How Effective Private Debt Web Design and Marketing Can Help Drive Assets
A LOOK INTO THE POWER OF FINANCIAL BRANDING AND MARKETING FOR PRIVATE DEBT
Over the last decade, private debt proved to be a fast-growing asset class. According to the 2017 Preqin Global Private Debt Report, assets under management have grown over 300% since 2006, reaching nearly $600 billion in early 2017. This 10-year period of consecutive annual growth is attributed to the combination of strong investment performance, effective fundraising, and increased deal activity as investors searched for alternative sources of yield that traditional fixed income markets just couldn’t deliver.¹
Naturally, such strong sector growth will benefit the majority of private debt asset managers. Much of the asset flow and gain however is dominated by the largest firms. The Preqin report cited found that 47% of the aggregate capital raised in 2016 was concentrated among just the top 10 funds alone – what could small and mid-sized private debt managers do to take a bigger bite of net new assets?
Differentiate Yourself as an Asset Manager with a Fresh and Intuitive Website Design
To maintain a competitive edge among the financial services space, private debt funds and firms need effective websites and online marketing strategies. Especially with smaller or newer private debt firms, the private debt company’s website is likely the company’s first point of contact any customer, either retail or institutional, will have. This makes the process of making a good first impression, a critical step, almost entirely digital. Combining a great website with a thoughtful client experience will produce a strong brand connection, all without impacting or leveraging your fund’s strategies.
Today’s competitive marketplace makes for an unforgiving environment, and the top firms have embraced the idea of incorporating tailored private debt into their digital marketing strategies, allowing them to acquire even more assets. A vast majority of the biggest asset managers in traditional finance, private equity, and private debt construct thoughtfully-crafted, institutional-quality websites with various levels of complexity, allowing them to clearly communicate their financial services brands to any site visitors.
Client loyalty puts your private debt brand’s momentum into overdrive. A positive client experience in one fund builds brand loyalty and can be leveraged when a new strategy is introduced. They can also significantly reduce your time spent fundraising when launching a new fund or private debt services product.
Web Design Can Drive New Assets
Great design isn’t purely about eye candy or elaborate designs – it’s about clarity. Give prospects and clients what they want through an authentic view of your firm and how your private debt investment strategy is unique. Even if you are an investment manager preferring to keep your cards close to your chest, you can benefit from a concise, but high-quality investment website design.
Keep in mind, private debt web design goes beyond how the website looks on desktop computers. Adaptive and mobile-responsive websites are now a must, due to the rapid proliferation of smartphones and mobile internet usage. This must be high on your priority list, and your private debt website must be easy to view on mobile devices including tablets and smart phones, as well as computers. Though each website differs in device usage, it is rapidly becoming the norm for some sites to see over half their incoming traffic come from mobile sources.
Honing Your Digital Private Debt Marketing Strategy
There are a number of digital strategies that should be employed on any financial services website. For example when diving deeper into digital strategy, the fact that your website can be optimized to track visitor behavior should be highlighted. Knowing what pages on your site gather the most visitor traffic, where people are clicking, and what pages people are spending the most time on can help you optimize your messaging and sales materials as well as tweak the weaker materials on your private debt website.
Do you have research or a market outlook you’d like to share? Perfect – both institutional and retail investors are more likely to invest with firms that establish themselves as thought leaders within their sectors. By creating content that can share your firm’s viewpoints, you can differentiate your brand and attract new clients. In addition, this kind of material easily serves as a conversation piece and can even help bring in site visitors through the additional SEO it generates.
Your voice matters, and sharing your professional insights with the community as a whole can build credibility among the right audience.
An Award-Winning Private Debt Website Design Firm
Among our many award-winning financial services projects is a number of branded private debt web design projects, including building institutional private debt websites to help firms market their wide range of investment strategies. In fact, MBC Strategic recently assisted an alternative private debt and trade finance firm with a comprehensive website redesign and update to their suite of alternative investment-focused marketing materials. Located in Los Angeles, TriLinc Global is a private debt firm dedicated to impact investing around the globe. With a mantra of delivering attractive returns while changing the world for the better, this private debt firm’s website redesign project involved an interactive site that offered institutional investors a look inside the investment process and deep knowledge center of the firm.
Look at the branding and website design project for TriLinc Global
Municipal Debt Branding
Below is another financial services website design and development project, including an overarching rebrand. Mainline West, a growing private municipal investment manager, utilizes fewer layers and still maintains a strong brand message. Sleek and terse, the site employs a simplified layout with strong visual appeal, high-quality branded imagery coupled with authentic messaging for a strong first impression. The new site also attracts new visitors by showcasing its deep research capabilities and insightful perspectives on the municipal bond market.
A well-crafted private debt website with effective design and messaging can provide great mileage for your brand and help drive assets for your Fund. If you hope to capture the continued growth in the private debt industry, a professionally designed, investment-focused website is absolutely necessary to your asset raising strategy.
To see more samples on our award-winning financial and investment website design or learn more about how we can help with transforming your digital presence, get in touch with our team.
1 Preqin, 2017 Preqin Global Private Debt Report