This year has been filled with uncertainty for many organisations, especially when it comes to AGMs. Companies with a reporting deadline of December 31 bore the brunt of the COVID-induced uncertainty earlier this year, during the off-peak AGM season in April and May. But, many companies adapted, successfully taking the virtual “leap” into unknown territory.

Out of the 4500 meetings Computershare has already conducted across the globe this year, over 1300 have been fully virtual. At the same time in 2019, the number of virtual meetings was only in the low hundreds.

A better user experience. That’s what an interactive website offers your audience, such as investors and clients.

When your site is interactive, it engages users as they go through information displayed on your web pages. It’s just more enjoyable to use. So, it receives more traffic and gains all the benefits that come with it.

How is this best achieved?

Your annual report is not only an ASX requirement but is actually an online touchpoint touchpoint for your investor communications.

Really? It's a printed document, isn't it? A simple PDF printed document.

You need to think about how it's mainly consumed. Yes, online! The Internet is our preferred medium of communication these days and more and more investors are viewing this document from their mobile devices.

Can you guess one of the most frequently visited pages on your investor website?

It’s the share prices and charts page.

Website visit statistics from hundreds of companies show that this page is among the top 5 frequently visited pages.

Yes, investors want to see your company’s share price. They enjoy a chart showing your recent performance too.

Ensuring continued investor engagement in the midst of challenges in our current environment. That's quite an undertaking for ASX-listed companies this year.

Even annual general meetings (AGMs) are taking on new forms. Thankfully, regulators have adapted more options for businesses to fulfill requirements in the present setup.

So, how you going with your once-a-year meeting?

You’ve just produced a video interview of your CEO presenting your company’s latest updates. It’s one you’re incredibly proud of!

So, you managed to upload it directly on your website. Of course! It’s the fastest way to convey your business highlights to investors, right?

Or so you thought.

Ever wonder what investors want online? Particularly in this time when your message needs to be even more clear on the Web?

Investors are not just looking for your company’s financial information.

They want details on your business and your investment proposition. They want to know the latest happenings through your company news.

Let’s be honest.

You look at your website and you know it can do better.

It looks old and out of date. It’s slow and unresponsive. It doesn’t represent your growing business at all. And it would give investors the wrong impression, wouldn’t it?

Snapshots at a point in time.

Your reports are dated documents prepared to communicate your status.

Whether it's your prospectus, annual report or sustainability report, these summaries deliver messages that stand through time. Locked into the format of the report.

Like any Australian listed company, you publish your reports, presentations and newsletters as ASX Announcements, an entirely online media. Exactly why a strong online presence is needed to fulfil this information need.

Investors are going through a journey with you. They are in different stages in the process of finding you, liking you, buying, and selling your shares.

How do you engage with them to help them make progress in their investor journey? Through your news.

Your news is probably the trigger investors need to move from one stage of the journey to the next.

What’s usually the only time during the year when your shareholders and executives interact?

You guessed it! Your annual general meetings (AGMs).

Now getting to be more virtual, these mandatory meetings are a means of building stronger and more engaged relationships with your shareholders. Your AGMs also offer investors valuable information that’s extremely useful for their investment decision-making process.

As people progress through stages of not knowing about you, knowing about you, deciding to buy, buying shares and then selling their shares... that's what is called a journey - the Investor Journey.

People take this journey through the process of finding you, liking you, buying, and selling your shares. Current, potential and past investors are simply people at different stages of their investor journey. Each person's journey is different and personal. 

In an earlier blog post, we identified investors as people -- they behave emotionally as well as rationally. We looked at ways to help them LIKE your company and SELL the first click. 

Now, let's think more about the details of who your investors are. Who are these people you need to connect with, and what is in their mind?

In the consumer world, marketers understand the concept of a "customer journey," the stages consumers go through to buy a product. If we think about the stages of buying shoes, here's how it could look like:

The SSX is a Tier One licensed stock exchange in Australia that provides a fresh, flexible alternative for companies seeking opportunities for growth only listings can bring.

The SSX is passionate about furthering financial market education and continues to be an advocate for lifelong learning for every member of staff. As a group, our teams continuously develop their thinking through formal education and professional memberships.

An annual report is a snapshot of your company... a summary that shows your financial picture, market share and outlook for the future.

However, preparing your annual report can be a daunting task, even more so in our "new normal". You’ll have to compile financial data, gather reports from management, craft your corporate message, among many other steps leading to a final copy that’s distributed to stakeholders. The struggle is real!

Thankfully, there are ways to make things easier for you. Like these 3 stress-buster tips for preparing your annual report:

Perhaps investors are institutions, funds, companies, super funds? That's how they show on share registers, right?

But organisations, as such, can't actually make investment decisions. Only the people in those organisations can make decisions. 

Investors are, first and foremost, people.

Stories are powerful. They create a picture in our minds to delight, inspire and motivate.

You have seen this happen in the movies and tv series you have watched. You have experienced it in the books and news articles you have read. Even in the conversations you have had.

Stories are all around us. Even in the business world.

But have you heard about storytelling your business?

Grab the IRM COVID-19 Offer and emerge from the crisis in great shape to attract investors!

When this is all over – and it will, investors will be critical in their choices of investments. They will choose to invest in companies that they trust, those who look like they improved even during this uncertain times and the ones who made efforts to keep them informed.

How to step up your game?

Enhance your corporate look. Optimise your corporate or investor website. Boost your investor communication.

You are probably over hearing about the COVID-19 crisis. But now is not the time to isolate yourselves from your investors. Now more than ever, your investors need to know it is business as usual or best as it can be in these trying circumstances.

Whether you are drilling for a resource, waiting for results on a study you recently completed or you are working tirelessly on a joint venture, now is not the time to stop the news flow.

Now is the time your investors will have the time to read your announcements, especially if they are working from home or are self-isolating. Right at this minute, they are crawling through your website and catching up on what you are doing.

Your Annual Report deadlines are just around the corner.

Thankfully, you’ve got it all covered -- the figures and the statements. Details of your activities, financial results and strategies. Well… almost.

You just need a better way to present your report and achievements over the past year.

No, not the old boring Word file PDF, please.