How to Manage Content During an M&A (for B2B Marketers)

It’s 2025, and M&As are everywhere.

As a creative agency working with high-tech companies, we’re seeing this market heat up fast. Companies are buying and consolidating smaller brands or acquiring and keeping them separate. Exciting? Absolutely. Chaotic? Even more so—especially for B2B marketers.

Marketers are often caught in the crossfire of mergers and acquisitions, trying to manage brand strategy and content execution amidst constant change. But when there’s no structure or clear plan, things can spiral fast. Mixed messages, inconsistent materials, and frantic content demands become the norm.

What if it didn’t have to be this way? What if you could turn M&A chaos into clarity? That’s where a structured approach can make all the difference. 

This article breaks down the challenges marketers face during M&A transitions and gives you actionable solutions to keep your content aligned, your workflows streamlined, and your message consistent.

The Challenges Marketers Face in M&A

Challenge #1: No Clear Ownership of Brand and Content

During M&As, marketers are often left wondering, “Who’s in charge here?” Without a clear owner for brand strategy and content execution, responsibilities fall through the cracks. Deadlines get missed, messaging becomes inconsistent, and gaps in materials start to show—leaving your audience confused and your team scrambling.

Challenge #2: Miscommunication About Look and Feel

Merging two companies means merging two brand identities—and that’s rarely a smooth process. One team might rely on Brand A’s tone and style, while another sticks to Brand B’s approach. The result? Campaigns that feel disjointed and fail to create a cohesive message for your audience.

Challenge #3: Lack of Strategic Direction from Leadership

Leadership often focuses on the high-level goals of the deal—leaving marketers in the dark about the bigger picture. Without a clear understanding of the acquisition’s purpose—whether it’s market expansion, innovation, or something else—it’s nearly impossible to create content that supports the company’s goals. Without alignment, content becomes reactive and loses focus.

Challenge #4: Communication Overload and Influx of Content Requests

M&A periods are notorious for overwhelming marketers with endless emails, impromptu meetings, and urgent content requests from every direction. With no system to prioritize and manage the flood of demands, teams risk burnout, missed deadlines, and inconsistent messaging that doesn’t meet anyone’s expectations.

How to Keep Content on Track During M&A

Solution #1: Understand the Brand Path Early

The first step in managing M&A chaos? Getting clarity from leadership.

• Ask the big questions: Will the brands stay separate, or will they merge into one? What’s the vision for the acquisition?
• Tailor your strategy:
• If brands stay separate: Highlight their unique strengths while showing how they complement each other.
• If brands unite: Create a cohesive identity that reflects the shared vision and value of the merger.

Pro tip: Share updated brand guidelines with everyone involved in content creation. It sounds basic, but it’s often overlooked in the whirlwind of M&A.

Solution #2: Kick Off with a Content Plan

A focused kick-off meeting with your content team can save weeks of confusion later. Use this meeting to:

• Clarify Goals: Are you updating existing assets, creating new ones, or both?
• Set Priorities: What’s urgent—website updates, product sheets, or videos?
• Establish Brand Guidelines: Define the look, feel, and tone of voice upfront to avoid misalignment.
• Create a Timeline: Sync content deadlines with key M&A milestones.
• Assign Roles: Ensure everyone knows their responsibilities to prevent overlaps, bottlenecks, and back and forth.

This upfront effort keeps your team aligned and execution smooth.

Solution #3: Push for Leadership Insights

Leadership’s perspective is critical for crafting content that connects with employees, customers, and stakeholders. Push for answers to questions like:

• What’s the purpose of the M&A?
• How does this support the company’s long-term vision?
• What do audiences need to know at each stage?

Once you have this insight, weave it into everything—marketing content, website, FAQs, internal memos.. Strong leadership alignment reinforces your content’s credibility and focus.

Solution #4: Use a Phased Approach for Updating Materials

Updating content post-M&A can feel overwhelming, but a phased approach makes it manageable:

1. Audit Existing Content: Review both companies’ content libraries to identify assets that need immediate updates, those that can be repurposed, and gaps that require new content.
2. Prioritize by Impact: Start with high-visibility items like websites, sales materials, and executive communications. Address lower-priority items over time.
3. Align with M&A Milestones: Update and launch content in sync with key milestones, like announcements or product launches, to maintain momentum and focus.

This phased approach ensures your team doesn’t get overwhelmed and helps maintain consistency during a critical transition.

Solution #5: Roll Out New Content Gradually

Managing content during an M&A requires structure and planning to balance quality with volume. One effective approach is to focus on a “signature piece” each month—a high-impact, foundational asset like a whitepaper or video that sets the tone for your messaging. From there, smaller content assets, such as blog posts, social media graphics, or bite-sized videos, can be extracted to ensure a steady flow of content across channels.

This is the structured methodology we use here at Gallery Design Studio. It provides a clear framework for both creating new content and refreshing existing materials to align with updated brand guidelines. By working on a monthly cadence, you can ensure your content remains consistent, purposeful, and manageable, even during the complexities of an M&A transition.

Bottom Line

M&A periods are intense, but your content strategy doesn’t have to be. For B2B marketers, success comes from clarity and structure: define ownership, align your messaging with leadership’s vision, and implement a phased workflow that prioritizes consistency.

With the right strategy, you can turn the chaos of M&A into an opportunity to build stronger, more cohesive brand messaging—and ensure your team stays confident, creative, and in control.

About Gallery Design Studio (GDS)

Content can mean a lot of things—we make it visual first.

For over a decade, we’ve partnered with AI-driven B2B tech leaders to turn complicated tech products into clear, engaging visual content that your audience can actually “get.” Whether it’s software, systems, or solutions, we help you communicate your product’s brilliance with clarity and impact—so you can focus on what’s next. Learn more here.