4 Marketing Hacks To Help You Attract The Right Investors

For any business, a good marketing strategy can often be the difference between getting the next customer and closing the store. As the number of new business ventures around the world continues to grow, marketing strategy is rapidly becoming one of the most important factors in attracting investors.

As new ventures spur economic growth, they also gradually create a highly competitive financial environment in which each new entrant attempts to raise capital from a limited number of investors. One of the few tools available to companies looking to find and attract investors is a great marketing strategy.

Like clients, potential investors won't be able to find you if you don't share this information. They also won't invest in a company that hasn't decided on its customer acquisition strategy, which is the primary goal of any strong marketing strategy.

To help you find and attract the right investors, we'll look at some common marketing techniques, as well as a few nuances of investor marketing.

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How Marketing Can Help You Attract Investors

Marketing is all about identifying your target market, understanding the needs of people in that market, and informing them about how your business can solve their problems. Typically, companies do this to find potential customers.

However, you can also use your marketing skills to convince people or organizations to invest in your company. Here are five steps you must take if you want to enter the market with investors.

1. Find out what investors need.

The first step is to figure out what potential investors need or want to invest in the business. Investors tend to focus on a few key factors.

• Is the company profitable?
• Is the company in an emerging industry?
• Will the company's management be able to reach a new level?
• Is it difficult for competitors to copy a company offering a unique product or service?

Depending on their particular business, product, or industry, investors may consider additional factors, including strategic alliances, technical expertise, a critical mass of customer base, or intellectual property.

Find out which factors are most important to your potential investors.

2. Make sure your business is strong in areas that are important to investors.

When you're ready to sell your home, you can improve the landscaping and tidy up the interior to make it more attractive to potential buyers. You will go through a similar process with your business trying to attract private investors. Once you know what investors are looking for, it's time to make sure your business makes a difference in those areas.

To strengthen your business, follow these steps:

1. Analyze the performance of your business. Make changes to increase profit margins, build a customer base, and increase sales.
2. Find the experts you need. If you don't already have relevant experience on your team, bring in people who can fill in the gaps. For example, hire a digital marketing expert, social media manager, or accountant if needed.
3. Protect your intellectual property. Take steps to protect your intellectual property through patents and trademarks, if applicable.
4. Improve your site. Make sure your website design is attractive, functions well, and is filled with quality content.
5. Check out their other marketing materials. Make sure your general and specific marketing strategies and materials are effective. For example, make sure your email marketing campaigns are well targeted.

If you need to expand your customer base, consider free or discounted products to create hype and highlight positive reviews, customer testimonials, referrals, and testimonials.

3. Create marketing materials targeted at investors.

Then, create a business plan that details your organization, why your business is a good investment, and what type of investment you are looking for. Create a PowerPoint presentation with some of this information for investors, and then write and rehearse your own investor presentation.

Consider creating a one-page company summary that outlines the main benefits for investors. All your marketing materials should be well written and designed to look professional and attractive and present your business in the best possible light.

4. Find and connect with potential investors.

The next step is to find the ideal investors. This process is similar to advertising and visiting exhibitions to find clients. There are two main ways to find and interact with investors: online investment platforms and in-person events.

• Online investment platforms. these platforms exist to match investors with companies. Some major platforms include SeedInvest, StartEngine, CircleUp and Wefunder. Whether or not you make money by investing in these platforms, you can use them to generate attention and increase awareness of your company among the investment community.
• Personal events. Some events allow business owners to introduce investors to their events, including Money20/20 USA for fintech companies, TechCrunch for tech companies, and ACA for all types of companies.

4 marketing tricks to attract the right investors

While the marketing best practices above will help you find and attract investors in general, it will take longer to close a deal. These four marketing tips will help you find the perfect investment partner.

1. Identify investors in your country.

One of the biggest mistakes new entrepreneurs make is asking every investor who would listen to funding. Desperate for capital, some entrepreneurs sell their business or ideas without determining what type of investor they need.

Here are some tips for finding investors in your niche:

• Understand your ideal investor. Before offering your business to potential investors, identify your ideal investor. What niches do you invest in? Where are they investing? What is your investment potential? If you're thinking about approaching venture capital firms and private equity firms, learn about their individual decision makers. For example, some investors are interested in the social impact of companies, while others only care about finances. Find out if potential investors have any experience or interest in your industry, product, or location. Once you have identified your ideal investor, you can begin to include relevant information in your marketing plan.
• Make sure you and your investors are on the same page. As many growing companies would later learn, the right business paired with the wrong investor or investment platform is almost always doomed to fail. This is especially true if there are ideological differences between the founder of the company and the investors.

Angel investors are high net worth investors who typically focus on local startups. They play skin and often develop emotional attachments to their funding companies.

2. Redesign your public relations strategy to maximize investor attention.

Once you've decided who your ideal investor is, make sure your PR strategy is carefully coordinated and communicates the right message about your business to potential investors.

To do this, back up your PR campaigns with a solid digital marketing strategy. According to Aquare's in-depth analysis, a well-managed content expansion strategy designed to drive thousands of retweets, shares, and referral traffic is the only way to ensure maximum reach and engagement in PR campaigns.

Here are some tips for creating an optimized PR strategy to attract investors:

• Get the most out of your PR dollar. The cost does not necessarily correspond to the amount spent on the campaign. it is about measuring the return on investment in marketing. An effective paid social media advertising strategy is important, but getting influencers right and leveraged is just as important for organic reach. By covering all of your bases or, in this case, digital channels, your PR campaign is more likely to attract the right investors who are interested in learning more.
• Show that you are ahead. Your public relations strategy should show potential investors in your industry that you are one step ahead. Ideally, your press releases, newsletters, content, and social media discussions should focus on current and emerging topics in your industry. This approach positions your business as an opinion leader, making you stand out from the hundreds of startups and SMEs that are also looking for investors.
• Define your experience. Since investors want to invest in companies with experience, innovation and good management, use public relations to showcase these skills. For example, interview on a podcast or TV show, speak at a trade show, or write an article for a trade publication or blog. Focus on the problems your company is solving and unique ways to solve them. Make bold or provocative statements to create buzz. Capture all mentions, interviews and content and post them on your website and social media for maximum impact. You can even include copies of articles with the information you provide to potential investors to add credibility.
• Right time. Don't forget to run your PR campaigns on time. Time your press releases, emails, and other elements of your PR strategy before asking for funding to set the stage for effective conversations.

3. Strengthen your digital presence.

Your digital presence should also come first so that potential investors can easily find you and interact with your brand. The last thing you want is to make a successful presentation to a potential investor, only for them to spend all day on the Internet looking for even the smallest hint of your brand.

Optimize your business website.

Your company website is an important element of your company's online identity. Your website is often the first place potential investors go to for more information. Despite its importance, surprisingly few people pay attention to their websites, if at all.

Make sure your website, especially the landing page, is simple and easy on the eyes. You must also have the following characteristics:

• Mobile friendly
• fast loading
• Explain what you do and what your product or service is.
• There are no grammatical and spelling errors, missing images and links that lead nowhere.
• Describe why your product or service is unique
• You have an About Us page that explains your company's mission.
• Determine the problem your product or service solves and why it is the best possible solution.
• Identify the executive team and key employees with biographies that showcase each person's background and experience.

Consider adding a password-protected member page or creating a separate member site with a link to your main site.

Optimize your social media presence.

Your digital presence should also include social media marketing, another essential marketing element that will bring your brand closer to potential investors.

However, instead of using every social media channel available, double down solely on platforms that really resonate with your business and investors. For example, if you're an online fashion retailer, you'll get more exposure for your brand on platforms like Pinterest and Instagram than on Twitter due to the visual nature of your products.

While most social media posts are about building brand awareness and promoting your products or services to potential customers, you can also connect with potential investors. LinkedIn is the best social platform for connecting with investors because you can message your business contacts directly, participate in investor or industry groups, and ask your contacts for an introduction.

Use one of the best social media marketing and management tools to develop targeting strategies, track mentions, and update and maintain your social media accounts.

Use your blog to tell your story.

Blogging can be an effective method of attracting investors. Use high-quality blog posts or guest blog posts from industry influencers to tell your story and highlight your unique features and benefits. Look for investor blogs on your radar and comment on their posts to build a relationship with them.

4. Enable smart grids.

An important part of finding investors is communicating with other people. For example, a presentation or participation in a business networking event may lead to a one-on-one conversation with a potential investor who may also become a business partner.

Here are some tips for participating in smart grids:

• Research Assistants. If you're attending an industry trade show or investment event, try to make a list of attendees before the event. Research the people and companies that will be there, find potential investors and connect with them on LinkedIn. Remember that the right investor may not be what you expect; it could be a real competitor or an additional product manufacturer.
• Speak and listen. When assembling, prepare the elevator platform if possible. But it's just as important to listen. By actively listening, you will build rapport and build rapport with people who can help you, as well as gather important information about who is investing and what is important to them.

How Your Marketing Efforts Can Help You Find the Right Investor

By combining elements of digital and traditional marketing, you are much more likely to get that person interested, which can be the difference between success and disappointment.

Once you have found the right investor, your next step is to determine if the investor is offering a good deal. Evaluate the deal, get expert advice or trusted advisors, and make sure the partnership works for you and your business.

Howard Goldstein contributed to the writing and research of this article.

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