Author: Nicole Van Zanten

We’re halfway through the calendar year, which is about the time when companies like yours are taking stock of overall progress in 2018 – from company revenue to CSR reporting, expense reports to marketing acquisition and engagement. Optimization in all areas of your business is essential to having a strong final half of the calendar year. One particular area of your business to optimize quickly – and with clear focus – is your digital marketing strategy. Not only are your digital efforts easier to optimize in comparison to traditional marketing, digital and content marketing cost 62% less than traditional, and yields 3X as many leads.

Marketing for public companies and investor relations is constantly evolving, so we’re dedicated to educating ourselves and staying on top of the industry. As we’ve moved through the first half of this year with our clients, we have identified and outlined areas to best optimize their marketing strategies and digital integration efforts.

Bonus: Scroll to the end of this blog for your free downloadable report on Digital Marketing for IR – 7 Tips for 2018.

Here are 3 ways to optimize your digital marketing strategy this year.

Video and images make a significant impact on engagement

There’s no doubt that video has been an important part of digital marketing for years, though it has been much more prominent and often expected as of late. Similarly, the strategic use of imagery on websites, CSR reports, annual reports, etc. has also increased viewership. The average person watches 1.5 hours of video each and every day, and with video acting as a powerful connector between company and investor, your digital strategy should also include video.

Most innovative digital marketing and video strategies include VR (virtual reality) and 360º video, with companies like Teekay leading the way. Teekay has developed an impressive video strategy to tell their story through 360º videos, which allows viewers to be immersed in experiences such as being in an at-berth ship-to-ship transfer, taking a look inside a pilot’s cabin, being in a helicopter ride and other great adventures. It’s a great way for Teekay to take potential investors through their operation without needing to travel.

Integrate social media as part of  your digital strategy

Social media isn’t going anywhere, though the use of social media with public companies and IR has long been at odds with one another. With that said, there are plenty of investors and companies who have certainly embraced networks like LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, while others are just dipping their toes in the water.

These social platforms can be a great way to find potential investors for your company. Connecting with the community by perusing hashtags like #USInvestor, #investorrelations, #IRinvestment on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook, could bring plenty of accounts that could potentially engage with your business. Similarly, searching for specific companies and job titles on LinkedIn is a great tool to connect with like-minded individuals.

Our free downloadable guide has great tips on how to set up your social media accounts, when to post and more.

Test your website speed and performance

Your website is the number one driver of online engagement with your brand – it’s a 24/7 representation of your business. This means website speed and performance should be top of mind.

Click here to test your website performance. It’s a handy free tool from Google that will give you insights into your overall speed score, and feedback on what you can optimize to make your website load faster. As of July 9 2018, page speed on your mobile website is more important than ever when it comes to mobile search ranking. Google rolled out an update to mobile websites that makes pagespeed a ranking factor for mobile searches, so if your website is slow, you could see a decrease in organic traffic.

Integrating video content in your digital marketing strategy, utilizing the power of social media and optimizing website speed and performance are three great ways to get your digital marketing strategy ready for the remainder of 2018.

Enjoyed this content? Click here to download your free guide on Digital Marketing for IR – 7 Tips for 2018.

When setting the marketing strategy for your business, there are many positioning strategies and tactics your public company can take. From selecting the networks on which you target investors, to the copy points and CTAs that are on your website, how you reach your investors takes plenty of planning and strategic consideration. One of the most challenging targets can often be accredited investors.

Accredited investors are those who have a minimum net worth of $1,000,000. These individuals are clearly separated from the investing public, making up only 5% of the investing population. Attracting these individuals means positioning your company as one that is of specific interest to their portfolio.

If your public company is revising or revisiting your strategy to position yourselves as such, here’s how you can market to accredited investors.

1. Your website should be easy to navigate

Accredited investors know what they need and (typically) won’t be patient when searching for it. With your website being your 24/7 means of showcasing your company’s investor information – presentations, exploration highlights, stock information, financial reports and more – this information should be easy to navigate. By this, we mean that accredited investors should not need to click through layers of drop-down menus to read such information. Instead, limit this to one or two clicks to reach pertinent investor information.

Side note: We love our work with White Gold Corp for this very reason – one or two clicks on their website to obtain presentations, highlights, reports and more.

2. Address information that accredited investors want to read

Accredited investors want to know how their money will be spent, what the trajectory of the business is, profitability milestones and other such topics. Addressing information that they want to read is not only a great exercise from a business storytelling perspective (the exercise of reviewing collateral you currently have), it can also help differentiate yourself from others in your industry. Companies that are vague in sharing topics such as their business trajectory – will often struggle out against companies who are open and transparent.

3. Make it personal

Business is personal. Whether you’re purchasing a brand new suit, a coffee from your local shop, or deciding to invest in a public company, it’s important for businesses to make it personal and build relationships. Developing a personal relationship or positive rapport with an accredited investor  can impact whether such an individual will decide to believe and invest in your business. Take the time and invest in the effort it takes to create that rapport.

4. Understand where these investors are ‘living’.

When searching for a company like yours, what are accredited investors searching for? Or when perusing networking sites, where are they ‘living’?

Investors are using search engines like Google to find their next portfolio additions. Here’s a great resource on optimizing your IR website for search traffic. When determining what accredited investors are searching for, take Google Analytics into consideration – what are the top organic search terms driving traffic to your website? What are visitors engaging with when they arrive on your website? Where are they dropping off?

Similarly, LinkedIn is a network to certainly pay attention to, with 45% of LinkedIn users earning over $75,000 annually, and 133M+ living in the United States. As a professional business network, this is certainly one to consider as part of your social media strategy.

5. Referrals are the greatest form of flattery.

Digital strategy aside, the greatest form of flattery is a referral. A referred client has a 16% higher lifetime value than a non-referred customer. More often than not, referrals need to be requested. Referrals can come through networking opportunities or asking your contacts if they have an accredited investor in their portfolio who is interested in partnering with a company in your industry. Consider the alternative, too – give and you shall receive. One of the most powerful ways you can generate referrals is to give them yourself. Is there an investor you wish to endorse on LinkedIn? Introduce to another public company? Refer platforms to? Consider the appreciation of a referral from an alternative perspective.

Above all, marketing to accredited investors can take time, patience and the ability to develop an engrained personal relationship. Revising your 2018 strategy with this in mind could yield benefits in the long run.

With the New Year right around the corner, many IR companies are putting the finishing touches on their digital strategies for 2017. Budgets have been approved and wish lists received, meaning that now is the time when the tactics are being throughly reviewed and targets set for the upcoming year. You’ve likely spent time researching the latest digital marketing trends (mobile, mobile, mobile), and have been dissecting predictions yourself for the last few months; however, as we inch closer to the New Year, digital predictions are becoming that much more clear, with key trends emerging in the online space.

We’ve spent time surveying the industry and have determined our top five trends heading into 2017. So, grab a cup of coffee, open your 2017 Digital Marketing Strategy, and consider affirming (or making tweaks!) now, before we get into the Holiday Swing.

Below are our Digital Marketing Trends and Predictions for 2017…

1.  Your target investor wants personalized content.

In recent years, companies have been developing more content for their websites; blogs, infographics, eBooks and more have filled the pages of content strategies globally.

Now, your target persona wants content – but they want personalized content. With 40% of businesses taking a strategic approach to content, the time is now for your IR company to shine.

By personalized, we mean using content like the aforementioned blogs, infographics, eBooks and more that is suited and targeted to your potential investor. For example, you could create a white paper or case study for a particular segment of your target, like mining. You would then serve this content through an email newsletter or targeted advertising to mining contacts exclusively. Not only does it provide valuable and worthwhile content to your potential investor, it makes him or her feel like your company is taking their wants and needs into consideration.

2. Design for multi-platform users.

It’s clear that more and more digital consumers are using multi-platforms to view content online; that is, they have indicated use of mobile, desktop, tablets and more on a frequent basis. Users are coming to your website from a variety of sources, and likely using other devices at various times to return to your website.

This means that instead of thinking mobile-exclusively, consider the benefits of building for multi-platform. Run an audit of your website – is it responsive on desktop, mobile and tablets? What about iPhone VS Android? Is there room for improvement?

3. Remember, your target users on are other sites, too.

While the main objective is to drive potential investors to your website, remember that your target investors are on other sites, too.

Primarily, consider the benefits of having active profiles on social accounts, like LinkedIn and Twitter, for example, or perhaps Facebook Groups to peruse for your benefit. Facebook is the leading social network as of Q2 2016, with 1,590,000 million active users and an 18% market share of social media networks.

4. Mobile marketing SEO will break you apart from competition in 2017.

When it comes to digital trends in 2017, SEO might very well take the cake for generating the greatest impact.

Google has announced a plethora of updates to search engine optimization in 2017, but the one you primarily need to focus on is around Accelerated Mobile Pages. Accelerated Mobile Pages (or AMP) is a project from Google and Twitter that is designed to make really fast mobile pages. At its core, it’s basically a stripped-down form of HTML.

Anything you can do to help speed the load of your web and mobile pages will significantly help in keeping users on your site. The AMP project from Google and Twitter is performing so well, we predict that this will start to have a real impact on SEO moving into 2017. Make sure AMP pages are on your digital task list for the New Year.

5. Nurture your current IR leads.

Nurturing your leads, either through email newsletters or 1:1 contact, is a necessity in 2017.

Much like personalizing your content, it’s more important than ever to keep in contact and deliver the content your potential investor needs. 2017 is the year of reliance on big data and CRM software, so be sure you have the budget and systems in place to start (or continue) your email nurturing strategy. By keeping in contact with leads who have not yet converted to an investor, your company can stay top of mind in 2017.

There are big changes in store for the year ahead, and it’s clear that digital marketing will play a significant part in the success of businesses globally. Through these digital marketing trends and predictions, review your current strategic plan and consider the areas you can expand on or update.

Above all, we wish you and your team a joyous Holiday Season and a successful New Year! 

Questions about these digital marketing trends and predictions for 2017? Contact us here.