Digital Due Diligence: M&A Acquisition & B2B Lead Generation

B2B Content Marketing: Securing Digital Assets

When acquiring a company, you have an opportunity to take on an entire portfolio of digital B2B lead generation assets. The company spin-up process is a period of rapid change for everyone. If not planned properly, valuable digital assets can be forgotten and lost forever when key individuals transition away from the acquisition. 

Uncovering as many digital assets as possible during the pre-acquisition digital due diligence process is necessary. After the sale is completed, sellers tend to be less cooperative in hunting down disorganized, decentralized, and hidden digital assets left out of the transaction documentation.

In fact, we often find that digital assets exist only on a few computers belonging to key individuals, which may not be available during the spin-up phase.

Identifying the digital assets upfront allows marketing and sales teams to access the needed files quickly. During the spin-up and rebranding process, there’s much to consider, including updating websites, importing data, integrating lead-to-cash systems, revamping content, and incorporating company messaging.

Asset Acquisition & Digital Presence Continuity

Internet marketing is powered by the number of people visiting a website, and the acquisition may have high web traffic hitting the parent company’s website. For this reason, agreements for redirecting traffic from the parent company’s website should also be part of the acquisition.

Carve-outs can exacerbate the issues. Acquiring a free-standing business unit and its existing website will retain existing website traffic and search engine domain authority. This authority is non-existent for carve-outs with a newly built “from scratch” website. For an M&A team to gain value from existing brand recognition and organic search authority, the selling parent company must redirect this authority from the original website pages to similar pages on the new website. 

Related Reading – Why Paid Ads Alone Won't Establish Your Company's Online Presence

Identifying Digital Assets Through Due Diligence

When a business unit is acquired by divestiture and has to create a digital presence and lead-to-cash process from scratch, existing digital assets can significantly accelerate value creation. The following questions can help identify key individuals controlling digital assets even when a standalone business unit is acquired.

• Is there a CRM where lead and prospect data is kept? If yes, who is responsible for providing a copy of this data?
• Do sales staff keep personal lead and prospect lists that are not in the corporate CRM? If so, who is responsible for compiling and providing them to the acquisition team?
• Who will identify accounts and provide passwords for licensing and ownership of the existing website URL?
• Is there more than one website URL? If so, what are they, and what are the passwords?
  Where is the website hosted, and what are the renewal dates?
• What are the URLs of the parent company’s website pages that attract valuable visitor traffic related to the acquisition?
• Who is the contact person that will be responsible for redirecting the relevant parent company website pages to the acquisition’s new website?
• Have copies of any relevant websites from previous company versions been identified?
• Who has copies of digital content such as sales assets, marketing brochures, social media assets, and digital video assets?
• Do YouTube, LinkedIn, and podcast accounts exist for the acquisition? If these assets are mixed in with the parent company accounts, who is responsible for identifying and providing digital assets accompanying the acquisition?
• Are there training videos and a learning management system involved in the acquisition?

As part of Open Path’s pre-acquisition digital due diligence, our analysis of your target’s digital maturity, brand awareness, competitive positioning, opportunity for growth, and spin-up cost will support your offer strategy.

Related Reading – What's the Best CRM for My B2B Company?

Identify Valuable Digital Assets with Help from Open Path

Schedule a 30-minute call to see if a Digital Positioning Plan is a good fit for you.

Unsure of what digital assets are worth keeping from your new acquisition? Open Path can help you identify the best resources to transfer from old ownership to new and how to properly implement them.

We respect your time! Working with Private Equity and M&A teams has taught us to maximize efficiency during stressful negotiations. We also provide the full-service implementation of lead-to-cash software platforms, website re-messaging, and long-term value creation. Through practical experience, we strive to convert your vision into reality.