Business succession planning is an important process that ensures the continuity of a business in the event of the owner’s retirement, incapacitation or death. It is essential for any organization, especially if it’s a family-owned business. It ensures a smooth transition of ownership and management while protecting the legacy and preserving the values of the business. Most businesses understand the importance of business succession planning. But many fail to realize the role that digital marketing plays in the business succession planning process.
How digital marketing helps with business succession planning
Digital marketing is the process of promoting your business through digital channels to communicate with customers and prospects. These online channels include search engines, social media, email, websites, mobile apps and other digital platforms. Digital marketing involves using various strategies to:
- Reach and engage with a target audience
- Build brand awareness
- Generate leads and sales
- Ultimately drive business growth
When a business is considering transitioning to new owners, marketing can help position your business as a strong contender by:
- Attracting potential buyers
- Building brand awareness
- Communicating with stakeholders and foster customer loyalty
- Developing a strong online presence
What digital marketing strategies are most effective?
Digital marketing encompasses a wide range of strategies. These include:
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Search engine marketing (SEM)
- Social media marketing
- Email marketing
- Content marketing
The goal of digital marketing is to increase brand awareness and visibility, increasing website traffic. When you engage with potential customers online, you build trust and credibility, and ultimately convert them into loyal customers.
Content marketing
A content marketing is about creating a plan to provide relevant, valuable content and promoting it on the marketing channels that best reach your target audience. Your content should align to the needs and desires of your audience so that you educate them and become memorable. You then become known as a trusted expert and advisor in your industry. This helps to build your online brand presence, making your business more visible. The goal of content marketing is to attract new visitors and turn them into qualified leads.
Search engine optimization
Search engine optimization (SEO) is a valuable marketing strategy for small businesses. It can help your website rank higher in the search results, increasing its visibility and credibility online. It involves optimizing its content to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs). By optimizing the content with relevant keywords and phrases, a business can increase its visibility online. This increased visibility can help build brand awareness and make it easier for potential customers to find the business.
Search engine marketing
Search engine marketing (SEM) is using paid advertising on search engines to reach potential customers. SEM is a good strategy to gain quick visibility in the search results while your organic SEO is being developed. Using paid ads, you can drive targeted traffic to a website landing page that converts them into qualified leads. However, this strategy does require that you have a budget for the ad clicks. Determine how critical it is to your business to gain first page search results quickly.
Social media marketing
Social media marketing is promoting your business through social media channels such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and others. It allows you to connect with your ideal client, build brand awareness and create a loyal customer base. It involves creating and sharing content that:
- Engages and resonates with the target audience
- Builds relationships with followers and customers
- Drives traffic and sales through social media platforms
A strong social media presence can establish credibility and make it easier for customers to find and engage with the business.
Email marketing
Email marketing is still a very effective way to communicate with current and potential customers. It works for many small businesses because your message goes to their inbox where it stays until they are ready to read it. And since opting into your list is voluntary, there is a much better chance that your subscribers will read your material and convert into a customer.
How digital marketing strengthens your business
Targeting new customers through digital marketing can help the business remain profitable even after the transfer of ownership.
Attract potential buyers
Digital marketing can be used to create and distribute quality content that showcase your business value proposition. This can attract potential customers. When a business is developing a succession plan, the business needs to continue to grow its top-line revenue in order to get more in the final sale.
Targeting new customers is critical to the success of any business. Digital marketing strategies such as content marketing, search engine marketing, social media marketing and email marketing can help target new customers.
Build Brand Awareness
Digital marketing can help businesses build their brand and increase brand awareness. It can also help to ensure that the business maintains its brand identity during the transition process, which is essential to retaining customer loyalty.
Building brand awareness is one of the most critical elements of digital marketing. A well-established brand has a higher chance of succeeding in a business succession plan. Digital marketing strategies such as search engine optimization, social media marketing, and content marketing can help build brand awareness.
Building brand awareness through digital marketing can help ensure that the business remains relevant and profitable even after the transfer of ownership.
Develop a strong online presence
Digital marketing can help businesses establish a strong online presence, which is essential in today’s digital age. A strong online presence can help to attract potential buyers and increase the value of the business. Digital marketing strategies such as search engine optimization, social media marketing, and email marketing can help develop a strong online presence.
Developing a strong online presence through digital marketing can help ensure that the business remains competitive and relevant even after the transfer of ownership.
Communicate with stakeholders and foster customer loyalty
Digital marketing can be used to communicate with stakeholders, including employees, customers, and suppliers, during the succession process. Clear communication can help to ease any anxiety or concerns and ensure a smooth transition.
Making sure that your customers and stakeholders know what is happening helps to foster customer loyalty. Loyalty is always important to a business that wants to grow, but it is even more critical to the long-term success of business in transition. Digital marketing strategies such as social media marketing and email marketing can help foster customer loyalty.
Digital marketing can help ensure that the business continues to run smoothly during the transition process. Social media channels can be used to keep customers and employees informed of any changes, while email marketing can be used to keep all stakeholders updated on how the process may or may not affect them.
Fostering customer loyalty through digital marketing can help ensure that the business continues to thrive even after the transfer of ownership.
Invest in digital marketing
Digital marketing plays a crucial role in business succession planning. The strength of your business depends on a consistent flow of new customers. Effective marketing helps businesses and establish a strong online presence, attract potential buyers and build brand awareness. It also helps businesses communicate with stakeholders to ensure a smooth transition. Business owners should incorporate digital marketing into their succession planning strategy to ensure a strong future for their business.
Learn more by listening to our podcast below. Then contact us for more information on our business succession planning services.
Debra Murphy is a marketing coach and consultant helping small businesses navigate the complex maze of online marketing. Experienced across all traditional marketing channels, Debra specializes in inbound marketing, a combination of search, social media and content marketing, to help small businesses effectively utilize this new media to gain visibility and generate inbound leads. Debra regularly writes about small business marketing on her Masterful Marketing blog.
