Old-School Investor Relations

Media relations is a tool that could be used much more effectively by many companies, not least by small caps. I don’t think that the emergence of social media has made too much of a difference in this respect though, at least not here in the Nordics.

If I may say so, Rob, I think that media relations is in fact collecting dust ‘cause media relations departments have been so protective of the “message” and such control freaks that most people just gave up. Add social media to the pot, with the possibility of connecting straight to your public, and it’s no surprise, really, that media relations is coming less and less important in the IR quiver.

Not that it should be this way, mind you. It’s just the way it is.

Centralized, media trained, non-substantial and non-substantiated mouth pieces, please, would you get out of the way? Thanks.

Hi Rob, in my experience getting media to notice and subsequently publish an article about your company is a coup for any IRO or IR consultant.  Although managing expectations about what is newsworthy and what isn’t, is sometimes a challenge for the IRO - oftentimes there is a disconnect between the amount of work it took to get the coverage and why can’t we get coverage all the time? 

So this is why media relations should be a part of the IR plan – it gives IROs the opportunity to outline exactly the financial media and trade publications you will be targeting and when it makes sense/what situations will provide a catalyst for reaching out. 

By not having it as part of the IR plan is a missed opportunity (as you rightly point out) that both financial and trade media are still highly influential sources for investment ideas as well as a way to showcase a company’s attributes and demonstrate thought leadership.

Add to this the fact that financial and trade media are using new media channels like Twitter to gather information about companies, look for article ideas and distribute their stories.  All compelling reasons IMO that makes media relations more important now than ever.

We just can’t forget that media relations does take work and whether you are using traditional means or new media you need to still put in the time to target the right media for your company and build a relationship with them, which like everything else will take some time.  But will be worth it, as you will gain credibility and some attention from some new investors.