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by The Notified Team on May 21, 2024 7:34:07 PM
Earnings season is a crucial moment for your brand.
It’s a massive opportunity to foster communication between your company and investors – it’s also a chance to manage expectations, address concerns, build trust and boost credibility.
No matter if you’re in the middle of earnings season, or just starting to prepare for the next call, these insights will help you master the nuances of this critical investor relations activity.
Earnings Releases: Latest Best Practices
When written carefully and with a strategic eye, earnings releases can do much more than just convey numbers - they can explain how achievements fit with aspirations and help a public company advance its narrative.
Here are some of the top trends we’re seeing.
Top Trends for Earnings Releases
Earnings releases have dramatically grown in length. What was once three-to-five pages now often runs anywhere from 10-to-25 pages, according to Notified’s proprietary insights.
Because these documents move markets, first and foremost they must be accurate. You must proofread with care.
Many companies, for instance, save time by updating passages from previous releases. Doing so is perfectly fine, but make sure that references to the quarter being discussed and other time-sensitive information are revised and are accurate.
Here are a few more tips for upping your earnings release game:
Keep It Simple
A good earnings release takes an aerial view of what’s occurred within a quarter, reducing your results to their essence.
Direct Your Audience To What Matters Most
Add bullets and bold text to highlight key messages. Make sure that these elements appear at the beginning of your release, where they’re most likely to be noticed.
Consistency Is Your Friend
Analysts, investors and even influencers often reference past earnings releases looking for important trends. Varying a word or leaving out an often-repeated phrase may seem more significant to your audience than you intended.
Stick with established practices unless there’s a compelling reason to make a change.
Pay Attention To Searchability
Think about how stakeholders will search your earnings releases, favoring terms that can be found through search engine optimization (SEO).
Analyze Your Impact
Knowing how many people viewed an earnings release—and shared it over social media—can help you create more compelling documents for the future.
Pro Tip: Newswire Analytics by Notified let you track views, social shares and multimedia engagement!
Earnings Calls: Latest Best Practices
Earnings calls tend to follow a very tight script with little-to-no room for digression.
That’s why many public companies have begun to pre-record key remarks ahead of the actual event.
Pre-Record To Ensure No Verbal Stumbles
Pre-recording your remarks is way to create a flawless presentation that places your top executives in the best possible light.
To create a top-notch audio experience, use the same phones for recording sessions and the live event itself.
As a rule of thumb, record remarks at least 48 hours before the live event is set to take place, so you have time to review everything and make necessary edits.
The Importance of Q&A
Although the unscripted Q&A is universally regarded as the most nerve-wracking part of an earnings call, it’s also where an IRO can shine.
IROs are in an ideal position to understand what investors want to know because of their regular contact with stakeholders at roadshows, conferences and during one-on-ones. They also have a unique opportunity to glean insights from the website, webcasts, and by monitoring social media influencers.
In the days leading up to an earnings call, a seasoned IRO will read transcripts of competitors’ calls and note what types of questions are typically asked.
Here, special attention should be paid to recent questions posed by analysts and institutional investors who are important to your stock.
Another option is for companies to encourage participants to submit their earnings-call questions in advance. This gives an IRO the chance to go over pressing concerns and even choose which questions to answer before the event begins.
Finally, the best Q&As are managed by an experienced event host (such as Notified), not by the IRO or another company insider. This conversation is simply too important to leave details to chance.
By following these tips, you’ll rock your next earnings season and tell a powerful investment story.
Learn More About Notified's Investor Relations Services
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