Due diligence officers play a key role in the success of investment offerings through their firms. But many asset managers don’t have a plan to market to due diligence officers in a proactive and consistent way.
If you aren’t treating due diligence officers as their own marketing segment – or you don’t remember the last time you communicated with them – read on for tips on how to engage this critical audience.
Partner with National Accounts
You’ve heard us talk about the importance of syncing marketing with sales. This includes the national accounts team. As the group responsible for building the selling group, the due diligence officer segment is all theirs. But that doesn’t mean they don’t need marketing support. Especially when national accounts teams are often small at one or two people.
Start by meeting with the national accounts team to understand their target audience – is it large firms, regional broker/dealers, small firms? Ask what the objections are to your firm’s offerings, what are its differentiators? What questions are common for the national accounts team to receive from due diligence officers? How is your firm received by the due diligence officers? Do they know your brand?
Create a Marketing Plan
Using what you learn, develop a marketing plan to help national accounts build relationships with due diligence officers, educate them, address their questions and objections. Also focus on building brand awareness if you’re at a smaller firm. No one will sign an offering for a firm they’re unfamiliar with. Help them get to know you.
Put it Into Action
The tactics used with due diligence officers are similar to those used with advisors – except the group is smaller and their decision about your firm can be more impactful. As a gatekeeper, a go/no-go your firm’s investment offering can either open the door to potential capital from a number of advisors – or no advisors. As such, consider how you can provide the due diligence officer audience a more personalized and high-end experience with your firm. Schedule 1:1 meetings for them with management, consider direct mail to stand out among offerings, use email to build brand awareness, invite them to follow your page on social, and share articles of interest with them. While the goal of marketing is often to scale, sometimes you open the door to scalability by making your “top of funnel” marketing highly personalized. The due diligence officer audience is the perfect place for this.
Build Trust
More than likely, you will be working with due diligence officers repeatedly as your firm takes your investment offerings full-cycle and starts new ones. Those asset managers who develop trusting relationships with due diligence offers gain the most traction with new offerings and potentially get them through the approval process faster.
While your past investment offering performance plays into your firm’s reputation with due diligence officers, so does your ongoing marketing and communication of your offering. If you’re not including due diligence officers on ongoing communications about your offerings and your firm, you’re missing the opportunity to establish your reputation and to keep your name in front of them. It also demonstrates how you’re communicating with advisors on your offering…a key aspect of what many due diligence officers evaluate when considering adding an asset manager to their platform.
Make Due Diligence Officers Part of Your Marketing Plan
If you aren’t including due diligence officers in your marketing efforts, it’s a huge gap that needs to be filled. Contact us and we’ll help get you on the right track.
About Marketing Intent
We are a sales-focused marketing group specializing in alternative investments with a track record in marketing that helps drive sales. We live by the mantra, “nothing happens until something is sold.” Our marketing serves as the backbone of sales. Our work makes your prospects and clients take notice, ask questions and listen to your story. Learn how we can help create marketing that helps raise capital.
