How to Write an Earnings Release For All Audiences

By Natasha Artavia, Business Wire

With another earnings season to soon commence, there’s no better time to review a few editorial practices that will provide your investors, the media, and your company with a successful, interactive earnings release.

Headline
Let’s start with the basics. Your headline is an essential element of your earnings release, as on databases, RSS feeds and social channels it’s often the first, or only content visible to analysts and investors. Keep your headline short and to the point. Journalists and the investor community will be actively searching for your announcement, and a succinct, search-optimized headline is crucial to their locating your release.

Sub-headline

Your sub-headlines should emphasize your company’s most important financial figures and business position from the previous quarter or fiscal year. These could include: dividend announcements, sales growth, share increases, financial results from a major product launch, YOY and/or quarterly growth. Using bullet points to format your sub-headlines can make your layout more visually appealing, but don’t go overboard. Treat your sub-headlines as premium real estate that provides your audience with the important highlights of the quarter. Compelling sub-headlines will encourage your audience to continue reading below the fold.

Body
While there is a plethora of financial information that must be disclosed to your investors and the media, this data shouldn’t overwhelm the reader with blocks of text. Here are a few ways you can provide your audiences with a more reader-friendly earnings announcement.

• Use bullet points to break up the numbers

The use of bullet points in a financial news release will draw the readers’ attention to the significant facts and figures. Plus, bullet points provide clean divisions between separate sections within your text, while also doubling as quick “numbers at a glance” references for the media.

• Tables can help illustrate your news by providing readers with a visual breakdown of the information you have included in the release

Just because you have provided full financial tables in your earnings announcement, this doesn’t mean you can’t insert imagery within the body of your news release. These tables should be smaller and can provide comparisons to prior years or quarters, or highlight certain aspects of financial growth. Think of these tables as additional resources the media can use to develop their story.

• Increase message adoption with multimedia

Providing a visual element with your earnings release will not only increase media pickup, but will augment a predominantly text announcement. Consider adding an infographic that shows readers the growth your company experienced this past quarter or fiscal year.

• Don’t forget your hyperlinks

It’s extremely important to add hyperlinks or URLs for the media and investor community. If you are directing your audience to the Investor Relations section of your website or the earnings webcast, don’t tell them where to go…show them. Provide them with the registration link that will take them directly to the event. If you have a report or are providing your company’s earnings as a download, include the URL that forwards readers to these resources. Hyperlinks are an excellent tool to increase engagement with your audience. Links add additional texture and depth to your release, giving the reader a better experience.

However you decide to format your earnings release, we hope you find these suggestions to be useful. You can also download Business Wire’s Best Practices for Enhancing Earnings Releases whitepaper here.

And remember, at Business Wire, our editors, client services representatives and account executives understand how stressful the earnings period can be. From submitting your order to confirming distribution timing and formatting, we’re here to help make this process as smooth and efficient as possible. Feel free to reach out to your local newsroom before submitting your next earnings release. We can work with you on the best way to submit your release and the best time to disseminate the announcement.

Click here to share these tips on Twitter:  http://ctt.ec/Puypd

[GUIDE] 12 Steps for Integrating Corporate Communications Successfully

By Serena Ehrlich, Director of Social and Evolving Media, Business Wire

We are thrilled to announce the release of Business Wire’s latest guide: The Convergence of IR and PR: 12 Ways to Create a Stronger Corporate Communications Team.

This guide provides today’s communications professionals the rationales and steps to take to build a more robust corporate communications process, one that meets the needs of today’s audiences while reducing internal costs and redundancies.

The truth is many internal communication teams are working in silos. While internally these teams have separate reporting structures, goals and messaging, externally their customers and key audiences see no divisions within the company as it relates to accessing company information – they are just as likely to read an earnings release as they are to share a white paper or download a coupon.

But if today’s consumers are engaging with companies as a whole entity, why are most organizations still communicating different messages from different departments on different channels? Now is the perfect time to streamline internal processes to not only ensure a singularity in messaging, but to achieve higher message adoption and sharing, all while reducing internal costs and processes.

Recent, rapid technical and human behavioral evolutions have changed how humans consume news. Because the market is now aware of the intricacies that differentiate marketing, public relations, and investor relations, it is important for communications pros to work together to decrease those perceived separations.

And consolidating processes is not that hard! In our latest guide, we outline current communication roles, and how to bring them together to create a new, more effective process.

12 Ways to Create a Stronger Corporate Communications Team: The Convergence of IR and PR delves into how companies can:

• Understand RegFD disclosure as it pertains to all discussion platforms
• Cross promote company news and information
• Share multimedia assets to increase emotional connections with end audiences
• Centralize social outreach to increase visibility and awareness of one’s company information
• Measure and monitor outbound and inbound discussions, decreasing the opportunity for negative brand attacks

Download this free Business Wire guide now! http://go.businesswire.com/IRPRConverge

Click here to share news of this guide on Twitter:  http://ctt.ec/sC15r

NYSE Proposes Changes to Material News Notification Requirements for Listed Companies

By Matt Van Tassel, Business Wire

Last week the NYSE submitted a proposal to the SEC to update some of their material news requirements for listed companies. The two points of the proposal that will be of most interest to Business Wire clients are the extension of the pre-market notification requirement and a change to when companies should disclose announcements after market.

Pre-Market Notification

The proposal expands the time for companies to comply with the Material News Policy to between the hours of 7:00 AM – 4:00 PM Eastern. Currently companies must disclose material news announcements to the NYSE, at least ten minutes prior to wire dissemination between the hours of 9:30 AM – 5:00 PM Eastern.  The reasoning behind the expansion is that most material news is released prior to 9:30 AM and has the potential to cause both price and volume volatility on other markets during this time, as well as at market open.

Note: Newswires like Business Wire do not handle pre-notification of material news to the exchange. 

Post-Market News Dissemination (4:15 PM is the new 4:00 PM)

The NYSE is proposing companies should wait to disseminate their material news announcements until either the publication of their securities’ official closing price on the Exchange or 15 minutes after the scheduled closing time on the Exchange (which is 4:00 PM Eastern). Why you may ask? Even though the NYSE is closed at 4:00 PM, there are other markets where those securities are being actively traded. This in turn can create discrepancies in the stock’s pricing which may cause investor confusion.

We will continue to monitor these proposed changes to the NYSE notification process and keep you updated.

For additional details, visit Dodd-Frank.com’s summary of the proposed changes.

Click here to share this NYSE proposed change on Twitter:  http://ctt.ec/Lsh31

Introducing the Market Impact Report – Revealing the Effect of News Releases on Stock Activity

By Vilan Trub, Business Wire

Earlier today, Business Wire and News Quantified launched the Market Impact Report.  This groundbreaking new measurement tool allows communication professionals to track the impact their news releases have on publically traded companies’ stocks.

Although there are a lot of options for measuring communications efforts, there is a gap when it comes to attributing financial ROI to company issued news. Business Wire identified this gap and in News Quantified saw an opportunity. News Quantified, in partnership with Business Wire, developed a measurement system that will tie news release data with market trading behavior. Now, PR and IR pros will be able to track exactly how the market reacted to the issuer’s stock immediately following the release of company news. They will also be able to compare this trading behavior to that of other company stocks.

What’s the big deal about keeping track of changes to market behavior following the issuance of a news release? With the Market Impact Report you can achieve a deeper understanding of how and why your company stock moves when you issue a news release. You have a deeper view of what kind of investors your news is attracting and how your news is influencing their trading. The report includes 27 key variables ranging from volume and variability to ticks and block trading.

By understanding who your news is reaching, you can tailor your communication in the direction that best benefits the value of your company’s market presence.

Oliver Schmalholz, co-founder and CEO of News Quantified, has spent the last 15 years analyzing market behavior. It was during his time running a private trading firm that he recognized the benefits of an out-of-the-box product that could analyze news impact on stock trading behavior. “News and market data have historically been kept separate – our alliance with Business Wire will help to tear down that wall,” says Schmalholz.  “We are thrilled to partner with a company that has the reputation and expertise of Business Wire.

Business Wire is excited about the partnership and looks forward to the possibilities that lie in providing clients with the first ever financial impact tool. “Business Wire’s collaboration with News Quantified provides listed companies with a better understanding — and appreciation — of the relationship between news and share price.  To see how news is directly influencing market behavior is revolutionary,” said Gregg Castano, Business Wire President. “The Market Impact Report consolidates information from disparate sources into a convenient, user-friendly report that distills complex data into key findings. It is another example of Business Wire’s differentiating value proposition.”

Click here to learn more about the Market Impact Report:  http://bit.ly/1QrNSV8 or email us today to schedule a time to discuss this in greater detail.

Are you attending NIRI 2015 this week?  If so, Business Wire is offering sample reports for investor relations professionals that stop by our booth. The Market Impact Report is the first product in the industry that provides communications professionals with comprehensive stock impact data.

Click here to share this exciting news on Twitter: http://ctt.ec/1lfCK

Stay up to date with the latest news and trends impacting today’s communications programming. Join our mailing list today!

PR Updates From Around the World – June 1-10

By Denise Grayes, Business Wire Nashville

Here are the latest changes and updates in the PR industry.  To learn more about each news item, simply click the hyperlink.  Have your own update to include?  Let us know!

Austin
Independent agency Drumroll announced that it has named Andy Davidhazy as Creative Director. Article

Charlotte
French/West/Vaughan has been selected by the Greater Raleigh Convention & Visitors Bureau as its creative services agency of record following an 18-agency competitive review. Article

Chicago

Public Communications Inc. announced Craig Pugh will join the national integrated communications firm as president. Article

Cleveland
Crisis specialist Hennes Paynter Communications has rebranded as Hennes Communications following the departure of former partner Barbara Paynter, who is launching her own consultancy. Along with the rebranding, the firm has promoted Nora Jacobs to senior vice president at the firm. Article

Dallas
Furniture retailer American Signature has selected The Richards Group as agency of record. Article

DC
Purple Strategies has appointed Robert Fronk as managing director of reputation strategy. Article

Maroon PR is working with Big League Chew bubblegum, owned by Lincolnshire, Ill.- based, Ford Gum & Machine Co. Article

Highgate at Seven Oaks in Bakersfield, Calif. has selected Buffalo Brand Invigoration Group to direct a public relations program. Article

MediaDC announced the hire of Elizabeth Sheldon as National Account Director. Article

ConnellyWorks has announced the appointment of Margo Dunn as Director of Marketing. Article

Stratacomm LLC announced hiring Karyn G. Le Blanc as a Senior Vice President in its Washington, D.C. office. Article

TradeMark East Africa has selected Agenda as its North American public affairs agency to advance its mission of growing East Africa’s prosperity through trade. Article

Detroit
Eisbrenner Public Relations has promoted Tricia Marion from assistant account executive to account executive. Article

The 2015 Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix, a subsidiary of the Downtown Detroit Partnership, is working up with digital and social specialist OTTO Detroit, Franco Public Relations Group and students from Wayne State University-who will elevate the social media discussion-to bring the race experience to a global audience through social media. Article

Los Angeles
Global nutrition company Herbalife has named Ric Hobby as senior vice president for global government relations; Megan Jordan as senior vice president for global corporate communications; and Randall Popelka as vice president, government and industry affairs. Article

Joanna Massey has been named to the newly created position of vice president, corporate communications and investor relations at Lionsgate. Article

Miami
rbb Public Relations has been named agency of record for Sawgrass Mills. Article

Liquor marketer Bacardi is reviewing below-the-line marketing duties, including PR, across its North American brand portfolio, after a similar exercise consolidated creative and media with Omnicom Group agencies earlier this year. Article

The Buzz Agency has added new clients including the US Immigration Fund, Habit Burger, Boca West Country Club, Sunflower Creative Arts, Aviation Week Events and Clive Daniel Interiors. Article

Minneapolis
Nicki Gibbs has been promoted to senior vice president, strategy at Beehive PR. Article

Beehive PR has added three new communications strategists to its team. New hires include account director Abigail Greenheck, account director Ericka Webb and account coordinator Maggie Pendleton. Article

Nashville
Guthrie/Mayes Public Relations has named Rebecca Frazer the 2015 Guthrie/Mayes PR Student of the Year. Frazer, a junior at Asbury University in Wilmore, Ky., was chosen among a strong group of applicants from Kentucky colleges and universities who were nominated for this position. Article

Newport Beach
Global Results Communications (GRC) announced the addition of several new technology companies including mGage, CellTrust and Numerex to its list of clients. Article

ASICS America Corporation today announced it has named United Entertainment Group its new US public relations agency of record. Article

New York
APCO Worldwide and Text100 have launched a joint offering focused on digital healthcare. Article

Kathy Cripps, longtime president of the PR Council, will step down from her position by the end of the year. Article

Ruder Finn announced that John McInerney will assume a new role as Director, Healthcare Digital Strategy. Article

Utilidata has hired Global Strategy Group as its agency of record for communications and public relations. Article

Samsung Electronics has extended its relationship with FleishmanHillard, handing the firm a US corporate PR brief following a review that took place earlier this year. Article

Jesse Comart has been named vice president, global head of communications, at MediaMath. Article

Turner Public Relations had added vice president of tourism Emma de Vadder. Article

R&J Public Relations has added John De Bellis as director of business development. Article

The Halo Group has hired James Best as senior vice president, marketing and business development. Article

Coyne has been selected as agency of record by global outdoor lifestyle brand Timberland to provide public relations strategy, ideation and program activation in North America. Article

Finn Partners has been retained by Cinnabon as agency of record following a competitive review. Article

United Entertainment Group has been selected as the communications agency of record for Speedo USA, a division of PVH Corp. Article

MWW Public Relations announced the addition of U.S. Bank to its client roster. Article

The Halo Group will be launching international beach chic Spanish accessory brand Flossy Shoes into the US marketplace with an integrated social media program. Article

Turner Public Relations has added Waldorf Astoria Park City to its client roster. Article

Beautiful Planning Marketing & PR has added a new client, Dr. Joshua Perlman, co-founder of the NYC Smile Spa in midtown New York. Article

Glass Lantern Public Relations has been named the public relations agency of record for CORAnet Solutions. Article

Wearable maker Polar has brought on Max Borges as it looks to gain US market traction in the popular activity tracker space. Article

Ogilvy PR has hired Robyn Massey to the newly-created role of global chief communications officer. Article

June marks the 14th anniversary of the launching of M&A/consulting firm Gould+Partners. Article

Finn Partners announced it has been retained by Cinnabon as agency of record following a competitive review. Article

Beautiful Planning Marketing & PR has added Z Skin Cosmetics to its client roster. Article

Philadelphia
Brian Communications announced four new senior leaders to the team who bring extensive communications and business experience to their roles at the agency. Article

Flackable has been selected as the integrated communications agency of record by Vesticor Advisors. Article

Flackable Promotes Hailey Lanier to Account Executive Article

Swordfish Communications has launched a new service that will help organizations reach out to journalists important to them, and perhaps even generate their own press coverage. Article

Flackable has promoted account coordinator Hailey Lanier to account executive. Article

Phoenix
In business for more than 17 years, Off Madison Ave continues to experience tremendous growth and is poised for another successful year with the addition of eight prominent client accounts and seven new staffers. Article

San Diego
Elevator announced it has acquired Copper Blue Creative effective June 1. Article

San Francisco
OutCast’s Helena Maus has been named North America CEO of sister agency Bite as it continues to recover from a bout of management shakeups and financial turmoil. Article

Wearable maker Fitbit has brought on FleishmanHillard and Burson-Marsteller as the company prepares for its IPO while also facing legal troubles. Article

Glass Lantern Public Relations has been named the public relations agency of record for CORAnet Solutions, Inc. Article

Glassdoor announced Dawn Lyon has been named vice president of corporate affairs. Article

Seattle
Beauty and grooming retailer Birchbox announced the promotion of Claire Paull to Chief Communications Officer. Article

Waggener Edstrom Communications has appointed Kass Sells as the agency’s president of North America (NA). Article

Silicon Valley
Relypsa has appointed Charlotte Arnold as vice president, corporate communications. Article

PayPal has consolidated international PR duties covering EMEA and Asia-Pacific to Edelman, the Holmes Report can reveal. Article

eBay head of comms Alan Marks is stepping aside for Dan Tarman to take over as chief communications officer as the company prepares to split with PayPal and readies for a new CEO to take the helm. Article

Atlanta & Nashville
Ignite Creative Group announced its new office location in downtown Cumming, Ga. along with the expansion of a second office in Birmingham, Ala. Article

Chicago & LA
Porter Novelli announced two new managing directors in its Southern California and Chicago offices. Linda Martin, partner, will lead the Porter Novelli team in Southern California, while Adam Scholder, senior vice president, takes on leadership of the Chicago team. Article

DC & NY
SKDKnickerbocker has added former congressional reporter Kate Nocera to its Washington public affairs team and political and communications veterans Jaclyn Rothenberg and Maureen Shanahan to its New York office. Article

New York & San Francisco
Global Gateway Advisors and LyonSHARE Communications Group have announced the formation of a strategic alliance to expand each firm’s resources to better support their clients. Article

Seattle & Toronto
Waggener Edstrom Communications and Canadian-based independent Environics Communications have forged a new partnership. Article

Hong Kong
Following a six-month project, British retailer Jack Wills has engaged AKA Asia on a retainer basis for media relations, influencer relations and partnership management.  Article

London
Following a competitive pitch, Fishburn has been appointed by joint venture partners Lend Lease and LCR. Article

Hill+Knowlton Strategies has hired public affairs specialist Henry Groundes-Peace as an associate director within the financial and professional services team. Article

Chris Lawrence has joined Bite‘s leadership team as creative director. Article

Colgate-Palmolive has selected Cohn & Wolfe for its new Dutch Sanex PR campaign. Article

Greene King has chosen Hudson Sandler to handle its trade media relations programme. Article

Broadgate Mainland has appointed Gareth David as executive director. Article

Pop Brixton has appointed agency W to handle its launch. Article

PROI Worldwide has added KISS Communications of Cambridge as its fourth partner agency in the United Kingdom. Article

Live and on-demand TV service enabler TV2U has appointed Babel PR to drive a multi-market brand awareness and media relations campaign for both its B2B and B2C offerings. Article

Hunter Public Relations is expanding internationally with the opening of its first office outside the United States. Article

H+K Strategies has brought together 15 media players, including LinkedIn, BuzzFeed, Twitter and Brandwatch, to form the first in a series of publishing boards. Article

A new association has been launched to accompany the increasing convergence of marketing and technology in the UK. Article

Group managing director David Wilson is leaving Bell Pottinger after 15 years with the UK PR firm. Article

Paris
To increase its presence on the African Continent, PROI Worldwide has added Levanter Africa in Kenya to its partnership. Article

Business Communications Agency has opened a new office in Israel, offering marketing and communications services. Article

Edelman has hired FleishmanHillard’s Esther Busscher to lead its Brussels office. Article

WPP PR firms H+K Strategies and Buchanan have joined forces to launch a corporate and financial comms consultancy that focuses on the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Article

3BL Media announced the acquisition of Dunstans Publishing Limited. Article

Sydney
Nestle has appointed APCO Worldwide to help it recover from reputational damage incurred in a recent crisis over the company’s Maggi noodle brand, according to the Economic Times of India. Article

United Spirits Limited has named Abanti Sankaranarayanan as business head for luxury and corporate relations, India. Article

SPAG Asia has added an office in Mumbai to its headquarters in Gurgaon. Article

Sony India has awarded PR duties to Avian Media following a competitive review that featured a number of competing firms. Article

Sharif Rangekar has moved into a chairman role at Integral PR, after serving as CEO for more than a decade. Article

Cohn & Wolfe India CEO Rafi Khan is stepping down from his role, with the firm promoting Megha Sharma to lead its operations in the country. Article

Tokyo
Ogilvy & Mather Japan announced the appointment of Abi Sekimitsu as Content Director of OgilvyOne K.K. Article

Toronto

Lifestyle Delivery Systems has named Tim Hamilton as corporate communications executive. Article

OneUp Sports announced that it has hired John McCauley as Vice President, Content and Strategy, a new role for the company. Article

Click here to share these updates on Twitter: http://ctt.ec/278kT 

Stay up to date with the latest news and trends impacting today’s communications programming. Join our mailing list today!

The ROI of News Releases: Business Wire Stands Above the Rest

By Gregg Castano, President, Business Wire

An announcement is only as important as the impact it has on the intended audience. For publicly traded companies, the biggest impact is typically financial, to influence individuals in how they invest in and analyze the markets. In 2009, University of Chicago doctoral candidate Eugene Soltes conducted a study aiming to find a correlation between the dissemination of company issued news and beneficial fluctuations in capital markets. His research, including the analysis of 9.3 million articles, indicated that, “greater dissemination causally leads to lower spreads, increased share turnover, and lower idiosyncratic volatility.”

Identifying the best avenue for news issuance is a vital decision that can dictate the future of company communications. Business Wire has a vested interest in being the optimal avenue and made it a priority to define the unmatched benefits our services provide. With the help of News Quantified, we decided to put Eugene Soltes’ theory to the test by setting out to measure the impact of company issued news on financial markets by the top newswire services. The report was based on an assessment of key financial elements including bid-ask, volume, and volatility.

The execution of this study was intended to paint a definitive picture of how company announcements issued via a newswire, specifically Business Wire, affect market activity. The results were significant and they were consistent. The beneficial impact of a Business Wire issued news release on stock market activity is second to none.

The data for the report was compiled by a first-of-its kind research initiative conducted by News Quantified that leveraged a sample size of over 211,000 press releases issued between January 2014 and April 2015. The releases were for companies whose stocks trade on the NYSE and NASDAQ and were disseminated by Business Wire, PR Newswire, GlobeNewswire and MarketWired.

What were the results? Releases issued through Business Wire had a 4x bid-ask spread improvement over the combined average of the other tested newswires. This means that Business Wire issued news releases influenced easier conversion of stock to cash. Other metrics assessed showed similar results. Business Wire’s influence on trading volume showed to be 24% greater and volatility saw a 16% reduction when compared to the combined average of the other wires. For news releases issued through Business Wire the result was more stock being traded with more stable fluctuations in price change. All across the board the numbers show that investors are not only paying attention to, but also acting upon the news stemming from Business Wire’s patented distribution network.

An analysis of the difference between asking price and the price a buyer is willing to pay for a stock on the day company news is disseminated illustrates a direct cause and effect. How does a news release influence the liquidity of a stock? The same applies to measuring the amount of stock being traded in a given amount of time and the amount of uncertainty or risk regarding the size of changes in a stock’s value. These bid-ask spread, volume, and volatility figures, as well as the other metrics provided in the report, pinpoint the beneficial influence a Business Wire issued news release has on investor sentiment.

This data is significant because it exhibits a consistent pattern.  These findings are based on the foundation of a bridge between public relations and investor relations. When financial ROI is tied to company issued news, one distribution method stands above the rest. A news release issued through Business Wire will have the strongest impact on trading activity around your company stock.

News Quantified is an industry leading innovator in measuring news’ impact on stock market activity. Founded by Oliver Schmalholz, News Quantified utilizes a specially developed software system to monitor daily news releases and the trading behavior of specifically selected stocks. The extensive measurements provided facilitate a clear understanding of the type of investors being reached by company issued news and how their trading behavior is being influenced.

Business Wire has a long tradition of earning trust from both media and communications professionals.  A measure of that trust and the value we bring to our partners can been seen in the News Quantified analysis that identifies Business Wire’s superior market benefit on company issued news. This is a new benchmark of influence and we look forward to continuing to drive innovation in market-moving news dissemination for our customers.  For news results that matter most in the C-Suite, there is no more effective “wire” than Business Wire.

Click here to share these survey results with your Twitter followers: http://ctt.ec/M437H

And stay up to date with the latest news and trends impacting today’s communications programming. Join our mailing list today!

When Posting Financial News to an IR Site, Risks Are Not Acceptable.

By Ibrey Woodall, VP, Web Communications Services

Security of an investor relations (IR) website and news distribution is paramount to any public company. Ask the investor relations officer (IRO) who has suffered due to earnings information being released to the public prematurely.  If a company’s earnings news release is accessible too soon, it can move markets, and quickly. When this happens, expect heads to roll in many ways.

Although most IR site vendors state that earnings releases post automatically to the IR site service they manage, only a few can actually confirm that the posting of the news release happens directly from the distributor to the IR site. Some vendors utilize a third-party aggregator to obtain newswire-distributed news releases and then post the release onto the IR site service. Anytime an additional step like this is added to a workflow process, more time is needed, and the opportunity for something to go wrong is greater. Most experienced communicators are familiar with the concept of Murphy’s Law – anything that can go wrong, will go wrong.

At Business Wire, an earnings release is never staged onto an IR site before publication – hidden or not. When the earnings release is distributed to the desired outlets, it gets posted directly to the IR site at that time, not any sooner. This leaves no opportunity for Murphy to cause trouble. Once the news release distribution is ordered, the option to post the

Earnings news releases that are distributed via Business Wire post directly and simultaneously to the Business Wire InvestorHQSM IR site service.

release to the InvestorHQ^SM IR site is selected, as is the option to place the release in one or more subject matter categories. Sweet, simple, streamlined and secure.

As important as the technical dangers mentioned above, so are the internal workflow risks.  All internal procedures at Business Wire have gone through a rigorous audit. Departmental shields against unauthorized access to data can be attested to by the Service Organization Control [SOC] 2 Type II attestation engagement report that Business Wire received in 2014.This means that your news release (in text or PDF format) will not be posted to your InvestorHQ^SM site by a Business Wire product specialist to save time or effort.

So, when selecting an IR site vendor, do assess and compare the basic features and functionality of the service. Don’t forget, however, to pay close attention to the details of the IR site service when it comes to security of your financial data.

Click here to share this with your Twitter followers:  http://ctt.ec/Rlg4e

Stay up to date with the latest news and trends impacting today’s communications programming. Join our mailing list today!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

Ibrey Woodall is Vice President of Web Communications Services for Business Wire. She is responsible for Business Wire’s InvestorHQ IR site and NewsHQ online newsrooms services. She can be reached via email Ibrey.Woodall@Businesswire.com or LinkedIN https://www.linkedin.com/in/ibreywoodall.

2015 Corporate Earnings Call Best Practices

By Farah Merchant, Specialist, Global Disclosure & Financial Reporting Services

Every year our team is asked to share best practices for financial earnings calls and webcasts.  So much has changed in recent years, that we decided to put together a short list of facts, figures, benefits and best practices for maximizing this crucial communications program.

NIRI’s recent Earnings Call Practices Survey shows some very interesting facts and figures. Did you know that in 2014:

• 97% of responding companies held earnings calls versus 80% in 1996?
• Almost 80% of companies that do hold calls do not utilize social media platforms during the call.
• For the few companies that do use social media during the earnings call, the most popular medium was Twitter (5%), followed by StockTwits, podcasts (~2% each), and Facebook, LinkedIn, and SlideShare (each 1%).

Investors have emphasized the importance of quarterly financial calls and webcasts for some time as they provide listeners with the opportunity to make wiser investment decisions.  Some of the additional benefits include:

• They provide analysts with the opportunity to ask questions of C-level executives, and base their research, valuation and estimates on the information revealed in the call that may not have been disclosed in the press release.
• They provide an opportunity for the company to mention upcoming events, such as analyst days, annual shareholders meeting and investor conferences. Some even mention the company’s full calendar of upcoming events.
• Calls and webcasts provide companies the opportunity to leverage social media messaging to increase visibility of the discussion. Home Depot is an excellent example of a company successfully tweeting live information.
• Webcasts can be archived with replays accessible through company’s investor relations site.

Because earnings calls and webcasts are predominantly presented in a live format, here are a few preparation tips to keep in mind:

• Present a cohesive message that communicates what your earnings results indicate for the future of your company.
• Pick your presenter based on position in the company and speaking skills (usually CEO or IRO and CFO to present the financials).
• Do a dry run of the presentation and potential Q&A topics.
• Utilize visual components such as power point presentations, infographics and downloadable content to increase engagement with your audience.
• Use multiple channels to announce the earnings webcast date/time, insuring the widest possible outreach. Most common methods of alerting audiences of the call are via press release, your company’s investor relations website page, and social media outlets such as Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Consider combining traditional earnings call and webcast methods with the power and reach of social media platforms the day of the event, to both increase the intended reach of the event and generate higher levels of engagement with investors, analysts and the media.

There are many companies consistently exhibiting ‘Best Practices’ through various mediums during their earnings calls. One company is FedEx (NYSE: FDX), and how they use Twitter and their $FDX StockTwits symbol to showcase their key headline numbers:

As you can see, there are many components that go into a quarterly earnings call, and best practices are constantly evolving. Public companies should always be on the lookout for new trends and mediums for earnings calls as well as more ways to actively engage with their audience during these events.

Earnings calls present a valuable opportunity for public companies to communicate key messages to investors, analysts and the media. By following best practices for the call presentation and leveraging multiple distribution mediums (press releases, webcasts, social media), they can maximize their earnings call even further.

Click here to share this valuable information with your Twitter audience: http://ctt.ec/uPx58

Stay up to date with the latest news and trends impacting today’s communications programming. Join our mailing list today!

One on One with VentureBeat’s Founder and CEO, Matt Marshall

By Matt Van Tassel, Business Wire

With over a year since Business Wire signed an exclusive wire partnership with VentureBeat, I thought this was a perfect

Matt Marshall, CEO and Founder

opportunity to sit down with Matt Marshall, the man behind this great news organization.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with our partner, VentureBeat is a powerful channel for Business Wire clients looking to engage venture capital funds and influencers. The highly targeted audience for VentureBeat includes potential investors, business decision-makers, tech industry leaders, and consumer enthusiasts with a keen interest in the latest innovative products and services. By adding news releases to VentureBeat, Business Wire clients gain access to the venture capital news mix, with stories aimed at VC-backed innovation, deal flow and liquidity.

Matt Marshall, Founder & CEO of VentureBeat, launched the website in 2006 in response to the lack of coverage in the entrepreneurial and tech space. Matt began his writing career with the Washington Post in 1994 and covered venture capital for the San Jose Mercury News prior to starting VentureBeat. In 2002, Matt was awarded “Journalist of the Year” by the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists. Matt’s impressive background, experience and passion were clearly evident when we spoke to him about VentureBeat.

Matt, give our readers a little background, what is VentureBeat?
VentureBeat is a media company that covers disruptive technology and why it matters in our lives. We are headquartered in San Francisco, with a news bureau in New York and staff writers in France and the United Kingdom. The company, now at 44 people, is divided into News, Events and Research. Events produces six events per year, targeting C-level executives and founders. VB Insight, our new, VC-backed research offering, focuses on reports tracking mobile monetization and marketing automation.

VentureBeat

How did VentureBeat get started?
The company began in 2006 as a personal project. I was working at the San Jose Mercury News and blogging in my free time. This blog was the seed of what became VentureBeat.

Who is VentureBeat’s target audience?
VentureBeat is what I call a “B2B2C” play.

We target people who are already in the technology industry, along with those who aspire to be in it. As our conference participants show, our audience is comprised of C-level executives at leading technology startups, senior technologists at blue chip technology companies, investors, analysts and leading academics. Other notable participants include young people early in their technology careers, many of them starting their own companies, as well as regular folks interested in what’s happening at the forefront of innovation.

What kind of traffic volume do you receive – daily, weekly, monthly?
Our most recent numbers are 7.5 million uniques per month. Volume varies, of course, depending on the news or if we’re hosting a conference.

Is there a particular industry or sector that you gravitate towards (or perhaps is trending now)?

The general “beat” at VentureBeat is innovation. But lately, we’ve started focusing on the new technologies and strategies companies are using to achieve impressive growth, given the explosion of the smartphone and other channels.

Whether it is in the area of social, mobile or marketing automation, there are thousands of promising companies. As it has been with other market segments, our job has been to filter through those technologies, and report which ones are really working. We’re doing that through our news, but also our events, and increasingly our research initiative, called VB Insight.

What do you look for when you are going to write a story?
It goes back to innovation. If a company is disrupting an entrenched business, that’s a story. If a company aspires to change the world through online education or a health care device, that’s also a story. The bottom line is that we want to bring our readers the news from the front lines of this industry.

Does multimedia play an important role in VB’s reporting process?
We’re open to anything that gets the story across in a compelling way.

Is there a funding round or minimum amount of funding required for a story to be written?
We don’t play those games at VentureBeat. If a startup has an innovative value proposition, we will write about them. We don’t care if the company is two guys in a garage.

How does VentureBeat differentiate itself from other online news portals?
We distinguish ourselves in two ways: The first is that we bring old-fashioned shoe-leather journalism to a world moving at Internet speed.  We don’t rely on gossip or un-sourced pieces. We get the story fast, but we also get it in full.

The second difference is breadth of coverage.  We don’t just chase the next funding announcement. We do science pieces, stories that explore the human impact of technology, pieces that are often critical of the received values of the industry itself.

How is VentureBeat perceived versus competing websites, like TechCrunch or Wired?
TechCrunch is great, fast, and snarky. It’s also pretty loud, and sometimes had a hard time buckling down and covering the most innovative trends with serious analysis. That’s where we think VentureBeat adds greater value. You’ll see us go a lot deeper in areas of marketing technology, for example, where we bring in the expertise we’ve generated from our VB Insight research initiative. We bring a depth of insight that is unparalleled, because of our data set draws from tens of thousands of technology users. The same goes for Wired, to some extent. Wired covers a lot of cool, wonky stuff, which we also try to do. But they’re less focused on the business leader — that practitioner who really needs to get things done and needs to make critical decisions on the tech they’re using.

What is the most important benefit VentureBeat offers its readers? 
Our goal is to inform–and inspire.

What were some of the reasons that helped VentureBeat decide on moving forward with the Business Wire partnership?
There were two reasons: The first was your brand. The second was the community of sophisticated business users that support that brand.

What are some of the advantages for Business Wire clients posting their news releases to VentureBeat?
The chief advantage is direct access to one of the most sophisticated and influential technology/business audiences in the industry today: 35% of VB readers are C-level; 58% director-level and above; 70% have final purchasing power at their jobs.

How can VentureBeat contribute to driving brand awareness for our clients’ websites?
Again, it goes back to our audience. Their influence, combined with their engagement and regular sharing of content across their social channels, leads to that increased brand awareness.

To learn more about how your company’s news releases can benefit from Business Wire’s exclusive partnership with VentureBeat, click here.

Canadian Investor Relations Teams Shine During IR Magazine’s 2015 Awards

Earlier this week, Business Wire’s Canadian team had the pleasure of sponsoring the IR Magazine Awards – Canada 2015. This event celebrates the best investor relations work being done by large, mid-cap and small companies. And this year’s work was exceptional.

Click here to read more about this awards dinner and to see all of the IR Magazine – Canada award winners: http://bizwire.pr/CanadaIRAwards