IR Websites Archives - Page 2 of 2

Keep investor marketing hot during slow summers by asking these questions

Posted on June 9, 2015April 30, 2018 by Marika Hirsch

While the wolves of Wall Street are away in Tahiti

Turns out vacation plans and warm weather have their effects on the markets as well. Summer is often a slower time for public companies, as it’s the slowest time for the markets and investors. MainStreet.com writes that “one of the biggest reasons [for summer slump] is that there isn’t much market-swaying information being released…summer is [the] correction period before the market picks up again in October”. Or maybe everyone just wants to find some sand, sun, and surf.

Regardless of the reason, it makes us excited because summer is a great time to strengthen your investor marketing strategies–aka our bread and butter. If getting more visibility to your IR website or researching new investor marketing tactics was in the back of your mind in the past year, try thinking about it now. Here are some questions to ask yourself this summer to help strengthen future IR marketing strategies.

1. Have I taken a look at my website lately?

How does your website stack up amongst others in your industry? Does the design need to be updated? Take a look at some of your competitors’ websites. Design trends move so fast nowadays that it’s important to take a step back and reassess where your corporate and investor site is on the scale. This doesn’t mean you need to be ridiculously cutting edge. But some things, like being mobile-friendly, are really important to start incorporating. (Mobilegeddon anyone?) Your investor website is the main point of contact between you and your target audience. Think about whether it’s time to give the site a refresh. Summer’s a great time to get started!

2. How are my social media accounts doing?

Still not on social media? No excuses this time. If you still need proof on how social media can work for investors, get it here. Next week’s blog will also talk about Twitter and investor relations specifically, so stay tuned. When we say you should look at your social media accounts, we don’t mean just making sure you have them. Have you seen some new things companies are doing with Twitter and IR marketing? Check out how General Electric’s CEO tweeted important quotes from their annual meeting. Use social media to get more people involved and more people listening.

3. Have I started cleaning my email lists?

Remember our infographic last week? We showed you how ensuring your subscribers are a ‘yay’ on the CASL scale actually increases your open-rate by 87%! If you haven’t seen the proof yet, we really think you should check it out. Going through your email lists might sound like less than a good time, but it’ll be really helpful especially when the markets pick back up. How many of your news releases are currently sent to outdated contacts or lost in spam filters? As we showed in the infographic, outdated lists affect your open-rate statistics. Plus, don’t you want to be sending emails to only those who actually care?

4. Have I looked at new ways people are using technology for investor marketing?

Start researching. We talked a few weeks ago about T-Mobile live-streaming their earnings call and participating in a live social media Q&A. There’s a lot of ways to incorporate newer technologies into investor marketing that many companies haven’t touched on yet. Summer’s a good time to see what’s out there and start thinking of how things like webcasts and live Q&A’s can work for you.

5. Do I have plans to start using more video in my marketing efforts?

Remember the infamous ‘Oreo Superbowl tweet of 2013′? If you don’t: Oreo Cookies’ real-time reaction tweet about ‘dunking in the dark’ minutes after the power went out in the Superbowl stadium stands as the pinnacle moment of brands reacting to current events on social media. Two years later, everyone has shown up to the party and things are getting crowded.

Using video for investor marketing is still fairly new. So there’s still time to be the Oreo of public company video marketing. Start thinking of how you can use video to target investors whether it’s a casual CEO one-on-one interview, an animated spot about your company’s product or process, or a short video of highlights to showcase your investment proposition. Whatever you choose, start looking into it now, because video is going to be the new social media.

GoDaddy improves their IR site visibility with one simple step

Posted on May 26, 2015February 4, 2016 by Marika Hirsch

‘It’s Go-Time’

You may remember GoDaddy from their many (in)famous Super Bowl ads throughout the years. They just IPOed on April 1st of this year. Last week, the popular US web hosting company with the slogan ‘it’s go-time’ just did something that the majority of public companies fail to do, but really should. And no, it wasn’t make another uncomfortable ad.

Redirect genius

The step is simple, really. GoDaddy’s ticker symbol is GDDY so, with the aid of Right of the Dot, the company bought the URL ‘GDDY.com’. They then had that site automatically redirect visitors to GoDaddy’s main investor relations page. IR Magazine writes that this process is ‘an easy way to improve access to your IR site’.

In a press release, GoDaddy Senior Vice President and General Manager of Domains (that’s a mouthful) Mike McLaughlin said “there are a lot of companies, large and small, that miss the opportunity to use domain names to make it easy for visitors. The right domain name gets visitors exactly where they want to go, eliminating extra steps and time”. He also added “our goal is to help small businesses be successful and part of that is informing them about best practices”.

What are the big boys doing?

The majority of them are behind. According to the press release, “about 20% of the Fortune 500 have their stock ticker as a domain name”. But out of those 20%, only 2 actually use the ticker symbol domain to redirect specifically to an investor relations page. Most just point to the company’s homepage.

Why we love that GoDaddy did this

This is a perfect example of how improving access to your investor site doesn’t always mean big, complicated concepts. Start with something as simple as acquiring your stock ticker’s URL and channeling all that traffic to your IR page.

Check it out for yourself here www.GDDY.com

or read the full news release here.

Blender wins ‘Best in Class’ Interactive Media Award in Investor Relations category

Posted on May 19, 2015March 27, 2018 by Marika Hirsch

Time to bring out the champagne!

We’re proud to announce that Blender won the 2015 Interactive Media Award for ‘Best in Class’ in the Investor Relations category for the Silver Standard Resources website. Yes, that was a mouthful. Still with us? Because this is exciting stuff.

What ‘Best in Class’ means for the IMAs

Upon receiving the award, we were told by the Interactive Media Council (IMC), the nonprofit who sponsors the IMAs, that “the Best in Class award is the highest honor bestowed by the Interactive Media Awards. It represents the very best in planning, execution and overall professionalism”. Some of the elements taken into consideration during the “comprehensive judging process” included the design, content, feature functionality, usability, and standards compliance of the website.

Who’s behind the bling?

The Interactive Media Council is comprised of leading web designers, developers, programmers, advertisers and other web-related professionals. According to the IMA website, some featured judges represented companies such as The New York Times, Microsoft, CNNmoney, and Ogilvy & Mather.

Why we’re really excited (besides the fact that ‘Best in Class’ is fun to say)

This award for an innovative IR site also acknowledges our ‘challenge the norm, break the mold’ mind-frame that drives us every day. We don’t sit well with boring, and want to push companies to try something new when it comes to the design and strategy of their investor relations websites. (Beyond the Best Practices, if you will). For us, this award is a recognition from our peers that our way of thinking is working.

Why we’re proud of the Silver Standard project

If you have a lot of time on your hands, or if you’re just our #1 fan, you can read our in-depth case study here. If you want the quick and dirty version, our Blender president Arash Adnani says it best: “Blender made the [Silver Standard] site more of an experience for its users. We focused on storytelling education and a seamless user experience from desktop to mobile browsing”.

If you only pull one word from that quote, pull experience. Our main focus was maximizing every moment of a user’s time on the Silver Standard site. The most important starting point for us was motion. The new site needed to move unlike its predecessor. Our general visual approach was to keep it minimal but significant. It was also important for us that users were educated about the sector as well as informed about the company. So we developed a unique section called ‘Metals Fundamentals’ where visitors can learn more about the industry that Silver Standard is a part of, and about silver’s worldwide impact.

So what’s next guys?

We’re super proud of our team, and can’t wait to apply for more awards (I mean, who doesn’t like sparkly things?). But most importantly for us, this award serves to focus us in on our main goal of changing the game when it comes to corporate and IR sites. We’re happy to be recognized for our continuous drive to bring innovation to digital investor relations. Now we just want to create more award-winning investor sites. Hey, our next one could even be yours. Give us a call.

Bonus:

Can you feel the excitement through the photos?

Double Bonus:

We can create award-winning websites, but we can’t open a bottle of champagne.

httpss://instagram.com/p/24BIEfD9mo/

5 reasons T-Mobile is killing it with their investor relations homepage

Posted on May 12, 2015January 29, 2016 by Marika Hirsch

Yep, we’re talking about T-Mobile again. And not just because they’re our 2015 social media IRChamp (woot woot). There’s a lot that public companies can learn from the wireless carrier’s desktop investor relations site. T-Mobile is fearless when it comes to experimenting with new technologies for IR and giving you access to their activities, and they’re also pretty fly when it comes to branding. Here’s 5 things you can learn from T-Mobile’s investor relations homepage:

1. Their branding continues to be kick-ass

The Un-carrier: If you’ve read enough of our blog posts by now, you know that we love when public companies spread the design love to their investor’s section as well as their corporate site (we don’t like no drop-off). T-Mobile is a great example of this continuity. You immediately recognize their brand, even if you’re looking for the investor factsheet. From their signature hot pink colour to the ‘we won’t stop’ tagline on both their Factbook and 2014 Annual report, T-Mobile stays cool and consistent with their message.

2. They give you a company snapshot

Clear intro paragraph: Although their Investor Relations page is full of flair, T-Mobile doesn’t want you to get distracted from the real reason you’re here. A clear and concise intro paragraph at the top of the homepage reminds you of their ultimate mission to ‘redefin[e] the way consumers and businesses buy wireless services’.

3. They get the importance of convenience

Embedded Investor Factbook: No guesswork or digging needed. The company’s Q1 2015 Investor Factbook is embedded right on the IR homepage. Scroll down the entire IR homepage, or click and scroll inside the Investor Factbook section to read it. The eye-catching cover ensures that people will want to see what it’s all about. The factbook is also available on Slideshare, for anyone to view or share easily.
Recent news in the banner: At the top of the IR homepage, T-Mobile includes an easy click-through of the most recent company news. Selecting each news snippet brings the user to the fuller news release, but for quick and easy access one only needs to look at the top of the page.

4. They’re not afraid to give you an all access pass

Livestreamed earnings call: T-Mobile wants to give everyone full access to what’s going on with the company, not just their stakeholders. They’ve live-streamed multiple earnings calls in the past. On their unofficial blog, they encourage people to take advantage of the livestream as it’s “an opportunity to…listen in on John Legere, Mike Sievert, and a number of executives answer questions and share their thoughts on the past few months”. Any user can view an embedded YouTube stream of the most recent earnings call on the T-Mobile IR homepage. At the beginning of the call, CEO John Legere encourages anyone to “watch all the action that’s going on” and to text, call in, or tweet any questions for a Q&A portion at the end.
Seriously, you should check a little bit of the livestream out here. There’s a dude in a pink cowboy hat.

5. They want to get social with you

Tweet to @TMobileIR: While we’re mentioning their livestreamed earnings call, T-Mobile makes sure to include, for the third time, a social element to the call, asking people to tweet their questions to @TMobileIR with the hashtag #TMUSearnings.
Live Twitter feed: Let’s go back to the IR homepage. T-Mobile includes a live Twitter feed at the bottom so people can easily track what they’re doing daily. As the company is most active on Twitter, they don’t cloud their message with multiple social networking buttons, but stick to what they do best.
Tweet to @TMobile hyperlink: This is a small element that really makes all the difference. At the bottom of their live Twitter feed, a small hyperlink asks users to ‘Tweet to @TMobile’. It’s fast, it’s easy, and it’s not confusing. Especially with big companies like T-Mobile who have multiple social media accounts for multiple countries, this small convenience letting a user know the exact account with a hyperlink takes out all the guesswork.

Want to check out the page for yourself? Do it. Right here.

How to use social media for investor relations

Posted on March 24, 2015April 26, 2016 by Marika Hirsch

Introduction: If it’s just social not-working for you

Social media’s wide influence on the world of investor relations is fairly new. Suddenly, there’s more than one place you can post new releases, investor presentations, and company updates, and there’s also a set of rules. The sheer overwhelm when it comes to social media can cause many public companies, IRO’s, and professionals to shy away from it all together. But what’s important to remember is that social media is just another form of communication. It’s a way to reach out to those in your network or those investors you’re hoping to get to know. Even though it may sometimes feel like a steep uphill climb, here’s some easy tips to help get you thinking and get you started when it comes to social media for investor relations.

Social media is just one part of your online presence. Download our eBook on 9 tips to improving investor communication with your website.

Using social media for investor relations

Tip 1: Know your cashtag

No, we didn’t make a typo while trying to write the word hashtag. A ‘cashtag’ is a real thing, and although many people might be familiar with seeing them on Twitter, you may not really understand what they’re about. A cashtag is your ticker symbol with a $ in front of it and, just like your ticker symbol, your cashtag is completely unique to you. (Examples: $SBUX for Starbucks, $TWTR for Twitter). Search your unique cashtag on Twitter to see all the conversations going on specifically about your company in the IR world. To get even more specific, try checking out StockTwits. PR Newswire writes “StockTwits and Twitter are different. Keep that in mind as you review your cashtag streams. Think of StockTwits as a monitored sub-culture of stock-nerds from Twitter”. While Twitter includes every cashtag, StockTwits “automatically filters out pennystocks from the discussion stream and…members have identified themselves as ‘market participants'”.

Tip 2: Imagery and links go together like peanut butter and chocolate

Sometimes the key for effectively using social media for investor relations and getting more engagement is about adding a little something to catch someone’s eye. When posting content to platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, add an image to the post to give it a little more umpf. Sometimes the platform will generate an image for you from the link you’re posting, but if a preview image isn’t automatically supplied, consider uploading one yourself. Here’s a great example from our friends at NIRI. The Facebook post announcing their next IPO Focus Group is enhanced with a separate image also highlighting the event.

Post by NIRI.

Tip 3: Formatting is fun

Here’s another simple tip that you can take advantage of as soon as you finish reading this article. Stay looking clean and professional on your social media channels by having the appropriate formatting when it comes to company logos/banners/cover photos on your profile pages. Without the right sizing, your logo could come across blurry, stretched, or even partly cut off. The guys over at Constant Contact made a handy social media formatting guide. Effective social media for investor relations strategy means coming across as clean and professional on all social channels.

Tip 4: Take advantage of the real-time aspect

Social media conversations are a million a minute, and if someone’s not liking something you’re putting out there, you’ll certainly hear about it on social media first. The growing presence of social media for investor relations is prompting public companies to always be on top of their game and to stay transparent. It’s no longer an excuse to not be updated. The social media consulting company TalkWalker writes that social media can be a good place to “take the opportunity to react in real time to user comments about you key events, such as the publication of your annual reports, or other corporate actions…this will give you the chance to reduce any message misalignments and the opportunity to encourage brand endorsement”. Now this doesn’t mean responding to every Negative Nelly. This tip is more about keeping a finger on the pulse of your industry’s conversation. Having a spontaneous flow of information can be spun to a company’s advantage. Use it to always be informed of what’s being said, and if any sort of crisis communications becomes necessary, having an understanding of the chatter of the masses really goes a long way. For a good example of how this worked for Starbucks, check this out.

Tip 5: DOESN’T THIS LOOK ANNOYING?

This tip is going to be short and sweet. Do not capitalize an entire news release announcement when posting it to social media. Trust us, you’ll turn some people off if EVERYTHING IS ANNOUNCED like you’re screaming . If you really want to add some capitalization when announcing important company info, try it this way:

NEWS RELEASE: This just in, capitalization of entire news releases can lead to major frustration.

Tip 6: Make use of Twitter lists

Twitter lists are a great tool to organize your followers (or potentials) into public or private lists. Hootsuite writes about why you should make Twitter lists: “the beauty of Twitter is that it is very transparent. You can create lists of people you find influential in your industry or thought leaders within your own company. These lists can be a way to show off your employees or network of awesome followers”.

When you add someone new to a list, say you’ve called it ‘Industry Influencers,’ they will get a notification that you have added them. This is a great, transparent way to get a conversation going with potential clients, investors, or just people you’d like to get to know. Hootsuite writes, “this is a great way to increase your visibility with Twitter users who you do not follow”. The ‘private list’ option can also be useful, as it’s a great way to monitor clients and competitors.

Want more Twitter specific tips? We’ve done lots of research. Read our blog post about how to use Twitter for IR. Have some more time? We’ve also written an eBook on the subject.

Tip 7: Publish original content: If blogs are too scary, start with LinkedIn publisher

If you haven’t heard much about LinkedIn publisher by now, you should get on it. Yes, a blog is the most obvious way to share content to people in your community, but blog upkeep takes a lot of work. If you’re not there yet, think about LinkedIn publisher. Most all the people you’re trying to reach in the investment community or otherwise are probably on LinkedIn. With LinkedIn publisher, any member can write and circulate their own content. This is a great way to start establishing your company as industry influencers. Forbes writes that LinkedIn publisher gives members an opportunity “to showcase their expertise…and distribute quality content to their networks”.

LinkedIn publisher means you get to start off with a more specific audience. Blog posts tend to get lost in the hazy stratosphere of content creation, but publishing content to LinkedIn guarantees more targeted eyes. Forbes says “many professionals have no control over where their content is published or which audience it reaches. With LinkedIn, your content will at least reach your network and could reach other distribution channels”.

Using social media for investor relations: takeaway list

Get all that? It’s okay if you skimmed, just make sure to remember this:

1. Know your company $cashtag and make use of it (StockTwits is different, but handy).

2. Add images to your links.

3. Make sure all social media posts and images are properly formatted.

4. Use the real-time aspect of social media to keep a finger on the pulse of your industry.

5. Do NOT capitalize everything.

6. Look into Twitter lists of influencers, competitors, and investors, and make your own lists.

7. Start publishing your own content.

Uranium Producers of America website before and afters

Posted on February 24, 2015January 29, 2016 by Marika Hirsch

Here’s some highlights from the website redesign we did for Uranium Producers of America. Get a glimpse into our process when approaching a redesign, and of the great collaboration and ideas from both sides that made the project such a success.

Doing it all in blue

We focused on creating a more cohesive overall theme with UPA’s new site. The consistent colour scheme of blues, whites, and greys with one main font makes locating important information easier. The new cohesive theme also helps with better navigation, as important links and titles are highlighted in blue.

Everybody loves maps

A new interactive map is now displayed front and centre on UPA’s homepage. The map gives users the ability to connect and locate all the UPA members from around the states. Whereas in the old website the list of Uranium Producers of America Members was content heavy and hidden on an inner-page, bringing the member companies to the forefront and connecting them with their region adds a more personal touch to the cooperation as a whole, as well as easily illustrating the collaboration and wide influence of UPA. Users are able to click different US regions and see which members operate where. Clicking on a specific member also allows a visitor to relocate to that member’s website.

Graphing the supply and demand

An important section of Uranium Producers of America’s old website dealt with educative materials including charts and graphs detailing the historical supply and demand of uranium. We reworked the graphs of the old site to make them more user friendly and intuitive. We also consolidated the text so the eye is first drawn to the graphs themselves, rather than to a bulk of words around them.

Connections made easier

The new Uranium Producers of America website reminds users to sign up for their company updates at multiple moments throughout the site. Whereas the old website had a small email button at the top, the redesign mandates a set area right on the homepage where a potential investor can quickly give their information. The email signup space on the new website is also at the bottom of each consecutive inner-page in addition to the homepage, as a subtle reminder at every turn.

News becomes noteworthy

UPA’s most recent news is now prominently displayed on the homepage. Having the news front and centre helps users interact more with the company’s most current ‘going-ons,’ rather than listing everything in a more outdated archive on a separate page entirely.

Fluid navigation

We made it a lot easier to get around UPA’s new website. A new central navigation bar attached to the left of the screen makes way for an easy slide-out secondary navigation bar allowing a user to see multiple options at once. Important investor information such as report documents and the interactive map are now easily listed in the ‘About Us’ section.

4 easy ways to make your IR site stand out

Posted on December 15, 2014January 29, 2016 by Marika Hirsch

You’ll catch us saying this a lot at Blender: Investor Relations is a form of communication, which means it’s a form of marketing. We say it all the time because we feel it’s a crucial point to understand in order to have success with your digital IR channels. All too often websites will have inventive layouts, stylistic designs, and engaging content until you get to the Investors page. Suddenly the layouts become template-driven and fresh content dries up.

We’re here to let you know it doesn’t have to be that way. Here are a few easy tips you can implement to give your IR site a little more edge.

1. Immediately show them their reasons to invest

There’s no need to be coy. If users are browsing your Investors page, they’re curious. And that’s a good thing. If they have to wade through pages and pages to find the basics, that’s not. So reward their curiosity with upfront, easily-digestible reasons why they should be interested in you. Look at how Adidas does it:

They list ‘Reasons to Invest’ first thing when a user clicks onto their Investors page. The company is straightforward about their value, and investors will appreciate that.

2. Spread the design love

Most often when entering a company website, the flashy homepage is what draws the eye and the Investors section includes the dry numbers and the ‘business talk.’ Because of this ingrained idea, there’s often a steep drop-off in the commitment to design and the company brand between the homepage and the Investors page. It doesn’t have to be that way. Just because an Investors page isn’t super flashy, doesn’t mean it has to be template-driven either. Coca-Cola is getting it right:

The Coca-Cola Company’s homepage is shown on the left, with their Investors section on the right. The homepage is full of design innovation and eye-catching images. While there’s a bit less ‘sparkle’ when clicking onto the Investors section, Coca-Cola makes sure that the essence of their design ideas and the soul of their brand remains. The crucial statistics to see on the Investors page are enhanced by the commitment to design. Smaller sliding banners showcase the company’s long history within the marketplace, and black and white graphics help the numbers make sense. Scrolling down shows that their ‘Corporate Governance,’ ‘Leadership,’ and other sections are designed the same way as their homepage.

3. Think about data visualization

Infographics are everywhere for a reason. They work. It’s important to think outside of the text box when it comes to the ways that necessary information is presented. See how GE includes eye-catching infographics to showcase how they’re ‘delivering to shareholders’.

This breakdown is also easily downloadable and helps potential investors process the information. Adding multimedia elements to an Investors page is another great way to break away from templates and display the necessary data in a more engaging way.

4. Your ‘company story’ should stretch to every page

Making sure your business has a good ‘company story’ has been a big buzzword lately. Every company should have a clear mission for today, future goals, and a main message they’re trying to relay to their users-both casual browsers and potential investors. While many companies have secondary pages that allow users to dig further into their background, all these main goals and ‘rules we live by’ are lost once brought to the Investors page.

BP Global’s Investors page does a good job of incorporating their company story right in the forefront of their Investors section. Directly underneath the main ‘Investor’ title is a single sentence summing up what they stand for . Similarly, underneath the ‘quick links’ section, BP invites users to read their short ‘Investor Proposition.’ In a few sentences, they reiterate the successes they’re currently having, their goals for the future, and why they’d be a good fit for investing.

This short but helpful ‘Investor Proposition’ underlines how a company’s message can still be apparent without repeating everything users probably saw on the homepage or other secondary pages. Offering a short summary in your Investors section of what you stand for as a business with an opportunity to ‘Read More’ makes it easily-digested by potential investors.

Three Simple Ways to Engage Investors

Posted on May 1, 2014March 15, 2016 by Blender

Brazil Resources Inc. (TSX-V: BRI) is a public mineral exploration company with a focus on the acquisition and development of projects in emerging producing gold districts in Brazil, Paraguay and other parts of South America. Recently we re-designed their website. The company needed a website that could effectively tell their story to investors! Together with the client, we brainstormed different ideas and web design techniques that would help achieve their objective. In the end, we decided that an embedded video, a unique investment highlights page and responsive design were the three tools that could help make BRI’s story be heard.

Embedded Video

Since 2013 was one of the toughest years for the junior mining sector we wanted to find a way where we could effectively communicate BRI’s plan with its shareholders. We chose to use an embedded video because it has the ability to covey a clear and direct message. The video gave BRI’s management team the opportunity to communicate with its audience about its strategy during these tougher times. The CEO, Steve Swatton, and Chairman, Amir Adnani got a chance to touch on all of the market opportunities for the company. The video emphasizes that a downturn can be the best time to grow a new company.

Investment Highlights Page

We created a scrolling parallax page with interactive images to tell BRI’s story, this is the perfect tool for giving your viewers an informative, yet seamless experience. With a micro to macro approach, we used facts, figures, and performance metrics to elaborate on BRI’s story. Starting with micro, the Investment highlights page explains BRI’s rapid resource growth through strategic acquisition, highlighted by their capital structure and strong management team. Then we switch over to the company’s macro story – Why Brazil? This section highlights the country’s rising economy.

Responsive Design

Brazil Resources has a very diverse group of shareholders so it was important for their website to cater to everyone’s needs. On that note, we used responsive design, a web design approach aimed at crafting sites to provide an optimal viewing experience. This ensures that all of BRI’s shareholders and future investors can access their site anywhere, on any device.

Perfecting Your IR Digital Communications Strategy

Posted on August 19, 2013May 2, 2018 by The Blender Team

What are some of the digital communications tools your company is using right now? When you’re not readily available to talk to every investor, shareholder and analyst out there, the digitals would be the primary contact person for your company. Give the investment community the information they’re looking for! Want to make sure you’ve got yourself covered on the Internet? Check out our list of investor-focused digital communications:

An IR website is, of course, the primary resource of corporate information. It is there to help investors and analysts to get to know you better, so they can go on and make investment decisions. Put yourself in the investor’s shoes, and crawl through the website like an investor would. Can you access the information quickly and efficiently? Is the content up-to-date? Are outdated materials nicely organized into an archive section? Is your website (hub of information) accessible through mobile? Think of your IR website as your online spokesperson, and make sure it has all the materials that it needs!

Without me saying, you’re probably aware of the recent video conference calls that were held by Netflix and Yahoo! Live video conference calls are definitely costly and not for everyone; however, most conference calls are just broadcast live by audio webcast, and it is a popular IR tool. It gives you more room to communicate and explain things in greater detail than you would normally in just a news release.

Email marketing is a great way of communications as well; the best part is that, the emails you send out can be tracked. With open rates, clicked ratio, and other statistics, you can turn information into intelligence. From the statistical results, you can track your success, and measure your IR communications strategies. What’s more important is that, your target audience has the option to email you back and contact you right away if they have questions or comments.

You must have read/seen/scanned a lot of content about social media and investor relations already… but it’s only the truth – social media is making a huge impact on investor relations. With social networking sites, information is shared everywhere, every day, every second. Let it be blog postings or tweets, they are all great platforms to get your company’s message out. Handy tip: good content always have it easier when it comes to engaging conversations. Always ask yourself, is this information relevant? If no, think twice, because people are most likely not going to share it.

Webcasting is growing more and more popular every day. It usually involves audio with slides or video broadcast over the Internet. The biggest plus would be that, personal (yet virtual) relationship you’re building with your target audience. You intrigue your investors or analysts with a hook, they sign up (and you get their contacts) and you inform them about your company. It’s convenient and efficient! Give it a try if you haven’t already! Webcasting would work well for events such as, quarterly earnings, shareholder meetings, and presentations that you might have at hand.

5 Reasons Why Investors Close Websites

Posted on June 3, 2013May 1, 2018 by The Blender Team

If you’re a successful publicly traded company, there would be a million different reasons for investors to invest in you. But the tricky part might be, knowing how to utilize your website to its fullest to make the decision easier for investors. When investors can’t drop by your corporation’s head office or visit your laboratory, they can only resort to analyzing your online web presence.

So what makes an investor stay on your webpage to research your company and finally make a decision to invest? And what makes them click “X” and close your website immediately?

Here’s why investors might close your website (and how to fix that problem):

Your website has broken links
Broken links are really frustrating, and that’s the same with crashes, freezes and down-times. All of these problems will shatter trust and cause investors to click that red box “X” to close the window. To prevent that from happening, make sure your website is hosted by a reliable server, and that you always have someone on call to save the day.
Investors can’t find the information they need
When investors come to your website, you can almost assume they’re interested in doing a little bit of research before they make the decision. So when they land on your page and still have to dig through pages and pages of content, of course they’re going to leave! You could add an investor highlight section that is designed to summarize your company’s data into a fun-to-read version. With infographics and punchy statements of your financial strengths and stock quotes, investors will be engaged and interested.
Your webpage hasn’t been updated since 1998
An ancient website is just going to urge investors to click close. First, it’s not aesthetically pleasing. Second of all, it might mislead your investors. They might ponder whether you’re actually a company that is well established or even question if you actually exist! Just need to freshen up your look sometimes. You can’t wear the same suit for 10 years; likewise, your website needs a new skin. Give it some love!
They’re lost in navigation…
Your website is not intuitive to use, rather than making your investors’ lives easier, it makes it more difficult for them. End result? Investors will likely go elsewhere. Design is not just an art, but also a science. There are proven standards for layout, design, and functionality. A “cool” but complex design will not impress. Instead, a simple and intuitive design wins.
The website is not optimized for their mobile or tablet
I’m sure you’ve experienced it too. Tried opening a website and realized you can only view it on desktop because of some flash player issue? You can’t assume they’ll look at your website again when they get a hold of a desktop. Opportunities don’t come twice. Give your website a responsive design – the fluidity to be viewed on all devices.

Tag: IR Websites