Click here or press enter for the accessibility optimised version

IR
Communications:
2024 Best Practice Guide
Click here or press enter for the accessibility optimised version

Introduction
The fundamentals of investor
relations have barely changed
in the last two-plus decades.
And yet, how an IR officer
(IRO) builds and manages
relationships with
stakeholders would be almost
unrecognizable to an IRO of
2000.

No question, the realm of

digital communications —
whether it’s holding a one-
on-one video call or using
artificial intelligence (AI) to
identify targets - has radically
rewritten the rules of
engagement for IROs.
When Disney CEO Bob Iger jokes that AI might
soon be doing his quarterly earnings call - an
apparently welcome possibility - it’s clear that
the world is changing fast.
Another sign of the swiftness of digital change?
Since the best known of the generative AI
tools, ChatGPT, went live on November 30,
2022, AI has remade investment calculations.
Already, 94 percent of investors in a Brunswick
survey say they use tools like AI and machine
learning to help them collect and analyze
digital and social media data as part of their
company research.
This guide explores everything -
from IR websites and the earnings experience to emerging topics like
digital accessibility, virtual events, and AI.
With such digitally savvy investors out there,
IROs are embracing everything from innovative
webcasts to virtual ESG roadshows and AI tools
that can instantaneously gather and analyze
enormous quantities of data. How best to use
the latest tools to communicate accurately and
informatively can be a true challenge and is
the central question tackled here.
Given the array of new tools and tactics IROs
possess, it’s an exciting - and occasionally
daunting - moment to be an IR practitioner.
Click here or press enter for the accessibility optimised version

PART ONE:
Rethinking Your
IR Website
Even as technology rapidly advances, the
bread-and-butter IR website maintains its
status as go-to source for stakeholders, from
institutional and retail investors to employees,
customers, and members of the wider
community.
Rethinking Your IR Website
One way to view your IR site is as the lobby of
your company, a place where investors are
made to feel welcome and can begin to
understand your story and your performance
to date.
When done right, an IR website is the source of
straightforward answers to investor queries, of
the latest earnings releases and SEC filings, of
highlights from videos of executives’ speeches,
and even of information for current and
prospective employees and customers, too.
With all that potential, some IR websites are
not hitting the mark.
According to IR Magazine’s 2023 research
report, just under 80 percent of IROs surveyed
said that IR websites are an effective tool for
engaging institutional investors.
Investors themselves are even less
enthusiastic. Here, only 65 percent find IR sites
very useful when looking to invest in a new
company, and even fewer - 62 percent - say the
same of IR websites at companies where
they’ve already invested.
Although IROs and investors have complaints,
there is overwhelming agreement that IR
websites are key to a company’s success in
conveying its story.
In fact, 84 percent of institutional investors in
the Brunswick survey said that it was
important for the equities they cover to have
an IR website.
Interactivity Rules
Nearly everyone agrees that consumer and
employee-facing websites need to have high-
quality design.

Surveys of institutional investors show that the

same attention to detail should be paid to an
IR site.

Gone are the days when making information

downloadable is enough to satisfy your
institutional base. Investors want facts at their
fingertips and are voicing a clear preference
for digital interactivity and in-page content.

Here are the top four areas of IR sites ranked

starting with the highest in terms of
importance by institutional investors in
Brunswick’s survey:

Stock price
Digital interactive quarterly/annual reports
In-page ESG materials
Interactive investor presentations
IR Website Best Practices
Here are nine top tips for making sure you’re getting the most from your IR site:
Make an Impression Quickly
Experts say a company has six or seven
seconds, at most, to make an online
impression before a web visitor moves on.
For the majority of public companies,
conveying your investment thesis clearly and
memorably is a must. Remember it’s not just
what you say but how you say it. Be accurate,
concise, and engaging.
In addition, consider adding media that
captures a quick overview of your company or,
ideally, a video of your CEO describing your
mission in an inspiring way. Both “video
content about the company” and “video
interviews with the leadership/board” tied for
fifth in institutional investors’ wish lists for IR
sites in the Brunswick survey.
Presentation counts, too. Medtronic’s sparing
use of text and plentiful white space are
extremely low-tech but draw in visitors,
encouraging key messages to be absorbed.
Be Visual
Once upon a time, IR websites were chockful of
boilerplate. Not today. The best websites of
2023 go light on text and are instead rich in
infographics, videos, and matrices of key
performance indicators (KPIs).
Create a Memorable Landing Page
As much as you’d like to think that investors
will eagerly read all information posted, they
won’t. Use analytics to determine which
content is being consumed and which is
getting overlooked. If information is too hard
to find or too difficult to understand, your
message may be getting lost. Once you know
message may be getting lost. Once you know
what to highlight, use your landing page to its
fullest.
Include an FAQ
Your website should be equipped to answer
common questions for times when direct
engagement isn’t possible. Remember to
carefully cull the questions and provide
concise answers in plain English.
Tell Your Story Boldly and Clearly
If your company is among the fortunate few
that possesses a household name, you don’t
need to use your IR website to tell the world
what you do. For practically every other public
company out there, though, explaining your
business in clear and unmistakable terms is a
must.
IR Website Best Practices (Continued)

Make Life Easy for Visitors Reinforce Your Branding Provide a Form for Feedback

“Investors want information about a company
at their fingertips,” as Andy Kramer, VP of
Investor Relations at Cellebrite, noted in a
recent report. Offering subscriptions to news
alerts, SEC filings, and other relevant events is
a way to keep investors informed. Ensuring
that information provided is machine-readable
and easily extracted from its source is
appreciated, too.
Whether it’s to investors or prospective
employees visiting your IR site, showcasing
your product line and values is a terrific idea.
Think Kraft Heinz, which puts its vision – “to
sustainably grow by delighting more
consumers globally” - front and center on its IR
site. The message is supported by a photo of a
happy family making Jello.
What content are users looking for that they
can’t find? And what questions do they want
answered? Starting a conversation through a
feedback form is a way to foster engagement.
What’s more, if the same few questions keep
arising, why not add those questions (with
answers) to your FAQ?

Allow Users To Control Their Own

Journeys

Your site should deliver high-impact, bite-

sized pieces of content allowing users to see
what’s latest and greatest - with the option of
drilling deeper when they’re interested in
learning more.
Click here or press enter for the accessibility optimised version

PART TWO:
Creating a Better
Earnings Experience
For public companies, an earnings release is
comparable to a report card; it’s an
opportunity to assess (and communicate
about) progress a company has made within a
given quarter.
Sorry, you must sign up in the online version to view this content.
Click here or press enter for the accessibility optimised version

PART THREE:
Making the Most of
Webcasts
At Tesla’s 2023 investor day, CEO Elon Musk
seemingly spoke off the cuff as the company’s
Optimus robot moved and grasped objects.
“It’s obviously not doing parkour,” Musk joked,
“but it is walking around.”
Sorry, you must sign up in the online version to view this content.
Click here or press enter for the accessibility optimised version

PART FOUR:
Broadening Your
Stakeholder Engagement
The rise of the retail investor is a trend that
shows no signs of abating. According to a
September 2023 Nasdaq report, today’s
individual investors are typically trading
between $34 billion and $39 billion a day.

That said, the percentage of retail investors on

a company’s shareholder roster varies greatly,
and so this audience is more of a concern for
some companies than others.
Sorry, you must sign up in the online version to view this content.
Click here or press enter for the accessibility optimised version

PART FIVE:
Telling Your ESG Story
In a 2020 EY investor survey, practically all
investors (98 percent) said they evaluate non-
financial performance based on corporate
disclosures, with almost three quarters (72
percent) saying they conduct a structured,
methodical evaluation.

The takeaway here is that the audience for

your non-financial—ESG—disclosures is
practically your entire investor base.
Sorry, you must sign up in the online version to view this content.
Click here or press enter for the accessibility optimised version

PART SIX:
Looking Ahead -
Artificial Intelligence
When it comes to summarizing an executive’s
talking points, building investor presentations,
and even drafting press releases, some IROs
have found a new assistant: AI.

Although many IROs have yet to explore

generative AI, this new technology has the
potential to transform core job functions.
Sorry, you must sign up in the online version to view this content.
Click here or press enter for the accessibility optimised version

Summary
As IROs see their workloads expanding each
year, they’re realizing that AI — and other
critical forms of digital communications — can
be harnessed to accomplish more ambitious IR
goals with less effort.
Sorry, you must sign up in the online version to view this content.
Click here or press enter for the accessibility optimised version

Notified can help you tell your best investment story

with IR solutions that enable powerful, effective and
flawless communication with global stakeholders.

Learn more today.

Cookies Terms Privacy POWERED BY