Why Every GP Should Consider the Power of Blogging

Do you blog? If you’re a private funds manager, the answer is probably no. But that may be a mistake.

Recently CapX Partners’ Eric Starr delivered for us a powerful presentation on the value of digital marketing. Eric hammered home the point that GPs must embrace SEO, mass email campaigns and slick websites or risk losing deal flow. Navatar Private Equity, for instance, was mentioned as his central platform to monitor the success of e-marketing campaigns and then manage communication touchpoints after converting leads.

But even though more and more investment firms are cementing digital marketing strategies as part of their deal origination efforts, the lowly blog is receiving less love. The webinar will urge managers to view content as the foundation of their digital marketing efforts, with blogs as one crucial layer of that marketing bedrock. Allow us to provide three reasons why:

1. It’s a platform to demonstrate thought leadership

When meeting with retiring boomers and other target company executives, it’s your advice, personality, and leadership that you’re selling. Not the money. And one of the first things sellers check after a promising meeting or phone call is your website (and by extension blog). Sage managers see this as an opportunity to further hone in their competitive differentiation and vision, while managers with less to offer may jeopardize a successful first impression.

2. It’s a way to generate deal flow

A good blog is shared by others. Building an audience in turn increases brand recognition, which in turn leads to more potential sellers becoming aware of your business. Developing a good blog is the difficult part. It should be less about you, and more about the issues stakeholders care about. Market developments, industry trends and operational best practices are areas of core expertise for deal partners and sector specialists that can be written about without giving away your secret sauce.

3. It’s a way to boost your search rankings

GPs are only just waking up to the fact that a high or low search ranking can mean additional or lost deal flow. Sellers and intermediaries on the hunt for buyers have not become sophisticated beyond the point of using Google. Something learned on the webinar is that Google regularly combs the internet to reward “quality” and punish “staleness.” One way to earn quality is by delivering fresh content on a regular basis, which blogging obviously achieves.

As mentioned earlier, a blog is one ingredient of a successful digital marketing recipe. For more, watch a recording of Moving Beyond Coffee: Unlock Deal Flow with Digital Marketing below.