You’re Doing IR Lead-Generation All Wrong (But You Can Do It Right)

It’s true: chances are, if you’ve ever done (or are currently undertaking) lead-generation for investor relations, you’re probably doing it wrong. In fact, we’d go so far as to say you’re actually throwing money away.

Wait, what? But don’t investor marketing companies like BLENDER tend to argue that robust lead generation should be the heart of any outreach campaign?

We do, and we’re right. Lead generation is absolutely critical to IR success. Just not in the way we see most public companies doing it.

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Why? There are two reasons:

  1. Lack of nurture: Most IROs fail to follow up with their leads
  2. Lack of focus: Most lead-gen campaigns fail to home in on their most engaged leads

For an illustrative example, take a look at BLENDER’s new ROI Calculator. 

The ROI Calculator allows you to put in any budget amount, and see your expected results from a campaign with BLENDER:

  • How many leads you can expect at your desired budget
  • Cost per lead
  • Number of the MOST ENGAGED leads you can expect
  • Expected click-through rates of ongoing emails to the list
  • Anticipated traffic increase to your website

The Calculator is a one-of-a-kind tool that will not only help clients budget and set expectations for their lead-generation campaigns but helps instruct IROs on the most important parts of the campaign.

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Why did we create it?

  • To educate clients on the full scope of the lead generation funnel
  • To create transparency with expected results, and how those results are measured
  • To help companies budget for their IR outreach program

How were we able to create it?

  • We created the calculator based on the 3 main stages of the lead journey
  • We used conversion rates based on the last $200,000 spent on lead-generation campaigns with BLENDER
  • We’ve managed ad budgets north of $1 million—so we have quite a bit of data to draw from

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While it’s possible to conduct an effective lead generation campaign on your own, to maximize your results, you should work with a trusted organization with a long history of success.

BLENDER  and its subsidiary PrivatePlacements.com have been running top-tier lead generation campaigns for public companies for years, yielding excellent outcomes for a huge variety of companies. Our lead-gen campaigns go beyond handing you a list of leads, we create and distribute a variety of content to those leads that keep you top of mind.

Our calculator is the recommended first step for any investor lead-generation campaign with us. Check it out yourself, or schedule a meeting and we can provide you with a free demo!

LinkedIn for IR: How to Leverage the Platform to Get (and Keep) Investors

LinkedIn is one of the most powerful—and most often overlooked—social media tools for IROs. 

The ability to meet investors in the digital spaces where they live and work is essential for any investor relations professional, and LinkedIn is a hub of investor activity. According to a report from LinkedIn, 48% of all institutional investors use LinkedIn, and 61% of those users say they turn to it frequently. 66% of investors with assets over $100,000 say they use LinkedIn at least monthly.

But as powerful as LinkedIn can be, it can also be intimidating for IROs less well-versed in using social media for investor outreach. Here, we’ll give you a few easy strategies to implement LinkedIn into your IR strategy.

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Start with simple, informational posts

The best way to get investors engaged with your company on LinkedIn is by being useful to them, and the best way to be useful to investors is by updating them with information on your company.

Posts don’t need to be elaborate, detailed affairs. As long as they provide a tidbit of data that might be interesting or valuable to a user, they’re worth posting. It’s even a good idea to post your latest news releases to your page, perhaps with added context or commentary from your team.

Here are a few good post ideas for LinkedIn:

  • Introductions to key members of your team
  • News releases + commentary
  • Public appearances from members of your team
  • Announcements of upcoming conferences you’ll be attending
  • Macro-level analysis of your current market
  • Reposts of other key information sources or pundits that comment on your industry

The more regular your posts, the better engagement will be. Just ensure that every post has some substance to it—investors can smell fluff pieces from a mile away.

The next level: LinkedIn Newsletter

Once you’ve got a base level of posts coming out, it’s time to elevate your engagement on LinkedIn to the next level with a LinkedIn newsletter.

LinkedIn makes it easy to create an ongoing newsletter, establishing your company as an authority in the space, keeping investors informed on your company’s activities, and keeping your company top-of-mind. It’s a free, built-in feature within LinkedIn, so there’s no real reason not to do it other than time constraints—and it doesn’t take much time.

Follow these simple steps to start a LinkedIn newsletter. Once you do, your subscribers will receive in-app and email notifications whenever you publish, sending your latest posts straight to their inbox. This is incredibly powerful, giving subscribers everything they need to know from your company as it arrives. The articles also show up on your page, making sure subscribers don’t miss anything.

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Make sure your profiles are up to snuff

It may seem obvious, but it’s also essential that every profile for a member of your C-Suite, and your company page, are strong and convincing. Members of your team should have professional images and clear writing about what they’ve accomplished in their careers, and how they’re currently serving your company. Your company page should use professional copy (you can draw this directly from your IR site) and eye-catching imagery to build investor trust.

Your LinkedIn page may be an investor’s first interaction with your company, so it’s important that it looks professional and well-thought-out. Nothing diminishes confidence in a public company like sloppy execution, and that includes social media.

LinkedIn is easy, with a little time investment

Once you have your LinkedIn processes in place, it’s a simple matter to keep it up-to-date. You don’t have to be posting every day, but make it useful to investors, and they’ll engage with it. It’s that simple.

In essence, while the initial setup and integration of LinkedIn into investor relations may require some time investment, the platform’s user-friendly features make it a manageable task. Consistency, relevance, and professionalism are key pillars that, when prioritized, can transform LinkedIn into a dynamic and effective tool for investor engagement. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, embracing LinkedIn as a central component of your investor relations strategy is a strategic move that aligns with the preferences and habits of today’s investors.

Unleash the Power of ChatGPT: 6 Prompts for Effortless and Efficient Investor Content Generation

Most of the following article was written by ChatGPT, the buzzy new language model developed by OpenAI. Parts of its responses have been edited or cut down for cohesion, but it’s absolutely wild how effective this thing is. And, to this copywriter, a bit terrifying. Through this exercise, I’ve found that ChatGPT is best used with a steward who understands what makes effective content. For example, in generating headlines for this article, the ones it came up with weren’t very good, but when I input my ideas, it improved upon them immensely. So keep that in mind.

Anyway, onto the article:

For public companies, communicating with investors is a crucial aspect of building and maintaining their reputation. Keeping investors informed about a company’s performance and future plans can help build trust and confidence in the brand. With the rise of AI technology, companies now have access to powerful tools such as ChatGPT that can assist in streamlining their investor communication efforts. 

Developed by OpenAI, ChatGPT is a language model that uses deep learning algorithms to generate human-like text. By leveraging this technology, public companies can create engaging and informative investor communications that effectively convey their message. In this article, we will examine how public companies can use ChatGPT to enhance their marketing efforts to investors and drive growth.

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How to use ChatGPT

To use ChatGPT, simply input a prompt or question and the model will generate a human-like response. The quality and accuracy of the response depend on the quality of the input, so it’s important to provide specific and focused prompts for the best results.

Good prompts for a public company using ChatGPT include:

  • Provide an overview of the company’s financial performance for the past quarter.
  • Explain the company’s strategy for expanding into new markets.
  • Discuss the company’s plans for developing new products and services.

A couple caveats

It’s important to note that ChatGPT, like any AI technology, is not perfect and has its limitations. The model can sometimes generate responses that are inaccurate or inappropriate, especially when provided with ambiguous or poorly defined prompts. 

Additionally, the model may struggle to understand complex or technical topics and may require additional training or customization to meet the specific needs of your business. 

Therefore, it’s important to exercise caution and carefully review the output generated by ChatGPT before using it for important tasks such as investor communication. [Author’s note: ChatGPT also currently doesn’t have internet access itself, or access to any information prior to 2021, so if you want to use it for up-to-date data, you’ll have to paste it into the tool. See how that works below.]

The following are a few prompts that your company can use to leverage ChatGPT’s incredible potential to more quickly generate content, get your message out there, and effectively discuss your investment thesis.

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1. Summarize press releases

Example prompt: “Please summarize the following press release in one concise paragraph: [Insert press release text here]. The summary should highlight the main points and key information, such as new product launches, partnerships, financial results, etc.”

The results generated by ChatGPT in response to the prompt can be used for a variety of purposes, depending on the context and the intended audience. Some potential uses of the results include:

  • Quickly disseminating important information to stakeholders such as investors, employees, or customers.
  • Providing an executive summary or overview of a press release, report, or other documents for internal use or for distribution to the public.
  • Creating social media posts or other marketing materials that succinctly communicate key messages to a target audience.
  • Offering insights and analysis of data for informed decision-making.

By generating a concise and accurate summary of a press release or other document, ChatGPT can help save time and effort, and ensure that key information is communicated effectively.

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2. Write email updates for your stakeholders

Example prompt: “Generate a 300-word email news update for our stakeholders, summarizing the key points from the following information: [Insert information here]. Please ensure that the email is written in a professional and informative tone and that all important details are included. Additionally, please include any other relevant updates or developments that you think would be of interest to our stakeholders.”

This ChatGPT prompt would be useful as it allows the user to provide specific information that the model can incorporate into a comprehensive and well-written email news update. By automating the summarization process and incorporating relevant details, this prompt saves time and effort and ensures that important information is communicated effectively to stakeholders.

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3. Generate content for investor presentations

Example prompt: “Please summarize the following information into a concise and compelling narrative that can be included in an investor presentation: [Insert information here]. The summary should highlight key takeaways and provide a clear understanding of the information for the intended audience. The narrative should be written in a professional and persuasive tone, and should be structured in a way that clearly communicates the most important information.”

This ChatGPT prompt would be useful as it allows the user to easily transform complex information into a concise and compelling narrative for an investor presentation.

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4. Write managements bios

Example prompt: “Generate a professional and informative management bio for [Name of individual], incorporating the following information: [Insert information here]. The bio should include key details, such as education, experience, and accomplishments, and should be written in a clear and concise manner. The tone of the bio should be appropriate for a wide range of audiences, including investors, customers, and employees.”

This ChatGPT prompt would be useful to public companies as it streamlines the process of creating comprehensive management bios, saving time and effort.

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5. Write pages for your website

Example prompt: “Generate a comprehensive and informative description of our [Name of project] project, incorporating the following information: [Insert information here]. The description should provide a clear understanding of the project’s goals, progress, and potential impact, and should be written in a professional and engaging tone. The description should also be structured in a way that is easy to understand and appealing to a wide range of audiences, including investors, customers, and employees.”

This ChatGPT prompt could be used by a public company to easily create a detailed and engaging description of a specific project for use on their website or other marketing materials.

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6. Write summaries on macro market conditions, company plans and more

Example prompt: “Generate a brief and insightful summary on the current state of the uranium market, including key trends and factors affecting the market, and explain how EXAMPLE COMPANY plans to capitalize on these trends. The summary should be written in a clear and concise manner and should highlight the unique opportunities and advantages that EXAMPLE COMPANY possesses in the market. The tone of the summary should be confident and persuasive, demonstrating EXAMPLE COMPANY’s expertise and commitment to success in the uranium market.”

[Author’s note: The above prompt could be switched to write about ANY market, and ANY company, with the right information.]

A next-generation tool that’s easy to use

ChatGPT is a valuable asset for public companies in the marketing space. With its ability to quickly generate high-quality content, from summaries to detailed project descriptions, it streamlines the process of creating materials that are tailored to the needs of the company and its stakeholders. Whether used for creating investor presentations or website content, ChatGPT offers a fast and effective solution for automating content creation, saving time and effort while ensuring that key information is communicated clearly and effectively.