Offering a full range of online and offline marketing options, we provide private equity firms with the best of both worlds — fully customized marketing campaigns for each unique portfolio company, and also consistent communication, reporting and methodologies.
Our ability to get results — lead and revenue generation — add value to private equity holdings, sometimes very substantial. Our core private equity marketing services are reviewed below.
SEO is the art and science of making a company’s website content more visible in organic search on Google and other major search engines. With search driving the lion’s share of unpaid, online lead and revenue generation, SEO is at the core of marketing for many firms. Because SEO requires sophisticated strategy, complicated execution and time to fully take hold, a successful, long-term SEO campaign is a significant and valuable asset for a PE firm and perhaps more importantly, its portfolio companies.
PPC (pay-per-click) adverting on Google and other online platforms can be an extremely effective avenue for lead and revenue generation, especially for business models that include e-commerce and/or a powerful offer to drive inquiries. PPC has the advantages of speed and flexibility. Whereas SEO can take months or longer to move the dial, PPC can generate activity immediately, and strategies and tactics can be tested and refined rapidly. PPC is an excellent option for portfolio companies new to the market, introducing new products or services, or having business models in an industry with a proven record of PPC effectiveness.
Email marketing can be used to generate leads or revenue, and also to strengthen customer relationships, improve customer retention and build brand awareness. Email must be executed very professionally to have an impact, however. Because email is overused and unfortunately pursued in spam-like fashion by many organizations, email subscribers need a lot of convincing just to open an email, let alone read and act on it. With solid execution and two decades of experience, we help private equity firms and their portfolio companies succeed in email.
Retargeting is a specialized form of online advertising that targets people who have visited a portfolio company’s website. Because these people have already expressed interest, retargeting ads displayed to them as they visit other web pages tend to have a very high conversion rate. In short, retargeting offers potential to generate results just as quickly as PPC and at a much lower cost per conversion. For PE firms interested in making their marketing investment as efficient as possible, retargeting is well worth consideration.
A proven partner trusted by the biggest names in the industry:
Straight North’s roots in graphic design go back to 1997, when our company was founded. We produce high quality printed materials including presentation books, printed folders, sales collateral, downloadable PDFs, slide presentations and trade show graphics. Making a powerful impression on potential investors, acquisition target companies and other audiences is of high importance in the private equity world — with Straight North as your partner, your online and offline marketing requirements are never more than one phone call away.
The cornerstone of every marketing campaign is the company website. If prospects cannot quickly find the information they need, and if the overall design and content of the site fails to convey credibility, no amount of marketing investment will translate into substantial ROI. Straight North has a full team of web designers, developers and copywriters who understand the principles of web design and Internet marketing – it’s our unique combination of the two that makes us expert in creating websites that both look great and also generate revenue.
Straight North is one of the largest independent marketing agencies in the U.S. Headquartered in the Chicago area, we have B2B and B2C clients throughout the country. Our large, full-time staff is deep in talent across all marketing disciplines, and currently does work for several private equity firms and their holding companies.
