IR Newsletters Are Here to Transform Investor Communications—Here’s What Should You Know About Them:
Gone are the days of static communication, strictly-quarterly reports, and low-impact investor relationships. Step into the dynamic world of IR newsletters with Julia Stoetzel as she reveals the art of frequent, tailored communication in Juniversity's enlightening class on IR newsletters.
Imagine this:
An inbox notification that leads to an insightful update about your company's latest achievements.
An email that breaks down complex financial data into digestible insights, sparking investor interest.
A newsletter that not only informs but also engages, building a bridge between your firm and its stakeholders.
This is the evolving landscape of Investor Relations (IR), where email marketing isn't just an add-on but a cornerstone of effective communication. It's a realm where timely updates meet personalized touchpoints, creating a dynamic dialogue with investors.
In a world where information is at everyone's fingertips, how do you ensure your message stands out and resonates?
Julia Stoetzel, founder and CEO of Junicorn Consulting, delves into this topic in Section B, Module 08 of Juniversity's eLearning course, designed to equip IR professionals with next-gen strategies. From the undeniable benefits to the art of segmentation and the potential to broaden the investor base, Julia offers a masterclass in leveraging newsletters for impactful investor relations.
Let's explore some key insights from the lecture:
Key Takeaway #1: Investor relations newsletters are one of the most impactful marketing tools IR professionals can use because they make timely communication easier, keep personalization accessible, and help build stronger investor relationships. Together, these benefits can help you tap into a larger investor pool with a much more cost and effort-efficient approach.
Here’s what Julia has to say about the benefits of IR newsletters:
"Investor relations newsletters allow you for very timely communication, so you can provide very regular updates. Obviously you can personalize the communication. This is something very specific to email marketing. You can segment your customers, your investors or your audience, right? You could segment them into existing investors, you could segment them into potential investors that you have maybe seen on a roadshow. You can segment them into financial press or maybe into service providers. So maybe you do not want to give everyone kind of the same frequency of information. And thirdly, you can build investor relationships. So it really helps you to build a very loyal investor base because emails again are something where people are very encouraged to answer and give you feedback. So this really builds a relationship which is like a two sided relationship as opposed to something that we've seen, for example, with a press release."
With these benefits, you can significantly improve the performance of your IR communications strategy and better ensure that your digital efforts easily integrate into the overall process.
Key Takeaway #2: When you’re writing your IR newsletters, keep the importance of equal investor treatment in mind so that you get to provide sufficient information without creating a sense of bias between investor groups. Although personalization, timely deliver, and stronger connections are important, it is crucial to ensure you maintain an equal treatment to all your investors—and Julia emphasizes this, saying:
“Be wary though that you cannot share extra information that is relevant to the equity story or to the stock development, to only a few investors, right? So it's usually about equal treatment of investors.”
As a rule of thumb, be cautious about providing selective information to certain investors—and consult with the legal department to ensure compliance with regulations surrounding what you disclose in newsletters.
Key Takeaway #3: Although IR newsletters are effective when it comes to communicating crucial details and tapping into a wider investor audience, it helps to use it together with other channels or mediums—preferably social media and podcasting. And with this cross-marketing approach, you can maximize your time and monetary investment by reusing and maximizing content across platforms.
Based on Julia’s experience with this approach, she vouches that IR professionals follow the same route:
“You can increase your investor audience. That means that with the help of newsletters you can make sure that you are seen on all different media out there. So we had podcasts already, we had social media and with newsletters you also get into your audience's inboxes, so ideally choosing all three of them is the most preferable choice.”
While IR newsletters can help draw in investors, you’ll be able to attract and better engage more of them when you pair email sequences with other mediums like podcasts and social media channels.
Key Takeaway #4: The most optimal frequency for sending out newsletters is either quarterly or monthly for listed companies, and weekly or bi-weekly for specific events. While you could opt for daily updates, it is far more optimal to go for a less frequent sending schedule—as Julia outlines:
“If you are sending regular updates once a month, once a quarter, every other week on what you're working on, how is going with regards to private companies that are not listed, where you maybe have questions, where you want your investor base to engage, where you want them to help you out. And with regards to listed companies, I would say the frequency could be weekly, it could be quarterly, it could be a quarterly newsletter, a monthly newsletter, but you can also send emails, email communication in terms of mass emails much more frequently for specific events.”
Depending on the kind of newsletter you’re sending, make sure to follow a timeline that best suits the purpose and nature of what you’re about to send!
Key Takeaway #5: In terms of content, it's best to avoid sending out a newsletter before something is made public—so focus on populating investor inboxes with a curation of topics that happened in the past instead of real-time (or worse, advanced) updates. This makes it crucial to develop a proper content plan for your newsletter sequences so that you stay on top of potential instances of information leaks and non-compliant actions.
Julia explains this crucial compliance detail, saying:
“Don't send out a newsletter before something, especially like insider information, is public. So it's usually again like a summary of past events, maybe giving a bit more details than you would put on social media, but it's more like a curation of topics that happened in the past as opposed to some news flash that you want to put out.”
Instead of focusing on on-going updates, it’s more optimal to create newsletter content that works with a curation of past topics!
Wrap-Up
Investor relations newsletters have emerged as a powerful tool for companies to communicate with their investors and stakeholders. The ability to provide timely updates, personalize communication, build investor relationships, showcase company progress, and expand the investor audience makes email marketing an essential component of investor relations strategies.
However, companies must also be mindful of the risks involved, including disclosure risk, timing risk, and data protection. By adhering to proper disclosure practices, ensuring timely communication, and prioritizing data protection, companies can harness the full potential of email marketing in investor relations.
By leveraging the power of email marketing, companies can strengthen their relationships with investors, drive engagement, and ultimately achieve their strategic goals.
Investor relations newsletters are not just a means of communication—they’re a potent tool for building trust, fostering loyalty, and driving success in the world of investor relations worth investing in.
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