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
Investor relations (IR) and public relations (PR) seem to overlap each other mainly because they are the key functions of communication within a business. But, have you ever thought about the relationship between the two? A company’s strong coordination and communication with the investors and public help drive its overall image, sales, and valuation.
However, in an ideal scenario, the IR and PR teams work together to bring brand awareness, key business differentiators, and product value for customers and investors. Unfortunately, as a campaign progresses, the PR and IR teams start focusing on their deadlines and tasks without helping each other. Besides press releases and standard conferences, there are efficient ways of getting your message out there. Both IR and PR teams must have a proper dialogue to clarify and strengthen their plans. Below are some easy and quick ways that can benefit IR and PR through close coordination.
1. Providing Leverage Coverage and Placements
A strong PR is not just confined to press releases. Instead, it further focuses on placing articles in newsletters and publications and promoting the company’s message on different social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, etc. These platforms are used mainly for marketing and sales purposes. These are effective channels for you to introduce your businesses to potential customers and investors. It will provide you a place to create your brand recognition and image.
Furthermore, you can send links to your potential target investors and shareholders as “FYI.” Or, you can include links on your website’s ‘News’ section to attract investors. These tactics are effective if you want to add a fresh perspective to the way you market your business.
2. Following the Current Track Trends
IR teams usually work on the front line to respond to different investors’ and analysts’ inquiries about the industry trends and other information. PR teams can help you handle different situations like responding to the comments and concerns that might impact your company. Having a solid relationship with the PR team will help you learn and gather information about the current industry trends. It will bring you and your team to a better position in the sector.
3. Sharing the Timelines
IR has a quarterly cycle. At the same time, PR maintains a timeline that includes the launch date, targeted milestones, and an annual plan. However, in some cases, they can shift an announcement earlier to reach their target through a conference call. The CEO can highlight a few significant events that the PR team is expected to hold. Here, the IR and PR teams can work together and must be aware of the key dates of each other. When teams know the timelines of the other teams, it gives them leverage to plan their marketing moves better.
Conclusion
A strong relationship between IR and PR decreases uncertainty and builds strong trust and credibility in the market through two-way communication. If IR and PR teams have trust and coordinate closely with each other, it will eventually help you create awareness and visibility among the potential investors.