When you hear the words ‘content marketing’ you probably think of blogging, white papers and other strategies intended to generate leads. With all this fuss about content marketing, your M&A firm might be overlooking an important content marketing opportunity – the text on your website!
There is good data to support the idea that better on page content converts more prospects in M&A, but what exactly is ‘good content’? Below are a few tips that you can use to write better content on your M&A firm’s website:
#1. Don’t fake it.
A lot of M&A firms try really hard to be perceived as bigger and more prominent than they already are. Most of the time this reads poorly and is transparent enough to not create any real benefit to the firm. Whatever your firm’s true identity is at its core should come through on the site. Don’t try to be something you are not.
#2. Speak plain English.
We all love technical shop talk – but most potential clients do not fully understand it. Since Google will index all the content on your site, you want to write in a tone that is consistent with the type of search terms a potential middle market business owner may use when vetting an M&A advisor. While you may mention ‘sell side advisory’ on your home page a number of times, your prospects may be searching for much more basic terms like ‘how to sell my business in Chicago’.
Plainly conveying what you do and why you are the best choice to the prospect will allow your site to appeal to a wider audience, show up more often in search and generally should allow a viewer to get more information for less work.
#3. Don’t talk at them.
Tense and tone matter a lot. Consider how the below two passages read differently:
Ex 1. Business owners should consider planning an exit in the next 12 months while the M&A market is still riding high on above average valuations and before a widely expected circular downturn.
Ex 2. Our firm can help you with a number of services needed to properly sell your Illinois-based business including advisory on business sales and assessing the value of your business.
Example two is more personable, approachable and search friendly. To properly convey a more approachable tone consider doing the following:
- Imagine you are speaking to a singular, real person
- Replace terms like ‘Business owners’ with ‘You’ and ‘Your’
- Ask questions, offer support – do not talk at them! Envision a two-way conversation rather than the delivery of a speech.
#4. Capture conversion opportunities
Every qualified view of your website is an opportunity to convert a web visit to a prospect call. Do not forfeit conversion opportunities! Give your viewers an opportunity to connect further with you. Consider using the following:
- Contact forms on pages other than your Contact page
- Newsletter sign up forms allowing you to capture emails and direct market
- Encourage Q&A by inviting the viewer to contact you with questions on all pages
- Integrate live chat – messaging anyone who is on your site a significant amount of time is an easy way to directly connect to a prospect while asking very little of them.
If you have made it this far into the blog post, we would be remiss to not take our own advice. If you have questions about developing better web content for your M&A firm, please feel free to contact us. We have helped many M&A firms build better, conversion-oriented websites and are happy to share all we have learned with you!
