Patricia Baronowski-Schneider
Pristine Advisers
New York, NY
Patricia is CEO of Pristine Advisers, an IR/PR/Media Relations/Marketing firm with 33 years of experience working her way to starting her own Company a decade ago. She can be reached at pbaronowski@pristineadvisers.com
As a business, you want to attract and keep investors and the best way to do this is to continually promote you message. Conveying a coherent story about your company’s journey is one of the best ways to do this. So, what are the key things to remember when promoting your company?
The aim of investor relations
- To facilitate in helping the business gain an optimum share price reflecting its actual value
Providing an intermediary service to represent the business to investors and investors to the business
- Representing the company to investors and representing investors to the company
- Provision of timely and accurate fiscal information to commercial and retail investors
- Provision of corporate data to bolster company valuations
- Ensure observation of security and stock exchange rules
- Assist with closing and non-aggressive promotion
- Communicating investor feedback to management and boards
- Building enthusiastic and receptive capital markets when future finance is required with favourable terms
Use a professional IR firm that knows your business intimately
Be realistic about the type of information users want
There are many different stakeholders who are keen to get up to date information about your company and this should all be funnelled through your investor relations function. Handling information requests is a time consuming but vital activity which all businesses need to pay great attention to. That’s why an investor relations firm is such Pristine Advisers is a vital part of your armoury. It avoids your senior executives having to filter and provide information directly and repetitively. With an effective IR firm you can be sure that your information and message is being conveyed positively and timely to increase the intrinsic value of your business. Markets are traditionally very exposed to rumour and conjecture and if your business is not proactive in providing information about changes in your business, your investors will think you have something to hide. Open and transparent information provision is vital to ensure that you garner the trust of current and future investors.
Create a coherent message across all media
One of the advantages of using a firm like Pristine Advisers is that we cover all of your bases. We don’t just deal with investor relations or public relations or marketing. We do it all. Quite simply, we allow your business to speak with one voice across all areas of your business, strengthening and distilling your message concisely for all your target audiences. This means that all your presentations, PR materials and marketing activities are coherent, enabling you to project your image strongly and speak with one voice. A coherent story about your company’s journey will be more effective than burying users in unintelligible data.
Use a variety of platforms to engage with investors
Everyone expects to be able to access information about your business from numerous channels, be this print media, digital media, social media or via your website. You need to be on messages across all of these platforms in order to truly engage your current investors and attract the attention of future investors. A united approach to being proactive in providing information for all your investors is vital if you are to really engage with investors and not only get them on your side, but get them engaging with you in a positive way.
Make usability your priority
If you have a wonderful business with excellent information, data and resources for your investors and clients, but they’re unable to find it, you’re blinking in the dark and no one can see. The structure of your website and its usability is the very foundation of your business success. If customers and investors cannot find information on your website easily, they won’t stick around to try and search for it. There really is just a 5 second window of time where you either engage users or lose their attention completely. So, you should test usability and ensure that your website is well structured and resources can be accessed logically without hunting for them. Ensure you hook your users with a clear structured website which isn’t busy and has a high WC3 usability score and you’ll be well on your way to attracting and engaging your target audience.
Be open to change
There’s a reason why dinosaurs and dodo’s became extinct. They simply couldn’t survive in the environment within which they found themselves and didn’t adapt well to change or evolve. In effect, they suffered catastrophic events which annihilated them in masse. Evolution enables growth and without growth you remain static. Doing what you’ve always done leads to results you’ve always had. In order to move things forward, you have to be open to change. This isn’t an easy process and can be painful for management, executives and employees alike. No one enjoys changing, but the rewards are tangible and there to realized.
Rewards like:
- tighter management structures,
- better top down and bottom up communications,
- improved investor communication and information dissemination,
- positive image perceptions,
- higher intrinsic business value,
- more attractive financing rates from corporate financiers,
- better business protection from mergers and acquisitions.
Self-evaluation is one of the most important processes a business can work through and will ultimately bring great rewards in creating a leaner more efficient organization which reduces its weaknesses and strengthens itself against hostile environmental factors.
How Pristine Advisers can help
With Pristine Advisers, we operate a unique business model which allows you to save money and still boost your business. Don’t underestimate the power of investor relations. We provide a multi-pronged approach to helping our clients achieve outstanding investor relations by taking a panoramic and analytical view of all your business functions. We aim to improve each area of your business by ensuring that we do a top down / bottom up analysis of how you communicate your message. We ensure that your message is conveyed to every stakeholder with one voice. We are skilled in marketing, conference organisation, media management, PR, as well as investor relations and strategic advice and management. We are realistic about the types of data, information and features which attract and retain quality investors. So why not let us create your coherent story and help to ensure that your company aims your message directly at your target audience and they are open to hearing it.