Here’s a no-brainer for companies looking to dramatically increase their influence, IPO price and market-penetration: device-driven IR (Investor Relations). Traditional IR does a great job of pushing out articles, releases, media interviews and the collateral necessary to raise money–and close the deal. But that’s mid-to-late stream activity. Early stage activity involves strategy and planning. Including a device-driven IR program early and as part of the program gives it algorithmic heft with minimal effort. That means a content program designed to be informative and consumable on the channels and formats your audience is already using.

Big Social allows immediate and focused listening.

Before the foundation is laid, why not listen to what’s being discussed already? What’s the market saying about this category? Is there a consumer or business-to-business need that the product addresses? How does the management team rank for influence?  A recent NYT article discusses how Wall St. is going deep with Twitter analytics to pick winners.

 

Also emerging, a track record of Twitter as good for business. A recent study suggests that Twitter helps little-known companies overcome the natural bias of traditional news media toward bigger companies that already get buzz. Researchers, who include Elizabeth Blankespoor, Stanford Graduate School of Business, showed how tweeting measurably increased the market liquidity of stocks that normally received little attention.

Next up, due diligence is now instant gratification.

How many times have you been in a meeting, mention a company or competitor you’re interested in and someone whips out their tablet. Before you can give your opinion the Retina display is showing the SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages). Traditionally, the company site will rank highest. For the most part it should. But what are the next few results? Here are recent Google search rankings for an alternative lending company (and a CC customer) that was raising a new round of convertible debt.

Device-driven investor relations is the new black.

Device-driven investor relations is the new black.

Typing the company name, www.cumulusfunding.com showed the usual About Us pages for the first 3 slots.

And then the well-placed tentacles of Big Social content rise up thru the SERP quicksand.

A credible story from Crain’s, the LinkedIn Company Page, and yes, the Twitter feed–followed by a blog post discussing–not promoting–their Future Income eXchange product.  If this offering had a traditional IR program attached, there would also be press releases and more media interviews ranked. As it turned out, the offering at this time looks to be over-subscribed. Authority pays off. How to get to authority? Write good stuff. And publish it in the Big Social channels.

 

The long term effects far-outlast the flurry of activity from traditional IR

Traditional IR and PR work best at the hottest point of buyer interest. That’s what they should do. To add to the fire, a digital extension means two things:

1. Distribution for all the ground cover assets.

2. Evergreen rankings in the SERPs and Big Social for the company and concepts they stand for.

Working as part of a larger coordinated effort, the effects are significant. First, while no one is paying attention to the company, the search engines are quietly loaded up with quality information. This can’t happen soon enough as historical Big Social postings and blog coverage pay off over time. Then, when the IR blast burns white hot, credibility for the offering, the company and management are already well-established.

But wait, there’s more.

The go-to-market groundwork is already in place.

The same track laid in Big Social and blog content before and during the raise is traction as you go to market. All of the efforts live in the search engines, complete with rankings that indicate market excitement. Add to that the coverage of a successful capital raise or IPO and things get really interesting.