How to Flourish with Data-Driven Investor Relations

CEOs everywhere are calling 2023 “the year of efficiency.” 

The theme of efficiency keeps surfacing time and again as CEOs discuss earnings with investors, as noted recently with companies such as Ford, Meta, and UPS. This should not surprise any investor relations officer (IRO). In fact, IROs are probably crafting the message that their C-level executives are delivering to worried (and vocal) investors who are navigating an uncertain year fraught with ongoing news about global geopolitical instability and recessionary economic conditions. 

It’s one thing to talk about efficiency. How can IROs be more efficient themselves?  

The answer is to embrace data-driven digital IR – specifically first-party data. 

First-party data refers to data that a company collects directly from its customers or website visitors. This type of data is considered to be the most valuable and reliable source of information because it comes directly from the source. It includes a wide range of information, such as a user's name, email address, browsing behavior, purchase history, and other personal or behavioral data types. This data can be collected through various means, such as website cookies, customer surveys, purchase histories, or account registration forms. 

Companies often utilize first-party data to better understand their customers, personalize their marketing campaigns, and improve their overall business strategy. One of the best uses for first-party data is its potential to be used to support investor relations. After all, investors leave plenty of breadcrumbs when they visit your site and dwell on one page or another. The time they spend researching specific sections of your site can leave clues as to their intent. Examples: 

What content is most relevant to investors?

Where investors spend their time on your site is a clear barometer of their interests. Consider environmental, social, and governance (ESG) content. To assess how well businesses manage the risk of ESG, investors are demanding consistent ESG data and narrative to support their investment decision-making. We recently studied traffic on our client’s sites to identify the most popular type of ESG content, ranging from a company’s sustainability strategy to board remuneration approaches. When we break down the results for each client, we can help them understand how to tailor their ESG messaging accordingly across all their IR content. 

What format do investors prefer?

Thanks to our own analysis of our clients’ IR sites, we know that digital summaries of annual reports are increasingly popular. Investors prefer to have one-page summaries of annual reports published on IR sections on their corporate websites and not created as a microsite. By knowing what format investors are looking for, an IRO can make their company more relevant to the needs of investors.  

Is it time to change your message?

IROs must be ready to adapt their message quickly to respond to myriad forces that can affect a company’s share price, ranging from the unthinkable (an unforeseen global pandemic) to the uncertain (a global economic slowdown). With the help of financial intelligence platforms, IROs can examine the common themes emerging in investors’ queries, conversations with company executives, and other content typically stored right on the IR section of a website. This helps them adapt their message to growing concerns of a recession. 

Who is interested in your company?

When investors willingly share their names and company affiliations by filling out lead forms to obtain more details about a company, they create an opportunity for the IRO to get more granular information about who is interested in the company. This is especially true when first-party data reveals a pattern, say, a high volume of requests coming from the same investor. This data can identify an opportunity (perhaps an institutional investor wanting to take a position in a company) or a threat (an institutional investor with a reputation for being an activist). This data gives the IRO an important advantage: the ability to be proactive. 

What first-party data cannot do for an IRO is take action. The IRO still needs to act decisively with information. At Investis Digital, we help IROs do this all the time through our combination of strategic counsel and IR data analytics tools. To learn more about our capabilities, visit our website here. Read more of our IR-related blog posts here. And contact us today.