When you’re ready to sell your business, you’re of course looking to sell it to an individual or another company that will take good care of what you’ve built and possibly expand on your success. But more importantly for you, you’re probably looking to sell your company to the highest bidder and that usually means looking beyond your country’s borders and venturing into the international marketplace. Some of the best and biggest investors and buyers can be found abroad, but in order to attract them and inspire them to take an interest in what you’re selling, you need to have a solid marketing approach.
It’s not just enough to value your business and put the hard numbers on paper to get the buyer’s interest, it’s also about the overall potential for growth and expansion in the local market, all of which should be a part of your promotion strategy. But how do you even go about promoting your business, and the fact that you’re selling it, in the international space?
Let’s go over some of the key tactics you should include in your strategy, in order to reach the right international buyers.
Start investing in international SEO
When your long-term plans for your company change, you also need to change your approach to search engine optimization. Provided that you have invested in SEO and digital marketing in the past, your business now has some decent online visibility, and now that you’re ready to sell your company, you should use that visibility to get the right message across and your company in front of the right people.
Your SEO strategy is no longer customer-oriented but buyer-focused, and that means that you need to start including the keywords that are relevant to people who are looking for investment opportunities and companies to buy. Just like regular customers are researching brands and their products online, you can rest assured that buyers and investors are doing the same.
With that in mind, you can start compiling a new list of keywords for the search phrases and questions that these buyers are using to find good investment opportunities. Start producing content where you can include these keywords and create a new landing page where these investors can learn more about your company and why you’re selling.
Consider using paid ads to reach buyers
Much like with SEO, you should consider investing in paid ads on Google and social media that will target this specific buyer group. Google and other platforms allow you to create hyper-targeted ads to ensure their impact and efficiency, and you can optimize your digital advertisements to target a specific country, region, or city, and at the same time target a very specific type of customer – someone who may want to buy a company.
This tactic, however, is only effective if you have a marketing specialist on your team who can optimize these ads with the right copy, and provide as much detail as possible for prospective buyers to analyze. Keep in mind that, just as it takes a while to sell a business, both your SEO and paid ads will take a while to generate the desired results and get the right buyers to reach out.
Know the trends in high-value countries
When you’re trying to sell a company in a foreign market, you need to prioritize according to the local market trends and demand, growth potential, as well as the socio-economic factors that govern customer behavior. Because after all, there is no point in trying to sell your company in a high-value market that has zero interest in what you’re offering. To stay on top of the latest trends, you need to follow the right business news portals.
For example, many business leaders are looking to sell their companies to Australian buyers because of the thriving local market in almost every sector, but to pick the right moment and find the right buyers, they need to follow the business news Australia pertaining to their industry and niche. In such a fast-paced market like Australia, you can only capitalize on an opportunity by staying on top of the local trends, but the same goes for any EU or US market as well.
Related: Businesses listed for sale in Australia
Regardless of where you’re primarily looking to sell your business, make sure to find the news portals where you can stay educated and spot the best opportunities.
Start sifting through your personal network
As an experienced business owner with years if not decades of experience under your belt, you probably have an expensive professional network that spans various industries and many countries. Now is the time to use this network for all it’s worth, and leverage your contacts to find the most affluent buyers on the international market. There are many ways you can go about this, as you can choose to spread the word throughout your network that you’re selling, or you can talk only to certain high-value individuals.
Perhaps you don’t want many people to know that you’re selling your company, and in that case, you should go through your network with a fine-tooth comb to find the individuals who can connect your international buyers. These individuals may even be able to speed up the sales process and help you get your business to a new owner quickly.
Related: Pitch-to-Brokers Tool (by ExitAdviser)
Align your strategy for every market
Last but not least, understand that every market has its unique trends, consumer demands, and industry forecasts, and that you may not be able to sell your business to an overseas/foreign buyer in its current state. This is another reason why you should follow the local business portals, and also listen to business podcasts from local leaders where they talk about their specific market and its needs.
You will quickly uncover the reasons behind local customer behavior and what the local buyers are looking for, allowing you to optimize your processes and marketing model before you reach out or position your business in that market. This will significantly improve your chances of landing a local buyer.
Over to you
Selling a business to an overseas buyer in a foreign market might seem like a difficult task, and it is, but it might be the best professional move you ever make. With these tips in mind, go ahead and optimize your promotional strategy for different foreign markets and attract the best buyers in your niche.
