. This exposure is building awareness for your firms brand that otherwise wouldn’t have been gained.

    This result is a longer term, brand building benefit but it comes regardless of your primary objective. We speak about it as a positive byproduct of doing the SEO work.

     

    SEO Strategy for Private Equity Firms

    Something that is grossly overlooked by most agencies who say they do SEO is mapping the SEO Strategy to the firms goals and targets. What you’ll find much of the time are agencies showing you how many times the term Private Equity is searched on Google, but the problem with that is it isn’t focused.

    Your firm is involved in acquiring investment, raising capital, and deal origination. So the SEO strategy is going to focus on content that speaks to the questions potential investors or target business owners are searching that relate to your firm.

    For example: Investors might be searching for a specialized private equity firm OR a new investor might be searching for a way to diversity their investment portfolio in something other than securities or bonds. For the latter you would do keyword research on and optimize for answering that exact question.

    Another Example: A business owner may be searching for alternative financing options to purchase new equipment so they can expand production. Your firm could do keyword research and optimize an article on doing exactly that but using your private equity firm as a way to capitalize the business.

    Thinking about what your target investors, partners, owners or new hires are asking will give you the foundation for creating an SEO rich content strategy for your private equity firm.

     

    SEO Tactics for Private Equity Firms

    Again this is where most agencies go to immediately when talking about SEO to firms like yours. The problem is this is the part you care about least. You want results. Results like acquiring new investors, increasing deal flow and recruiting top financial talent.

    But the reality is that these tactics must be executed (and we at Acumen Studio do this very well), so we’ll briefly share with you the things that need done to ensure you are technically and strategically optimized for the search engines to get visibility, build awareness, build authority, generate traffic, leads and close more of everything.

    Develop Your SEO Strategy

    We talked about this earlier in the article, but you need to start here. Do this first! Define your targets and create content based on their needs and how you meet those needs.

    Do Keyword Research

    This is done once you’ve defined your targets to ensure the Keyword Research is being done from the correct perspective. Without the right target or intent while doing this research you’ll end up with an unfocused set of results.

    Technical SEO

    This the implementation of SEO tactics that include things like optimizing your firms Title Tags, Meta Descriptions, H1 tags, increasing page speed, creating a sitemap, etc.

    On-Site SEO

    This the implementation of updates to the copy on your site to include keywords, complimentary keywords that support the primary keywords, as well as adding elements related to conversion optimization such as submission forms, click to call phone numbers, etc.

    Off-Site SEO

    This the implementation of tactics that are not done to your website directly. Most commonly this is optimizing your Google My Business listing and then doing other tasks such as getting your firm listed on directories, backlinking, running PR campaigns to get off-site exposure, etc.

    *At Acumen Studio we don’t run PR campaigns, do backlinking or directory listing. We encourage the firms we work with to do this, but PR is a completely different skill set and backlinking being done by an outside agency has an imbalanced ROI

     

    Doing all of these SEO related tasks for your Private Equity firm are guaranteed to generate more attention from investors, increase your deal flow and allow you to be found more often by new hires looking to join a firm.

     

    If You Are Looking to Close New Investors, More Deals or Have Questions, Call Us at 866-357-7422

    Or Submit your information below

      Commercial Real Estate Funds have HUGE opportunity to grow with so many deals to be made in the market.
      The great news for funds like yours is that investors are clamoring to find reputable firms who are engaging in profitable deals and developments.
      The question that most commercial real estate funds have though is, “How can I find new investors?”.

      In this post we share two of the easiest ways to connect with these new investors.

       

      Competition in the Real Estate Fund Space

      Competition online from platforms like Fundrise, Crowdstreet are real competitors that are crowding the space, but real accredited investors aren’t using these platforms. Private Accredited Investors, Institutional investors and family offices are all looking for the expertise of successful / proven firms & funds that can the get job done with deals that will pay off big.

       

      How Commercial Real Estate Funds Can Increase Investor Leads Online?

      Most real estate funds simply reach out to their existing network. Previous investors, partners, colleagues, friends and family are all strong sources for raising funds. And while that will bring success there is the obvious limit our how much liquidity exists within that network.

      But what if you want to go bigger by raising more capital and closing larger deals?

      To increase capital you have to expand to outside of your current network and using digital marketing will get your there. Advertising to investors online is literally the most effective way to scale your visibility and generate new investor leads. Here are a couple strategic approaches to how this will work.

      1. Investor Acquisition Online using LinkedIn Advertising
      2. Advertising on Investor Networks and Publications to Increase Awareness & Investor Leads

       

      Finding New Commercial Real Estate Investors for your Fund using LinkedIn Advertising

      Most fund managers know that LinkedIn is a great network to connect with and directly reach out to commercial real estate investors, but what most don’t know is how to run successful campaigns on LinkedIn that are efficient and scalable which deliver a consistent flow of eager accredited investors.

      Running these ad campaigns get you in front of those investors and makes it easy for them to see your message and connect by calling, messaging or getting more information to start the conversation on investing with in your fund.

       

      Increase Visibility for Your Commercial Real Estate Fund by Advertising on Investor Networks & Publications

      This is similar to the LinkedIn ad campaign strategy but different in that you aren’t targeting individuals but instead making your firm / fund visible on the finance, real estate, and investment websites and publications those investors are reading.

      By sharing the message on your ability to drive big returns for investors, you’ll have a consistent flow of opportunities that will fuel your funds growth.

       

      If You Want to Talk With Us About How You Can Increase Your Investor Leads or Have Questions, Call Us at 866-357-7422

      Or Submit your information below

        The two things every firm needs to grow and thrive are Investors and Deal Flow. They both have to exist and can’t live without the other.

        So in this article we are going to address how your firm can increase it’s Deal Flow by using digital marketing tactics that most firms aren’t doing.

         

        How Can Private Equity Firms Increase Deal Flow?

        Most firms have been doing this by tapping into their personal and professional networks which works well but has it’s limitations built in to the reason that it is so successful for them / you. Your Network!

        Digital marketing strategies focused on deal acquisition are the most effective way to scale your visibility and generate new leads on prospective deals. Let’s look at a couple strategic approaches to how this works.

        1. Deal Acquisition Online through LinkedIn Advertising
        2. Investor Network Advertising to Increase Awareness & Deal Flow

         

        Increase Deal Flow for Your Private Equity Firm through LinkedIn Advertising

        Most deal origination teams know that LinkedIn is a good place to connect with and gain direct access to brokers, owners or partners, but what most don’t know how to do is take the strategies that are successful in connecting & sourcing deals on LinkedIn and turn that into a scalable ad strategy on the LinkedIn ad platform.

        These ads get you in front of the exact people you want to connect with and those same people who have assets that fit your deal criteria will see your message and connect by calling, message or getting more information to start the conversation on making that acquisition.

        It really is that simple!

         

        Increasing Deal Flow for Your Private Equity Firm by Advertising on Investor Networks

        Similar to the LinkedIn strategy but different in that you aren’t targeting individuals but instead making yourself visible on the finance, real estate, or commodity websites and publications those brokers, owners and partners are reading.

        By sharing the message on your ability to drive returns for the deals you acquire, you’ll have a consistent flow of opportunities that will fuel your firms growth.

         

        If You Want to Talk With Us About How You Can Increase Your Deal Flow or Have Questions, Call Us at 866-357-7422

        Or Submit your information below

          As we enter December now is the time to finalize plans moving into 2021.

          Specifically focusing on your Marketing Plan for 2021 is what we’re most concerned about as a Marketing Agency.

          Even more specifically we want you think think about your lead and customer acquisition strategy for the new year.

           

          Questions We’re Asking

          1. Do you have a Lead Acquisition plan for 2021?
          2. If not, In 2021 are you looking to gain NEW Customers?
          3. If so, Do you currently have a overall / broad marketing plan for 2021?

           

          If you want to bring in new customers next year and don’t have a broad marketing plan for 2021 at all we suggest at a minimum roughing out ideas you have on promoting the business. But if a big part of your strategy is new customer growth then even more important will be your lead acquisition strategy.

           

          Here are the components of a 2021 lead acquisition strategy that you should consider

          • Is your website optimized for search engines (do you rank well for everything you do / sell)?
          • Is your website optimized to convert visitors when they get to your site?
          • Are you actively publishing content / blogs to your website?
          • Are you actively publishing content to your social media channels?
          • Are you actively running ads that target your primary customers to drive them to your website or to the phone?
          • Are you sending out at a minimum monthly emails to your email list?

           

          If you answered No to any of these then your 2021 marketing strategy should turn those No’s to Yes’s.

          Prioritize these to comprehensively attack getting new business.

           

          If You Want to Talk With Us About Your 2021 Marketing Strategy or Have Questions, Call Us at 866-357-7422

          Or Submit your information below

            This is going to be a very short post because what we are about to say is so simple.

            Print Companies need to be advertising their capability for the printing of signs for those attending protests and demonstrations.

            Here are a few ways to get more protest sign sales

            • Design Unique Graphics for the Signs and share online
            • Team up with a groups that are demonstrating and donate a portion of sales to their group (they’ll need to funnel sign purchases)
            • Design & Print demo signs that you can handout for some protesters with a message on one side and your website on the other

            We get that everyone has their own opinions on what is going on right now and it’s all very sensitive, but the truth is if you want to keep the lights on “you gotta do what you gotta do” and this is a lucrative opportunity.

             

            Regardless of what you do you’ll need to promote yourself.  If you can’t do that on your own we can help.

             

            Have Questions? Call Us at 866-357-7422

            Or Submit your information below

             

              Private Equity Firms are experiencing a similar saturation issue that marketing saw happen just a handful of years ago.

              It’s gotten to the point that it feels like everyone is starting their own firm.

              This means that firms are fighting for the same pool of investment with new firms claiming similar approaches and opportunities.

               

              So again going back to that Marketing example, Private Equity Firms are now having to differentiate in two ways.

              1. They need to be doing new investor lead generation
              2. They need to have a specific focus or specialty. Something that will make you different from other firms.

               

              We put New Investor Lead Generation at the top of that list because if you aren’t getting found by investors then Good Luck, but if you are doing that lead gen work then you’re already setting yourself apart by at least being an option.

               

              To Answer the Question about How Private Equity Firms Can Generate New Investor Leads

              There are actually 3 ways to really get this going and to make it effective.

              1. SEO for your firm
              2. Paid Search & Paid Social for your firm
              3. Email Marketing for your firm

               

              SEO is a complex beast for most, but to be honest there are easy ways to optimize your website so that it shows up often for the investment terms you need to be showing up for.  Does your firm invest in Commercial Real Estate deals? Then you need to be getting found for terms specific to those investment opportunity types.

               

              Paid Search is similar to SEO in that you can pay to be found when investors search for those terms. Simple and straightforward.

              Paid Social is different and Very Powerful! Using this you’ll be able to target investors directly and get those who are in the market to invest to engage with you in learning more about your offerings and investment opportunities.

               

              Email Marketing again sounds so easy, but not everyone is doing it. At a minimum you need to be sending a message out to your current investors and prospective investors once a month to stay in front of them with updates and opportunities. But even better is to set up marketing automation to nurture new investment passively to warm up to closing on funding with investors.

               

              For More Information on Digital Marketing for Private Equity Firms check out this page: https://acumenstudio.com/private-equity-digital-marketing/

               

              Or if You Have Questions? Call Us at 866-357-7422

              Or Submit your information below

               

                Has getting new sales for your print company stalled or not grown as fast as you would like it to be?

                If your answer is YES, then this article is for you.

                Print Companies have primarily relied on a sales team to go out and get new business. And it worked. But today doesn’t work as well.

                Some print companies rely solely on the owner and other companies have an in-house marketing person to help drive awareness to aid in new business development.

                But still many print companies are struggling to get that sales lift they so badly want.

                 

                What I’ve observed over the past 7 years in the Print Industry is this…

                1. The economy is strong and it doesn’t take a ton of work to increase sales  —  (So if your sales are flat or going down something is up!)
                2. Sales teams are typically equipped to close project sold leads / quotes —  (The customer knows what they want and all you need to do is prove that you can do the work, give them a good price, get the quote back quickly and meet their timeline)
                3. Marketers at print companies are typically design oriented people which is great and very much needed but they are typically less savvy in marketing the business strategy that your customers are actually looking for. —  (Your customers need the items you print for them to “do something” and in most cases that is generate new revenue whether it’s directly or indirectly through some leading behavior like showing up at an event or signing up)
                4. And very few Sales or Marketing team members have deep discipline experience in the platforms and tactics on generating new leads online. —  *This statement may not sit well with some of you, but respectfully if you reflect on the things you can do and do well, is this really one of them? (at Acumen we aren’t printers and don’t claim to be, we leave that to the Pros)

                 

                And all of this makes sense because Schools Don’t Teach This Stuff! They don’t teach Sales, They don’t teach Lead Generation AND They don’t teach print.

                 

                So it’s all Doom and Gloom, Right? Wrong!

                The ONE thing that would help make your Sales Team and Marketers more effective is to give them the wisdom of KNOWING WHO TO TARGET!

                As an owner, executive, manager it is Your (or if you’re in Sales and Marketing, it is THEIR) responsibility to ensure that the entire company knows who your primary customers are and why they are your primary customers.

                It’s not just that they need printing, packaging or fulfillment.  They need it for very specific reasons and having your team Armed with that Knowledge they will have the ability to be the Best they can be.  Without it they / you can only go so far.  It really is a limiter to success.

                 

                What Could You Do?

                Outside of working with us on doing Digital Marketing for Print Companies (I’m smiling and winking over here) it would be a good idea to lead a handful of workshops each year on exactly what I shared above.

                Let your company know who your primary customers are, why those customers choose you to do that work, why those customers need the products they have you create for them and what the outcomes your customers expect to get when using your products / services.

                Doing that will positively Change Your Business!

                 

                Have Questions? Call Us at 866-357-7422

                Or Submit your information below

                 

                  How do you create a Marketing Plan for a Printing Company?

                  That is the question we here from printers and after doing more research found that a lot of print companies are asking about this online as well.  So we decided to break this down for you better than anyone else has.

                   

                  Here are the 5 Steps to creating a Marketing Plan for a Printing Company!

                  1. Define Your Target Customer (who needs / wants your service)
                  2. Determine Your Budget (how much you’ll spend)
                  3. Agree on Channels (where you’ll show up)
                  4. Define a Theme (what you will talk about)
                  5. Build the Assets & Launch! (watch the new business roll in)

                   

                  Printing Company Marketing Plan Step 1: Define Your Target Customer

                  This is what everyone says… “Figure out your target customer.”. But how do you actually do that?

                  Many print companies will tell us, “Everyone who wants to buy print is a prospect”, of course but can you get a little more creative, come on!

                  Here are a few ways to do define your target customer and then some ideas on who you should / can actually target.

                  • Is there an industry you sell a lot of print to? If so then make sure to consider them a primary target customer.
                  • Look at the job titles of the people who buy from you. Are is there a pattern or a lot of the same job title? Consider them a customer.
                  • Is there a specific product you want to sell? What industry uniquely uses that product? That’s a target customer (if you promote that product)
                  • In general your safe targeting anyone in a marketing decision making position. Director of Marketing, Marketing Manager, Marketing Coordinator, etc.
                  • And then you have publishers like Printing impressions that puts out a list of the top 25 Markets for print. Focus on one or more of those!  Here is the list if you haven’t seen it: https://www.piworld.com/resource/top-25-hot-markets-for-print-demand-in-2019-20/file/

                   

                  Once you’ve made a decision here you are ready to move on to the next step.

                   

                  Printing Company Marketing Plan Step 2: Determine Your Budget

                  Determining a budget is easy.

                  Some think it will be a huge effort and tedious, but it doesn’t have to be.

                  If you have a marketing budget that you’ve created each year, then you’re already done because you already do it.  If you don’t then think of any of the marketing activities you’ve done in the past year and estimate how much you spent. If that number is one you feel good about for the next year then use it, if you feel you could invest a little more then add to it.  This doesn’t have to be rocket science.

                  If you are planning on attending events, having a booth, traveling, etc. then you’ll probably want to put a little more thought into it, but in general as long as you have a number you’re good because you’ll just work backwards from the channel efforts into that number.

                   

                  Got a number? Yes?!

                   

                  Then it’s time to move on the next step, Channels.

                   

                  Printing Company Marketing Plan Step 3: Agree on Channels

                  There are a ton of good places for printing companies to market, but let’s break it down to 3 primary areas.

                  • Offline
                  • Online
                  • Email (Existing Customers)

                  Your offline efforts can include national or local trade shows, local events, and direct mail.

                  First off we’ll tell you… Don’t Do Sponsorships that only show your name and logo somewhere.  It doesn’t help!

                  If you are choosing to do trade shows you likely know what you are doing or are getting all the details for it, we won’t go into detail on how to choose and set up for one of those, but they can definitely be effective.

                  Local events are a very successful place to be.  If you’ve chosen a solid target set up at local events where those customers attend and bring printed samples of the things they will need from you relevant to them.  For example if they are packaging people bring samples of packaging! Pretty simple.

                  And Direct Mail is obvious and you’re all over that, no need to elaborate on our end.

                   

                  For Online Efforts you need to optimize your website to show up in the search engines, post blogs, post to social media, run ads and send email.  Period, it’s that simple!

                  Here’s an article by us on how print companies can create and run successful ad campaigns  AND here is a page that talks about how to market your printing company online successfully.

                   

                  And Email is again straightforward.  We do recommend using email as a part of your online efforts, but when we separated it out here we mean that you should be marketing to your existing customers past and present by sending emails to them. Literally the more visible you are to them the more they will buy.  The more strategic and creative you are in your email the more they’ll buy.

                  Here is a page on our site that talks about email marketing for print companies.

                   

                  On to to your Theme (some call it messaging and positioning)

                   

                  Printing Company Marketing Plan Step 4: Define a Theme

                  Defining a theme can be as easy as saying “I am going to market beverage printing to beverage companies” or “I am going to promote 24/7 availability OR Quick turn printing to Marketing Decision Makers”.

                  Or it can be complicated and focus on “Tell & Show Industry X, companies in Y geography with 100+ employee head count, job titles of Marketing Directors and VPs of Marketing how easy we make their job by doing ABC things”.

                  Either way you’ll do the same thing. Distribute assets to them saying and showing those things.

                  But putting it to paper solidifies it and creates a common idea on what your going to say!

                   

                  Lastly build and launch.

                   

                  Printing Company Marketing Plan Step 5: Build the Assets & Launch

                  This says it all.

                  Now you’ll just build out the assets for each of your decided on channels, targeting the people you chose, saying the the things you defined as a theme within the budget you define.

                  Then Launch, Go Live, Attend, etc.

                   

                  This is Guaranteed to get you More New Business.  More Leads & More Sales!

                   

                   

                  Have Questions? Call Us at 866-357-7422

                  Or Submit your information below

                   

                     

                    We’re Excited to share with you our newest Digital Strategist Ashley Myers!

                    When someone joins us we love to ask them questions to find out more about them and things they like.

                    Let’s here from Ashley:

                     

                    Where are you from?

                    I’m from Waterloo, IL which is a small town about 30 min outside of St. Louis.

                    What are some things you enjoy doing (besides working)?

                    I am always reading. I also like photography, and hiking and exploring local parks with my Siberian Husky, Murphy. (Let’s Go Cardinals/Blues!)

                    Favorite Movie Genre or Fave Movie?

                    I am always up for a psychological thriller or scary movie. I can quote all of Shawshank Redemption or Hot Rod, and The Conjuring is still the scariest movie I’ve ever seen.

                    Favorite Type of Music and/or Band You’re Feeling Right Now?

                    My favorites are classic or alternative rock. I am currently going through a lengthy Misterwives phase. All-time favorite band is Green Day.

                    Place you’d like to visit but haven’t yet?

                    My answer was always Ireland, but now I finally get to go in August! So, my new answer is Italy. All the pasta.

                    Drink of Choice (doesn’t have to be alcoholic, but can be as well)?

                    Schnicklefritz from Urban Chestnut. Really, anything from Urban Chestnut.

                    Check out the rest of the Team here: https://acumenstudio.com/our-team/