When you think about it, your ASX announcements do not only fulfill mandatory requirements. They also draw attention to your business as your updates are posted to the market.
Your ASX releases bring your company profile to investors as you broadcast your successful ventures, leadership appointments, financial reports and other news. These announcements provide information that will encourage stakeholders to join your share registry.
However, ASX announcements are usually formatted as regulatory documents. Often their headlines are somewhat uninviting, with no compelling reason to read them.
Perhaps that's workable for customary updates. But for more important news, like M&As, C-level designations and capital raising? It would be hard for investors to notice them.
Even if investors are subscribed to your email alerts and your announcements get to their inboxes. Will the format be enough for them to read your release and act on it, if needed?
Obviously, your announcements contain a flurry of words formatted in a PDF that may not be easily accessible to all. These updates need a newsworthy angle to be appealing to investors.
So, if you could get only one thought across, the main point you want to convey, what would that be? What one thing would you say so they would take notice?
Pro tip: Use NEWS BRIEFS.
A keen way to call attention to your releases is through news briefs in your emails. News briefs direct investors to the key messages of your announcements in one or two quick sentences. Thus, briefs. Short intros about your updates to catch the eye of busy stakeholders within seconds.
How to use news briefs?
Simple. Just add news briefs when sending your announcements to investors. See below this handy feature in IRM Newsroom, the news delivery app ASX-listed companies prefer.
Here's the IRM Newsroom feature that easily adds news briefs in your announcements.
For instance, you’ve recently elected a new CEO. Your announcement may probably be entitled, “CEO Appointment”. Not so eye-catching, right? But your release can be more engaging when you have a news brief in your email.
Perhaps your news brief can be something like, “Mr. John Smith was appointed CEO of CompanyName, effective 30 September 2020.” Clear-cut and direct. Yet it makes a difference, as seen below. It will likely entice investors to find out more in the announcement than not having a brief at all.
A sample email using news brief on an announcement.
Another example could be your annual general meeting, which would undoubtedly have the same headline. You can have a news brief that goes, “CompanyName's AGM will be held at 12:00 pm on 30 November 2020.” One line that won’t take much time to include but would result in improved engagement.
Maybe for an M&A release, your brief can simply mention the parties involved and the deal amount, something like, "Company A has entered into a Sale and Purchase Agreement to sell 100% of Company B to Company C for a purchase price of $1,500 million."
Get the idea? Actually, these main points are commonly the first sentences in your ASX announcements. So, you can just copy paste them into the brief field and you're all set.
Once you get investors’ attention, you’ll be able to convince them of the value you offer in your news. As they read further details in your announcement, they’ll be able to respond better.
In essence
News briefs are short intros that emphasise important messages in your ASX announcements emailed to investors. Making use of this tool would help boost readership from investors. The more they learn about your business, the higher the investment prospects for your company.
We’ve got your back
For IRM Newsroom clients, here’s the lowdown on using news briefs.
Not yet on Newsroom? Consider a free trial of IRM Newsroom today! You can also reach us on +61 2 8705 5444 or clientrelations@irmau.com for any questions.
Online Investor Engagement Specialists
