How to stay relevant to investors in a bearish market
UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN LIVING UNDER A ROCK THIS YEAR, YOU WILL HAVE NOTICED THAT THE MARKET HAS BEEN EXTREMELY VOLATILE.
So much so that the S&P/ASX 200 fell 5.43% in September, the largest decline since June and has traded down 9.96% in the 12 months to 21 October 2022.
These losses were even bigger for small caps with the S&P/ASX small ordinaries down 9% in September and 24.84% in the 12 months to 21 October 2022. This is not ideal and unfortunately the market shows no sign of letting up.
The chances are that as an investor you’re underwater, or as a CEO your shareholders are underwater. Or both.
Following the initial COVID recovery, a lot of companies have performed well, with growing revenues and operational/commercial achievements galore. This demonstrates a real disconnect between company performance and share price performance. So how do you keep your shareholders engaged and supportive when they’re frustrated and rapidly losing faith in the markets altogether.
GO BACK TO BASICS
This is the time to remind your shareholders why they invested in your company in the first place. General rule of thumb is that a message – or a story - needs to be heard seven times before it sinks it. You need to deliver your messages consistently across multiple channels, multiple times.
Retelling the company’s story and reinforcing what you are trying to achieve can re-energise your investors and strengthen confidence to stick around and continue their support of your business.
Pay attention to your new shareholders. Have there been major buying events over the last few years when you acquired a raft of new shareholders? Look at when and why those investors came in. Was it on the back of a significant clinical achievement, a major contract win, or perhaps the launch of a pivoted growth strategy? Whichever it was, speak to those topics and remind them of this.
Conference presentations, webinars and other owned content opportunities such as LinkedIn articles or website blog posts are also invaluable tools to reinforce why your positioning has strengthened and how you plan to realise growth from the opportunity it presents.
LEVERAGE, LEVERAGE, LEVERAGE
Who and what have you got in your arsenal?
CEOs are expected to say everything is going well and the stock is undervalued. Even at the height of the market they’ll say that.
Investors are often tired of hearing CEOs recycling the same messages about the company, its technology and potential. Expanding the list of advocates for the company will provide shareholders with a new point of view about the business, leverage their experience in the industry and increase confidence that there is a clear path for profitability.
Leveraging your Strategic Advisory Board or external partners including your broker or analyst are a great way to provide further company or product advocacy. Using your company’s key opinion leaders (KOLs) will add weight to your message, broaden its reach and, ultimately, reinforce the most important company messages without being repetitive. Also, don’t forget about your Board of Directors; they often bring a wealth of experience in their fields and investors appreciate seeing ongoing and unwavering support for all Management and Directors.
GET CREATIVE AND GET TALKING
No ASX announcements? No problem.
There are a range of other ways you can speak to your shareholders to reassure them things continue to move in the right direction. Consider an uplift in utilisation of your social media platforms, proactive media opportunities, webinars, conferences, corporate access and owned content.
Do you have something to say that’s relevant, timely, and interesting, but not an ASX announcement? Company news such as new appointments, new pre-clinical data, or your point-of-view on a topical issue related to your business can create good opportunities to generate earned media coverage. These topics can also be leveraged in your social media channels and website.
BUILD A COMMUNICATIONS PLAN
Be ready and be strategic. Build a plan which enables you to leverage all assets in a transparent and informative way to ensure cadence and consistency in communicating key messages.
Aren’t sure where to start? Send us a message at [email protected] and let’s have a chat about how we can help your company navigate the market and generate investor interest.
