Beginner’s Guide: The Merger Makeover: Essential Digital Asset Updates for a Seamless Merger

It seems like every other week there is a new announcement about a merger or acquisition happening in the accounting industry.

As mergers and acquisitions (M&A) becomes increasingly more frequent, marketers are responsible for ensuring a seamless digital transition. This transition often has the potential to make or break the success of the merger.

But if you’re new to the industry or this is your first merger, where should you even start?

M&A Success Starts with Cataloging Assets

Immediately upon notification of a merger or an acquisition, begin to catalog all digital assets that are owned by the incoming brand. This list of assets can help guide conversations with leadership around the scope and timeline for the digital transition.

Some examples of digital assets that you should catalog include:

• Social media accounts (Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Threads, TikTok, Reddit, Snapchat, Youtube, etc.)
• Job boards (Indeed, Glassdoor)
• Website(s) – Main website, client portals, and any related microsites

Once all digital assets have been thoroughly reviewed, meet with the new organization’s leadership or marketing team to confirm everything is accounted for and request access to the accounts.

The next critical question is how does your leadership team want to present this newly combined organization to the world? This is where the decision to co-brand—or not to co-brand—comes into play.

The co-branding decision should always be made before you begin creating or updating digital assets.

Social Media Accounts

Merge social media accounts, when possible.

Currently the only social media platforms that can merge company pages are Facebook and LinkedIn. All other commonly-used social media platforms including Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube, only allow users to deactivate company pages.

Facebook

To merge an account on Facebook, your pages will need to meet the following criteria:

• The requestor will need to be setup as an admin on both accounts
• The pages should have the same name
• If they have a physical address, both pages will need to show the same address.
• The page that is being merged cannot be the primary page in your Business Manager settings.

Once you have verified this criterion, you will be able to start your merge request. This can be done through your Settings menu, under Page Setup. If your Pages are on Business Manager, you can go to business.facebook.com/pages/merge to merge them.

According to Facebook, if you don’t see the option to merge Pages, it means that your Pages aren’t eligible to be merged.

LinkedIn 

Although LinkedIn allows you to merge pages, their policy clearly outlines that acquired company pages are not eligible. Instead, they offer an option to setup a message on your acquired account that will redirect people to your primary brand page.

To request a Page acquisition and an acquired banner, you will need to contact LinkedIn support and provide them with the following information:

• Both Page URLs
• The date the company was acquired

LinkedIn Bonus Tips 

Because you’re not able to merge your acquired brand’s page followers through this process, make sure to include links to all social accounts in communications to new clients.

Marketers should also encourage newly acquired employees to share the core brand page with current clients in their networks through the Invite to Page feature.

Employees with LinkedIn accounts should have access to 50 invitations per month, while Super Admins have access to 250 credits per month.

Create Merger Graphics

Beyond merging your pages, it’s important to create new graphics that align to the specific brand messaging that you want get into the marketplace.

Some examples of graphics you should consider updating to announce your merger or acquisition include:

• LinkedIn, Indeed/Glassdoor Banners: The most important graphic to prioritize is the LinkedIn banner, so you should consider making several variations so you can share with employees, but also have a unique version on your newly acquired digital assets.
• Announcement Graphics: Plan out the corresponding social posts that your firm is planning to release in conjunction with the merger announcement. Prioritize the social platforms you should post to by identifying the ones that are most likely to reach the most clients and vendors.
• New Brand or Logo Reveal: Depending on the contractual agreements and your branding conversation with leadership, you may need to develop a new logo and brand guidelines.
• FAQ Documents: Building a social media graphic and digital PDF of frequently asked questions is a great way to help your teams communicate consistently about the merger.
• Website Graphics: Depending on the design of your newly acquired website, you may need to also build graphics to accompany your merger announcement for a banner or image slider. Work with your newly acquired company’s developer to determine the appropriate dimensions.

Conclusion

Updating your new organization’s digital assets during a merger is not just a technical necessity but a strategic imperative. By ensuring that your website, social media profiles, and other online platforms reflect your new combined brand, you not only ensure consistency with your announcement, but you also build trust with your clients, vendors, and employees.

As with all other aspects of a merger or acquisition, thoughtful planning and execution in updating your digital assets will help ensure a smooth and seamless integration.