Best Practice for Financial PRInstructions and guidance on how best to undertake financial PRcommunications

Natural Communication – Be a Human

• Financial institutions have a stereotypical image as a faceless corporation out of touch with the general public.

• Promote your financial messages in as natural a means as possible

• Provide the corporation with a face, an image and a personality in the tone and style of your messages

• Humanising the organisation will boost the firm’s image and allow for better relationships to be built with the general public

Get to the Point

• Avoid “industry speak” - clichéd jargon in an attempt to sound impressive and dynamic

• Make it easier for everyone and tell people what they need to know in terms they can understand

Records – and lack thereof

• The public have become less responsive to the use of sensationalised headlines when it comes to company releases

• “Record” figures and performances means nothing and the public are aware of this

• Companies should be posting records at all times as otherwise they will have declined

• A record for your company is worthless if your competing organisations are still light years ahead

Timing is everything

• When it comes to financial figures and reports, timing is everything

• In such a fast paced and dynamic business world, financial communications must be timely to the point of being near instant.

• Make sure all interested parties are made aware of any news as soon as possible.

Lead from the Bottom

• In the financial world, there is a far greater emphasis on the end results, the return on investment and the bottom line.

• Providing the key figure up front makes it clearer for everyone interested

• Not burying the news somewhere else proves that you have nothing to hide when it comes to your figures.

Back to the Future

• Financial projections for the future are almost as important as the current financial figures.

• The financial world is ever changing and a financial report is merely a snapshot in time.

• Provide a number of future revenue projections and targets for sales and profit across each area of the organisation.

• This will give potential investors a clear idea of the direction the organisation is heading and the future growth and strategic plans of the company.