Can you believe it’s already been a year?! It feels like last Christmas just happened but here we are, at the end of 2022 and are about to celebrate again. Not sure if it’s gone by fast for you but it definitely has for us.
The good thing is that it’s time to relax and spend time with our friends and family as we get ready to move into the new year. So from all of us here at Acumen Studio, we want to wish you a Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays!
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AI can be used to generate content, including SEO-optimized content. AI language models, such as GPT-3, can generate human-like text based on a given prompt or set of instructions. This can include generating content that is optimized for specific keywords or phrases.
However, it is important to note that AI-generated content may not always be of the same quality as content written by a human. While AI can generate text that is coherent and reads well, it may not always fully understand the context or nuances of the topic it is writing about. As a result, the content may not always be completely accurate or relevant.
Additionally, while AI can generate text that is optimized for specific keywords, it may not always be able to effectively incorporate these keywords in a way that is natural and flows well with the rest of the content. This can be a challenge for SEO, as search engines may penalize content that is overly stuffed with keywords.
Overall, while AI can be a useful tool for generating content, it is important to carefully review and edit any AI-generated content before publishing it to ensure that it is accurate, relevant, and reads well. It may also be helpful to have a human writer or editor review the content to ensure that it meets the desired quality standards.
If AI struggles to write good SEO Content, then What is the Best Use Case for AI Content Writing?
The best use case for AI content writing depends on the specific needs and goals of the user. Here are a few potential use cases for AI content writing:
Generating content ideas: AI can be used to generate ideas for content topics based on a specific theme or subject area. This can be helpful for content marketers or writers who are looking for inspiration.
Generating summaries or abstracts: AI can be used to generate summaries or abstracts of longer articles or reports, which can be helpful for providing a quick overview of the content.
Generating placeholder text: AI can be used to generate placeholder text for design mockups or prototypes. This can be helpful for quickly filling in content areas without having to write out full blocks of text.
Generating repetitive or formulaic content: AI can be used to generate repetitive or formulaic content, such as product descriptions or terms and conditions. This can be helpful for saving time and effort when creating large amounts of similar content.
Overall, the best use case for AI content writing will depend on the specific needs and goals of the user. It may be helpful to experiment with different use cases to determine which works best for your specific needs.
Can AI at least Write Title Tags & Meta Descriptions that are Optimized?
Yes, AI can be used to write title tags and meta descriptions that are optimized for specific keywords or phrases. AI language models, such as GPT-3, can generate human-like text based on a given prompt or set of instructions, which can include generating optimized title tags and meta descriptions.
However, it is important to note that AI-generated title tags and meta descriptions may not always be of the same quality as those written by a human. While AI can generate text that is coherent and reads well, it may not always fully understand the context or nuances of the topic it is writing about. As a result, the title tags and meta descriptions may not always be completely accurate or relevant.
Additionally, while AI can generate title tags and meta descriptions that are optimized for specific keywords, it may not always be able to effectively incorporate these keywords in a way that is natural and flows well with the rest of the content. This can be a challenge for SEO, as search engines may penalize content that is overly stuffed with keywords.
Overall, while AI can be a useful tool for generating optimized title tags and meta descriptions, it is important to carefully review and edit any AI-generated content before publishing it to ensure that it is accurate, relevant, and reads well. It may also be helpful to have a human writer or editor review the content to ensure that it meets the desired quality standards.
What Do You Recommend as the Best Way to Use AI for Content Creation?
There are several ways that AI can be used for content creation, and the best way to use AI will depend on the specific needs and goals of the user. Here are a few recommendations for using AI for content creation:
Use AI as a tool to generate ideas or inspiration: AI can be a useful tool for generating ideas or inspiration for content topics. For example, you could use an AI language model to generate a list of potential content ideas based on a specific theme or subject area.
Use AI to generate placeholder or repetitive content: AI can be useful for generating placeholder text or repetitive content, such as product descriptions or terms and conditions. This can save time and effort when creating large amounts of similar content.
Use AI as a starting point, and then edit and refine the content: AI can generate coherent and readable text, but it may not always fully understand the context or nuances of the topic it is writing about. As a result, it is important to carefully review and edit any AI-generated content before publishing it to ensure that it is accurate, relevant, and reads well.
Use AI in conjunction with human writers or editors: AI can be a useful tool for generating content, but it is not a replacement for human writers or editors. Consider using AI to generate content ideas or as a starting point for content, and then have a human writer or editor review and refine the content to ensure that it meets the desired quality standards.
In conclusion, AI can be a useful tool for generating SEO-optimized content, but it is not a replacement for human writers and editors. While AI can generate coherent and readable text, it may not always fully understand the context or nuances of the topic it is writing about. As a result, it is important to carefully review and edit any AI-generated content before publishing it to ensure that it is accurate, relevant, and reads well. Additionally, while AI can generate text that is optimized for specific keywords, it may not always be able to effectively incorporate these keywords in a way that is natural and flows well with the rest of the content. This can be a challenge for SEO, as search engines may penalize content that is overly stuffed with keywords. Ultimately, the best way to use AI for content creation will depend on the specific needs and goals of the user. It may be helpful to experiment with different use cases to determine which works best for your specific needs.
Now Let’s Break This Down, Non-AI Style!
The post above used ChatGPT to deliver the words you see in the post copy above. The only thing we did was prompt the AI Chat Agent with Questions and a Single Command. The H2 headings that you see at the top of this post and the Topic of the blog were all questions asked to ChatGPT and was you see is what we were given.
You also have the ability to ask these tools to write a post on some topic. In our case we didn’t do that, we prompted it to just answer the questions we wanted answered to see what we got back. And as you can see in the copy above there is a lot of repetition. Some of it is changed slightly, but this highlights some of the issues that currently exist with writing content using AI and especially for SEO written by AI. The last paragraph we prompted ChatGPT to “Summarize a conclusion paragraph for a blog post that is focused on whether or not ai would be good to use for SEO” and it gave us a near verbatim block of copy from one of it’s previous replies.
So from this content writing experience we think that AI has a bit to go before it can fully write good SEO content, but it’s 100% true that these tools can make it easy to get bulk copy created on topics and then refined. But it still takes a strategic mind and creative eye to make that work well as a finished piece.
Now let’s see if this post ranks for the term “Can AI Write SEO Content?”, even though we know it’s skewed because everything written in this section came solely from us and our brains not an AI chat bot.
Something else worthy of note regarding this topic is that Google’s Webmaster Guidelines say to NOT use AI generated copy as it falls under their policy that prohibits auto-generated copy being created for SEO purposes. You run the risk of getting a Manual Google Penalty that could strike the page or the entire website from the search engines.
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Google is testing out a new search engine feature on the organic search results called “Quick Read”. You may have seen it, but it’s very likely you have not since it’s so new. But we as digital marketers find it too interesting not to investigate further and find out what this could mean for user experience and how it impacts SEO. In this article we’re doing just that, defining what Google’s Quick Read is and talking about what it means for you and your company.
What is Google Quick Read?
Quick Read is a Google Search featured callout placed as a label at the bottom of individual organic search results to signal that the content is a “Quick Read”.
Like many of the things Google does, they don’t fully explain how they choose which pages will get the Quick Read label or what the criteria is within the content of a page to make it more likely to get the Quick Read designation. But again as digital marketers with a history in the space we can deduce what the most likely factors are and what importance it plays for companies online.
What Factors Get You the Quick Read Label?
Something that we’ve done for years when it comes to creating content is structure it so that the content can actually be read quickly if a visitor chose to. Even if the content is actually long you can include visual components to a pages copy that make it easier to read and easier to read it quickly.
So using these elements is a way to give yourself the best chance of getting Google’s Quick Read label.
Listed here are a number of those structural elements
Big & Bold Headlines
Big & Bold Sub Headlines
Bulleted Lists
Numbered Lists
Space in Between Elements & Copy Sections
Visual Graphics (such as charts)
By writing like this a reader can easily skim the content and get a cursory understanding of what the content is intended to deliver, which may be enough for the reader, but it also serves as check for that reader so they can decide if they want to read it in-depth to get all of the detail.
What Does “Quick Read” Mean for SEO?
The reason Google is even using a Quick Read label is because readers have shown a tendency to want quick, short and to the point content. By alerting searchers to content that they can “quickly read” it will increase the number of clicks your page gets in the search results, and since clicks are a factor to ranking higher in the search results you will in turn move up in the search results overall getting you better position, rankings and the most clicks from searchers.
What we can’t say right now is what content this will most apply to in the future, but it’s likely that it will always apply to content that lives in the “middle”, or content that has the potential for both being long and detailed, but can also be understood and consumed if skimmed. Look, some people want all the details and others want just enough. So content like this will be the best candidate for having the Google Quick Read label applied.
Features like this are tested all the time, some stay some go, but what never changes is a digital marketers need to be investigating them and building a strong foundation for content and SEO. If you are in need of more visibility, traffic and leads then consider reaching out to us here at Acumen.
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Every firm is looking to raise capital, but not all firms are looking for new investors (at least right now). If you’ve been a part of the industry for a while or are familiar with it, then you know that many firms that have been around for more than a couple of years typically have an existing investor base that they rely on for fund rounds or perpetual investments into new projects or opportunities presented by the firm.
Additionally a lot of firms don’t have a plan to expand that investor base because they are comfortable with what they have now and the logic is that if the firm makes their investors more money then those investors will put even more into the firms projects or shared investments over time.
Are firms like that trying to get in front of new investors? No.
But are those same firms wanting to get in front of their existing investors? Yes.
We’ll talk about how to do this well later in the article.
For the investment firms that are looking to get in front of investors or be found by new investors who are looking for a firm to invest with, then we have a lot to share with you in this article about how to do that efficiently and effectively.
If you go looking online for ways to get in front of new investors most of the articles are focused on startups finding these investors and pitching them. This is why we felt compelled to create an article that was specifically tailored to give private equity firms, real estate investment firms, hedge funds and investment groups a simple way to find and get in front of new investors.
What are the Best Options for Getting in Front of New Investors?
For those firms who are actively looking to get in front of new investors we’ve broken it down by a few different channels and give our practical advice on how you can ensure they take notice.
Find New Investors Online
Getting in front of investors online is actually much easier than people think. But that usually isn’t the issue. Many firms don’t believe that trying to get in front of new investors online even works, that they aren’t “there” or won’t engage. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Investors ARE online and they will engage you if the offering makes sense.
Let’s look at a number of effective ways you can get in front of investors online
Finding Investors on LinkedIn
When it comes to getting in front of investors on LinkedIn there are two categories for doing this. You’ll either pay for ads or do it organically. Let’s look at both of them.
Here’s a video where our President, John Bracamontes talks a little about getting in front of investors on LinkedIn
Investor Ads on LinkedIn
LinkedIn has one of the most accurate and effective methods of targeting for investment firms, other financial institutions and B2B.
You have the ability to target investor groups, investor job titles, specific companies that would serve as intermediaries, family offices, and more.
Ads have a number of different types of delivery such as Message Ads (that send directly to the inbox), sponsored posts (which show in the main feed) and carousel ads (which are more creative and look like ads) as an example.
Running ads to target investors on LinkedIn is efficient because it allows you to get in front of thousands of investors quickly at scale.
Organically Getting in Front of Investors on LinkedIn
To effectively use LinkedIn organically / manually (without ads) you’ll need to purchase the Sales Navigator product offered by LinkedIn. This will allow you to search for investors, message those who aren’t connected to you and it gives you a number of other features as well.
The main difference between running ads to get in front of investors vs organically doing it is that it takes more time to do it. But by doing this outreach manually you are able to only get in front of the very specific targets that you want to speak with. For example if you target list of investors has only 150 names then you are better off reaching out to them manually / personally.
But you can also get significant reach by writing articles on LinkedIn about your firm, its strategy, its performance and share those in groups. Another thing to do in groups on LinkedIn is simply engage there. Answer questions that investors have and participate in the conversation.
Retargeting
This method is pretty straightforward. Retargeing investors or Remarketing investors (they are the same thing) is basically getting back in front of investors. They have already seen you, engaged with your firm in some way, now you are reaching back out.
This can also be done using ads or be done manually.
Retargeting Investors Using Ads
This can be done on almost every ad platform. Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Facebook Ads, Instagram, Twitter Ads, and more. Your most successful retargeting to get back in front of investors is using Google Ads (or the Google Display Network, GDN for short), LinkedIn Ads and even Facebook Ads if you’ve got the budget (FB ads are the least effective here, but can still be worth the visibility).
The targeting criteria is going to be on a specific engagement behavior of your choosing. We recommend using visitors to your website. But there are a number of other targeting criteria that you can use instead of that or in combination with it as well.
Retargeting Investors Manually
This method requires some technology to be in place such as a CRM that is tracking the behavior of investor contacts in your database. Once this is in place you can define what actions you will track to use as triggers for reaching out to investors either by phone or by email.
Similar to ads you can track who visited the website, but also look at engagement such as who opened an email, who clicked through the email, how many times an investor has visited your website over a specific period of time, see what they have downloaded from your website, etc.
For you it will be important to define what matters most and incorporate the context of the engagement into your retargeting outreach to investors.
SEO & Content that Will Bring Investors to You
Another contentious area of marketing within the investment space is whether or not to create content & optimize it for SEO. Some firms believe this is valuable and gets them much needed visibility, while others think that it isn’t worth the time.
The truth is that content on your website that is either relevant, engaging to your target investors or will get your visibility in the search engines for valuable searches (or all 3 combined ideally) will be extremely valuable and worth the time.
Investors are looking for information on the marketing, investment opportunities, researching firms, researching Managing Directors & Partners, and more so having that content online for them to find will… “Get You Found by Investors”.
The most successful type of optimized content that you can create, control and publish is using blog posts on your website. We aren’t discounting the press releases that get syndicated or social content posted to your online profiles, but Blogs will generate a lot of traffic from new investors online at a much higher volume and frequency than most other channels (that aren’t paid).
Contact + (remarketing leads tech)
We added this channel to the list because it’s one of the most innovative & breakthrough technologies in regards to marketing for private equity, marketing for commercial real estate investment firms or marketing for any type of fund or firm in general.
Contact + is a proprietary technology delivered only by Acumen Studio that captures the personal information of anonymous visitors who come to your website. 9% to 10% of all visitors to your site can be identified and captured including their First Name, Last Name, Street Address, and Email Address. About 50% of those will have Phone Numbers.
This is done by utilizing the tracking technology and databases of companies like Google, Facebook, Experian and other credit reporting agencies.
This contact information of these anonymous visitors are delivered directly into your database so they can be marketed to and followed up with.
Attend Events & Conferences that Investors Go To
Wealth events, industry events for high earners, ceo conferences
To be honest we don’t think that we really need to go too in depth on this section because it’s what most investment firms have been doing for decades to get in front of investors. Every year there are tons of events that cater to investors.
Wealth Events
Industry Events for High Income Earners
CEO Conferences
And more
As you know these in-person events are very powerful because you have the ability to not only share information about your firm, but also connect with investors in a very human way. You can put on the charm and build relationships in a way that non face-to-face channels simply can’t replicate.
Capitalize on Relationships with Intermediaries
Again, this is yet another example of a way you can get in front of investors that has been proven to work for decades in the investment space. Firms of all types benefit from strong relationships with intermediaries that serve as trusted referral sources for investors. The best types of intermediaries are those who compliment your firm and make sense strategically.
A short list of trusted intermediary referral sources are…
CPAs (both individual and collectively at firms)
Advisors (plan advisors, business advisors, wealth managers)
Investment Bankers (you know who they are)
Many of you will already have established relationships with these referral sources who will send investors your way if it’s what makes sense for the investor’s strategy at that time. The more of these relationships you have the better. This can also be a good way to niche your firm if you haven’t already or create more visibility for specific investment types that will make sense for the diversification of an investor’s portfolio.
If we look at the way this works it’s pretty simple.
Investor has a need
Investor goes to their CPA, Advisor or Banker
The Intermediary assesses their need
If the need requires an outside partner they recommend that partner
You want that partner to be you!
What Types of Investors Can You Target?
Getting in front of investors is one thing but getting in front of the right investors is another. So to do that well you need to know what types of investors can actually be targeted. In theory every investor can be targeted but for the sake of simplicity we’re focused mostly on the channels that we’ve discussed in this article so far.
Below we break out the most common investor types you’ll be targeting to get in front of
Existing investors
Not much needs to be said about this, but you do need to stay visible to your current investor base. Call them, email them, run retargeted ads that keep you in front of them and publish content that keeps them looking to you as an authority.
Accredited investors
Finding accredited investors can be easy if you know where to access them. There are lists that can be procured, there are events catering only to accredited investors and publications that are almost exclusively read by accredited investors as well.
Any of these options are good choices when getting in front of accredited investors.
Those investors likely to be accredited
This group is a little more loose because the combination of factors that make someone an accredited investor could be achieved and the person does not even know that they would be classified as accredited. So targeting people who are likely to fall into the accredited investor category will get you a lot of visibility with mostly the right people.
A couple of those groups that fall into this category are…
Retirees
High income earners
Targeting and getting in front of investors likely to be accredited can also be done through list acquisition, but can be done very successfully and affordably online using digital marketing and running ads or sending email.
Institutional investors
The last group we’re mentioning are institutional investors because they have so much power when it comes to liquidity and the ability to move markets. The unfortunate reality for many smaller firms is that this investor type may not work with you for a number of reasons, but regardless if you choose to pursue them you can get in front of them by targeting them directly / manually since the number of these targets is so small.
Not all of these investors are easily targeted online so you’ll find it necessary to target the events they attend, use direct mail, and email lists.
Some aren’t worth targeting depending on what type of firm you are, such as an early stage investment firm targeting institutional investors, they won’t work with you because you don’t have a proven track record and you likely can’t invest the level of capital they require at the rate of return they expect.
But you must make your firm visible, you must do whatever it takes to get in front of investors and do it in a way that makes strategic sense for your firm.
We work with firms every day on making this happen, so if you have questions about how your firm can do it as well, then contact us to talk about your vision for getting in front of and staying in front of investors.
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Getting the attention of investors and deal partners is more difficult now than it’s ever been due to the fact that Private Equity has expanded with more firms being established at what seems like every day. There have never in the history of PE been as many firms as there are now.
This means that you and your firm must stand out!
The question is “How can your private equity firm stand out in this new sea of other firms?” One of the easiest ways to do this is by sending out email and getting investors or deal partners to pay attention to the message by ensuring you have a subject line that speaks to them and compels the recipient to take action. That action being to click through on the subject line to read the email.
We say “One of the easiest ways… “, but the truth is that creating a subject line that gets attention isn’t easy for many people. Marketers across all industries struggle with crafting short concise messages that move email recipients forward and Private Equity is no different. That is why this article is so important to the success of your future email campaigns.
So if you have questions such as…
“How do you write an email to attract investors?”, “How do you write an investor cold email?” or “How can I get investors to open my emails?” Then keep reading because this article is for you.
What Makes a Good Email Subject Line for Private Equity?
While there are nuances to email within the private equity space when emailing investors or deal partners, it’s important to understand that the fundamentals for email and email subject lines hold true. These basic principles for email need to be followed to ensure your emails get noticed and opened.
Again, remember that you will still be tweaking your subject lines to speak directly and specifically to the audience you’re targeting (in your case investors or deal partners, businesses, boards, etc.).
Let’s look at these factors for good email subject lines.
Why is a subject line so important?
The email subject line is extremely important because it is the first thing a recipient sees and is the first battle to be won. You have to get the recipient to click through or they will never see the content of your email. That’s literally it. Some will argue that it’s important because it’s sets the tone or expectation of what’s to come in the body of the email and while we agree, it’s still a fact that it’s more important to get the click through and have the email opened or else they will never see anything inside the body of that email. Obviously the most advantageous email subject lines will incorporate both relevant and expectation setting words tied with attention getting action oriented copy to achieve the best result.
Email subject lines should be short
A huge factor in creating a successful subject line is keeping it short. 60 characters or less is advised. Why should you keep a subject line short? Good question and here are a few of the primary reasons why.
Short email subject lines…
Don’t get cut off in the email preview on a phone or inbox
Are quicker to read, making them read more often
Get to the point easier
Force you to focus on what matters most
Mention the Industry You’re Focused On
This is a very effective way to catch the attention of your email list. When an investor or deal partner reads an email coming from a private equity firm that has a specific industry or segment angle to it they gravitate towards it inside of the inbox and click through. Investors are more likely to look at offerings in different segments because they are either…
Interested in the segment or industry
Feel the information may be more credible and informational when compared to a more generic email not focused on an industry.
Investors and potential partners love focus. So the more dialed in you are the better your results will be when it comes to getting your email open.
Incorporate Time Sensitivity & Sense of Urgency
It’s human nature to feel a sense of urgency when it is stated that time may be limited or something won’t be available in the future and in private equity this is no different. A funding round may have a close date, only a certain number of LP spots may be left, etc.
If this applies to your firm’s offering then including it in the subject line may be a good idea.
Reference a Video or Attachment
If there is a video accompanying the content of the email in many cases the subject line will do much better when it states that a video exists. Many investors love having the opportunity to have a more visual and auditory experience when learning more about an investment or firm.
Alternatively, if you are going to share a PPM or some other investment document, by mentioning that in the subject line it can create the same effect on the recipient as now there is a higher perceived value for opening that email.
Both of these assets mentioned in the subject line can work well in getting more attention and achieving a high click through rate.
Examples of Good Email Subject Lines for Investors
Listed below we are sharing 3 subject line examples that would be good to use if you were targeting investors on your email list.
Industrial Warehouse Project Open to Investors for 29 Days
Fund 3 – Medical Offices in Houston, Austin & Dallas
Short Video on New B2B Tech Fund Inside
Each of these subject lines have unique qualities that we mentioned earlier in the article and highlight areas of interest that investors would find compelling and click through to learn more.
Good Email Subject Line Examples to Increase Deal Flow
Here we are sharing 3 examples of email subject lines that are speaking to prospective deal partners that your firm is looking to acquire in part or in full to add to your portfolio.
Have You Considered Taking on An Investor Partner?
We are Buying 3 Companies in Your Space. Interested?
Our Firm is Looking for B2B Tech Founders Positioned to Grow
As you can see we are using different approaches in each of those subject lines to capture the attention of the recipient. With Deal Flow emails you can get much more personalized though. Not all firms are targeting businesses en masse, so if you are being highly selective then obviously you can be more direct using the targets first name, company name, and details about the business only they would really know which will 100% catch their attention.
Examples of Bad Email Subject Lines in Private Equity
And like everything else, where there is good, there is also bad. Here we wanted to share a number of bad subject lines that will either get ignored or anger the recipient, so much so that they may report your email as spam or simply unsubscribe. Why risk alienating your email list if you don’t have to.
Bad subject line examples for firms
“Re: Did you check this out yet?”
This one could get a fairly high open rate, but unfortunately it will feel like they’ve been duped and probably mark you as a spammer.
“New Investment Opportunity”
This is so vague and boring. If you’re being honest with yourself, would you open this email? We wouldn’t.
“Do You Have Time To Talk?”
Again this one is very vague (even more than the last example) and they have no clue what you want to talk about. Guess what will happen? DELETE
We could actually go on and on about email and email subject lines here, but the truth is that if you take the advice we’re giving here and incorporate it into your email marketing efforts then you will get more emails looked at and clicked on, which will lead to more capital raised and more deals closed.
If You Are Looking to Get More Traffic, Leads or Have Questions, Call Us at 866-357-7422
There are different degrees of concern among marketers (and organizations) when it comes to email, spam and regulations that govern how and when you can send email to contacts.
But what most people don’t understand is the differences between the major governing rules for email and spam.
What is the Difference Between CAN-SPAM, CASL and GDPR?
The biggest difference between the 3 is the global geography that they affect. Each of these email policies only applies to specific countries and regions so we’ll go into each of them to explain the difference.
Of the three the least strict is the U.S. based CAN-SPAM, followed by the Canadian CASL law and lastly the most strict and comprehensive is the European GDPR.
What is the CAN-SPAM Act and What Can You / Can’t You Do?
CAN-SPAM actually stands for “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing” and was created to protect consumers by prohibiting the use of deceptive or misleading information in commercial marketing emails (commercial emails are those intended to market a commercial product or service). This act applies only to the United States.
The running joke among email marketers (at least the ones who aren’t uptight) is that the CAN-SPAM Act allows you to do just what it’s named, that you “Can Spam” people.
The reason this is said is because this act is an Opt-Out regulation. As long as the people you are sending email to haven’t told you to stop, then you can continue to send them email. It really is that simple.
To stay compliant you have to not be egregiously attempting to deceive your intended recipient and give them the mechanism to Opt-Out which is what you’ll typically see as an unsubscribe link.
What is the CASL Law and What Can You / Can’t You Do?
CASL actually stands for “Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation” and was created to regulate how organizations collect, use, and disclose personal information when conducting or operating their businesses. While this legislation is only active for recipients in Canada, enforcement agencies claim they will enforce this against anyone globally who violates their act. But as it relates to the United States following the expansion of the Safe Web Act in 2012 only 63 cases have been pursued from 9 different countries and all of these cases were large scale operations intentionally violating, exploiting and deceiving recipients.
So if you’re not a big company and you’re not intentionally trying to deceive recipients in a significant way then you really are safe.
The CASL Law is an Opt-In legislation that essentially states you cannot email someone without their prior consent (consent in this case is both explicit and implied).
GDPR actually stands for “General Data Protection Regulation”, was enacted by the European Union and is the most strict and comprehensive global privacy act ever put in place. Again it was created to protect consumers data and privacy like the others.
This one is also an Opt-In regulation meaning that you must give consent prior to being shown commercial marketing messages (including email). It applies to recipients of the European Union, but is intended to affect any global business that sends messages to those recipients.
The GDPR is why you know see so many “cookie” consent notifications on websites.
Again there is still leniency here because there are considerations for sending electronic commercial messages to consumers who have legitimate legal interests with you such as being an existing customer, partner, etc.
Main Takeaways on Data Privacy, Regulations and Email Marketing.
While we only covered a small portion of each of these Acts, Laws and Regulations we can say to you that the goal for each of them is to protect the privacy and data of consumers online.
We typically focus on the Email Marketing aspect because it is the main area that an individual business has control over when it comes to potentially violating a rule within these laws.
And while a good number of marketers get bent out of shape about pixels, cookies and email and “following” the laws, the truth is that this is a tiny part of the overall protection that comes from these acts. The most egregious and damaging violations are from bad actors that are breaching databases, phishing in email and leading consumers through online targeting to steal information, steal identities and cause actual harm.
In nearly every case you as a U.S. company cannot be held responsible if someone breaches Google’s, Mailchimp’s or GoDaddy’s database. Why would that be your fault?
The governing bodies are focused on stopping “really bad” things and are less concerned with the nuisance of spam email or retargeted ads.
Email and retargeting are easy targets to get consumer buy-in because it’s so visible and in some cases a nuisance (if positioned that way), but the reality is that these are not the primary concerns for the majority of these Acts, Laws and Regulations.
While we are not attorneys (attorneys will wrap you in a bubble and tell you the world is going to end if you do anything), we can tell you that we’ve been doing this work for over 20 Years and have never met or known anyone personally who have been contacted by or penalized by any of these agencies.
Most marketers who speak about the doom and gloom you’ll face if you don’t follow everything “perfectly” are simply overreacting, costing you time & money and in many cases don’t even know what they are talking about.
This article is intended solely to be an informational piece for you to better understand our position on handling CAN-SPAM, CASL and GDPR.
If you want to talk to us about digital marketing then give us a call or contact us directly, but we aren’t putting a form in the body of this blog article because it get’s a lot of traffic and we’re not interested in queries about these laws from people (sorry inquiring minds). We’re focused on growing your traffic, leads and sales!
If you’re considering writing a blog for your PE firm then you’ve likely asked yourself or had the question asked by a Managing Director / Managing Partner, “Why should we write blogs for our firm?” or “What will blogging do for a Private Equity Firm like ours?”. These are valid questions that most content marketers would react to quickly with a short answer like, “Because it works” or “How else are going to get found by prospects?”. But the real answer is more complex and to clarify what blogging can do for a firm like yours let’s go just a little deeper.
What Is A Blog Really?
To be honest we hate that the name of this type of content has been overplayed, because a blog is simply an article that lives on your website, but the best blogs are written to answer specific questions and convey unique ideas on a topic. They are typically more granular and this is why blogs can be so powerful for PE Firms.
Blogs are consistently successful across all industries and year after year voted as one of the top marketing tactics by marketers across the U.S. (and globally).
But success means different things for all industries and Private Equity has it’s own KPI’s that can be measured to determine success from blogging.
Benefits of Blogging & Why It Works
Private Equity Firms hold a unique position in the U.S. economy that requires them to be seen as trusted experts in their specific area of investment. This is the key to understanding how a blog can work for a PE Firm and how success can be determined from the writing & publishing effort.
The Benefits of Blogging for Private Equity break down into 4 areas
Increased Visibility
Increased Authority
Higher Deal Flow
Higher Investor Acquisition
Increasing Visibility for Your PE Firm
By writing blog articles that highlight what you do, how you do it, industry insights and results you’re getting it gives you the ability to share those articles on social media, send them out in email and get found in the search engines by potential deal partners and/or investors.
Increasing Authority for Your Private Equity Firm
If you are writing about industry insights that are unique or are being communicated better than other competing firms then it makes your firm stand out as more of an expert. The same thing applies to blogs being written on your approach, past results, current performance and case studies. This type of content solidifies trust in your expertise, track record and builds authority for your firm.
Increase Deal Flow
Combine the first two benefits, but write content specific to a Deal Partner audience and you’ll instantly increase your visibility & authority with them and in turn generate higher deal flow through your blogs as a lead generation tactic. Answering questions they have, showing how you partner with them, make transactions happen, etc. all makes for great Deal Flow blog content.
Increase Investor Acquisition
Similar to the path for Deal Flow, you’ll do the same thing for acquiring new investors by combining the first two benefits, but write content specific to an investor audience and you’ll instantly increase your visibility & authority with them and in turn generate higher acquisition rates through your blogs as a lead generation tactic. Answering questions they have, showing how you invest on their behalf, firm / fund performance, etc. all makes for great Investor blog content.
Good Private Equity Blog Post Examples
This one focuses on common questions asked by investors of Multifamily Real Estate
To back to the original question, “Should you write blogs for your Private Equity Firm?” and the answer is yes. There is little to no risk with huge upside potential when it comes to blogging in the PE space!
If You Are Looking to Focus on Getting More Deal Flow, Acquire New Investors or Have Questions, Call Us at 866-357-7422
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.
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
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.
Investor Acquisition Online using LinkedIn Advertising
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
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.
Deal Acquisition Online through LinkedIn Advertising
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
