CIPR Skills Guides Introduction to Financial PR What makes financial PR different to other PR practices? Financial PR ultimately targets investors of all sizes, aiming to convey the strengths of a company’s equity story in order to sustain an upwardly moving share price. Investors are reached through press and sell-side analysts, where third party endorsement is powerful and can influence decision making amongst investors. Whilst financial PR uses many of the same techniques as other PR practices, it has different audiences and therefore different channels through which to communicate with them. Media In terms of the media that financial PR targets, in order to reach all types of investors, from institutions such as Fidelity and AXA Framlington, to private individuals who might be interested in buying shares, companies must communicate to all types of media. The national press is key, as its high readership will reach a wide range of audiences. Investor press targets retail investors, who are an important group as they drive demand for smaller pockets of stock of up to £10,000. Recommendations to buy a particular company’s shares in investor press such as Shares Magazine, Investors Chronicle, and Growth Company Investor, can be powerful ways to move share prices. Although not specifically part of Financial PR, targeting the trade press is also important, as it is read by both analysts and national press. A solid profile in the trade press can therefore positively impact a company’s share price. In order to engage with the press, background briefings with the management team are very helpful, as they give journalists the opportunity to get to know a company; they will then be more inclined to write when the company releases news. Site visits are also useful in cases when the client’s operations are visually informative. Round table events and sector themed gatherings can also be creative ways to introduce journalists to companies. In cases when companies have specific news, press releases are the initial tool used to gain coverage. Key journalists should be offered briefings with the management, to get further detail on the story. Sell-side analysts When a company is listed, its house broker will write regular analyst research at key points during the year, such as the preliminary and interim results, in order to give the market independent analysis of the company and its prospects. It is important for listed companies to strive to attract additional analysts from other houses to cover the story, as they will have distinct distribution from house broker, which means that the strength of the equity story will be pushed to a broader institutional investor base. Attracting additional analysts is achieved through presentations twice a year at the time of a company’s financial results, as well as supplementary one-to-one meetings, and site visits when appropriate. It is critical for the Board of a listed company to managing market expectations through regular statements and up to date information to the market, and analyst research notes are another influential way to achieve this. Skills and tools needed Financial PR uses many of the skills and techniques that are common to all types of PR. One of the skills that overlap with other PR practices is the ability to identify the most relevant audiences for a company’s messages and to then draw out the most interesting story or angle that is appropriate to them. For example, when speaking to a journalist from a trade
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