How Your IR Could Be Failing You

Since the 2020s, more and more investor relations firms have emerged and have overcrowded the playing field. As a CEO of a newly public or soon to be public company, you know investing in your investor relations budget is important. Investor relations when done correctly can bring huge value and exposure to your company’s stock. But when it is failing you, it becomes an unnecessary expense you regret paying for.

We put together four tips to help you better assess if your IR could be failing you.

Tip #1: Building their list, not yours.

Paying for exposure to a large email list is a thing of the past. Some providers will charge enormous amounts of money for your company to reach their following. We have seen these lists range in size from a couple thousand to tens of thousands.

But they all have something in common.

They have been used to promote countless other companies, and unfortunately in the current market landscape, many of those investors have been “burned”. No matter the size, their list is only as good as the last opportunity they promoted.

Furthermore, your capital goes into building their list, not yours. At the end of the campaign, what are you left with?

Chances are nothing.

After seeing this time and time again, we did something about it.

Through our proprietary email lead system, we get in front of thousands of hyper-targeted, new leads every month that are generated specifically for your company. The result of this is an abnormally high engagement rate at a fraction of the cost. Once these leads are vetted, they are yours to keep forever.

Stop building their assets, and start building your own.

Tip #2: Driving quantity, not quality

Some agencies will make this promise to you: “We will make hundreds of phone calls to pitch your opportunity to investors and institutions every month!”

The idea sounds great, but the execution is the problem.

You may experience a senior person talking the talk with you; however, they generally are not the ones making the calls. The outbound cold calls are coming from junior reps who typically don’t have a strong understanding of the company or the financials. They read off a script and often crumble to answer questions outside of their provided answers, let alone highlight the real opportunity.

If your company is not being communicated properly, then what’s the point? It may even discourage some investors and make you miss the opportunity altogether.

You want to ensure everyone who represents you knows HOW to represent you. The quantity of calls doesn’t matter if it’s not being effectively communicated – resulting in a wasted investor relations budget.

Dial down the number of calls and focus on the quality of calls. Make sure you’re being pitched to the right people BY the right people.

We are investors first and foremost, so we know what to look for and how to communicate it. We embed our IR experts inside your company and selectively make targeted calls to get you real meetings with real investors.

Tip #3: Over-promising and under-delivering

Many agencies guarantee that they can drive volume and increases in share price. With that kind of guarantee, it is a no-brainer. A few cherry-picked examples of success, and you’re sold. Because that’s the overall goal here, right?

(Hint: the ones that make these claims are usually the most expensive)

You should be wary of any agencies that make these claims. When the dust settles, you could have a large investor relations bill but not the outcome you were sold on.

To be blunt, Investor Relations agencies cannot control the economic landscape. Many factors influence willingness to buy: market cycle, industry sentiment, interest rates, and world events are a few items on a very long list that could influence investor activity.

In reality, it is impossible to make these guarantees, and, in many cases, it is usually not possible to track who ended up investing from the incentives. This “untrackability” is a golden dagger issue for the investor relations field, and your agency should acknowledge this.

Instead, look for the ones that can provide controllable metrics, such as top-of-funnel minimums or quantifiable metrics. This way, you can more realistically gauge the value of their services and if they are fulfilling their end of the deal.

At Apollo, we guarantee we will get you quality eyes on your company, and we guarantee the amount we will get each month.

Tip #4: Old IR vs. New IR

Traditional or “Old IR” has established many important activities in investor relations, but it tends to focus on one-dimensional strategies such as press releases, investor calls, or webcasts.

With the investor landscape, market trends, and innovation in technology frequently changing, solely using old IR principles is not enough for companies looking to maximize their potential in this day and age.

New IR takes a proactive approach to ensure IR programs are built to be competitive and effective.

Some ways New IR does this is by offering flexibility and a comprehensive plan suited for rapidly changing markets.

At Apollo, we combine Old IR with New IR and offer A-Z in investor relations. As capital market experts, each and every one of our IR programs are tailored based on our clients’ needs and wants, and we regularly provide feedback on what is and isn’t working.

The power of IR can be underrated and we understand how to make a difference.

Reach out to our team at hello@apollorelations.com for a free consultation of your investor relations program.