Investors aren't impulsive buyers: demand is built over time.

Whilst I can be very fast to act, I don’t consider myself as an impulsive person.

If I really want to buy something, I’d like to think I take the time to research it thoroughly before I make a decision. If the information I need is readily available, it makes my decision making process that much more low friction.

But it’s not really just my decision, is it?

I may have started the process by looking for a lawnmower but I got nudged along into finishing it.

Facebook ads, retargeting emails and follow-up SMS reminders. All strategic interactions in a sophisticated journey that capitalised on my buyer intent and converted me.

So why don’t we do the same for our investor leads?

We know there are some companies out there that attract investors like bees to honey while others are left high and dry.

And while there’s a lot of factors that contribute to that difference, one that doesn’t get talked about enough is investor intent (and what we do about it).

What’s investor intent?

Like a lot of what we do here - we take this stuff from marketers - so just like ‘buyer intent’ in my lawnmower purchasing journey, ‘investor intent’ is your potential or existing shareholders interest gauge in your company.

It’s indicative of their investment inclination; signaled by activities like:

• reading your announcements,
• engaging in forums,
• putting your company on their watchlist,
• consuming relevant media, or
• exploring your investor hubs.

If it’s well understood, it lets you determine why they’re acting that way, and what they might do next. But that’s not enough to secure a future shareholder.

Journey, not destination

Let’s imagine a common scenario, a potential investor reading your announcement for the first time; fantastic news, right?

Here’s the issue; reading doesn’t necessarily translate into buying and this is why.

There is a black hole in the journey of an investor between when they learn about your company for the first time, and when they become a shareholder.

It’s here where most companies rely blindly on their investors making their way to the buying decision at the end by themselves, in a completely one-sided journey.

This doesn’t happen anywhere else. Even the relatively ‘low value’ journey of buying a t-shirt online involves a thoughtfully designed purchase funnel that leverages your buyer intent into a purchase.

Better yet, it’s not one-sided; it’s a healthy back-and-forth between buyer and seller, and the same should apply for investors and issuers. What journey are your prospective investors on? How are you maintaining and building their intent?

What about your existing shareholders? Are they trying to sell down their positions? The key is to spot signs early before they begin to downgrade their shares.

Our goal is to build an effective investor journey that transforms their intent into a tangible action; buying shares, while also mitigating selling intent from existing shareholders. And don’t forget, this isn’t only for your top 20, the real influence often lies in the tail where your retails reside.

How to get started

So, where do we even start with this? Let's break it down:

1. Examine Registry Data:
   Don your detective hat and dive into your registry data. Identify potential sellers and understand their motivations.
2. Connect with Sellers:
   The next step? Reach out to these sellers. Craft personalized campaigns that shout out, "You matter to us!" Encourage them to engage more deeply with your company.
3. Optimize Your Investor Hub:
   Here's a secret weapon - your investor hub. Prioritise it as a magnet to attract investor leads, and not just an afterthought for investors to occasionally visit.
4. Cultivate Your Investor Community:
   Once you've built an investor community, it's time to nurture it. Keep them in the loop with regular updates, measure their engagement levels, and spot those showing high interest.
5. Engage with Active Investors:
   Now, focus on the highly engaged individuals in your investor community. Encourage them to participate in capital raises or buy shares on the market by courting them individually.

So wrapping it up, approaching your shareholders with an investor intent lens shifts the focus away from just the activity; it’s not important that they viewed your announcement.

It’s important to know why they did that, and what they’re going to do next.

And by having a solid intent funnel in place like the one I listed above, you can really start to flesh out a map of your investors, where they sit in the lifecycle and what actions you need to take now to maximise your shareholder growth.