Publicising a strong set of end-of-year accounts or a successful trading period can be a great way to enhance your business reputation.
However, from our experience working with a range of different businesses at Osborn Communications, many prefer to avoid making any reference to their financial performance altogether for fear of negative perception or revealing too much.
Whilst this may be playing it safe, they might also be missing out on the benefits. Demonstrating solid financial results can signal stability and success, which can enhance credibility with customers, partners, suppliers and investors.
Positive financial news can boost employee confidence in job security and help to attract top talent.
Clients may feel more secure doing business with a financially stable company.
All companies must file annual accounts with Companies House, so journalists and interested parties can review these updates annually and draw their own conclusions, right or wrong. Businesses should look at sharing regular updates on their performance to explain their progress and deter people from making incorrect assumptions.
Here are a few suggestions as to how you can effectively share news of a successful trading period:
Create an engaging press release
A well-crafted press release can serve as an official statement to the media and the public.
The key is to underscore your company’s strong financial position and strategic progress, so focus on the positives by highlighting key financial achievements, revenue growth, profitability and major investments.
You will want to include a quote in your press release from your CEO or business leader. This is an opportunity to elaborate on the factors such as innovation, strategic investments and market expansion that have driven your strong financial performance.
This can also be a chance to underline your commitment to your company’s mission and values.
Make sure that any numbers and messaging in your press release are consistent with those in financial reports your company has produced.
Avoid excessive jargon so that it is easy for journalists and stakeholders to understand your company’s performance.
Consider when you would like to issue your press release too. If your business is filing its annual accounts on a particular date, you will want an annual accounts press release to coincide with this.
Utilise your website and digital platforms
Sharing a news article on your end-of-year financial performance on your website is an effective way to reach a broad audience.
Social media platforms such as LinkedIn and Twitter can be effective channels for sharing financial highlights and engaging with your audience. Create compelling posts with key achievements from the year and infographics. You can link back to news articles or financial reports on your website.
Engage with media outlets and industry publications
If you have had a successful year or trading period that you want people to know about, getting coverage in business magazines and newspapers and on industry-specific websites can boost the visibility of your financial results.
Prepare a distribution list including titles you would like to feature in ahead of issuing your press release. Don’t forget to include a contact for media enquiries.
Send out email communications
Emailing newsletters to stakeholders can help communicate your financial performance directly.
Include a summary of your results and a message from your CEO or business leader that contextualises your company’s achievements and future outlook.
Don’t forget to update your staff too
Sharing a top-line summary of your company’s end-of-year financial performance with your teams can help engage colleagues, make them feel included and reassure them that the company they work for is heading in the right direction. It is a great opportunity to thank them for their efforts throughout the year.
If your results are not as positive as you would have liked, it can be tempting to try to hide them, but the absence of any communication on your company’s performance risks creating a vacuum that employees will fill with speculation.
Explaining that your business has a long-term strategy to address its challenges can help to restore confidence.
Simplify complex financial data with charts, infographics and summaries to make it as accessible as possible.
Ensure accuracy
Finally, if you are going to share your company’s financial information, it is essential that you get it right. Double-check your figures and avoid misleading statements to protect your company’s integrity.
These are just a few tips to help you effectively publicise your financial performance, strengthen your company’s reputation and enhance stakeholder confidence.
However, if you haven’t got any sales statistics you want to share, why not apply some of the above recommendations to promoting other business successes instead? Issuing press releases, featuring news articles on your website and sharing infographics on social media are great ways to promote key achievements such as record customer numbers, client wins and customer satisfaction rates too.
If you’d like support with building or improving your company’s reputation, we can help. Osborn’s clients benefit from our years of experience generating positive content for different audiences. Drop us a line to book in a chat.