Corporate Eye

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How to show the relationship between stock price and events

How to show the relationship between stock price and events

Unless your company is very new indeed, there will be a history of rises and falls in the share price. Investors – both existing and potential – will want to understand this history.
Benetton stock chart
Some companies explain this by linking peaks and troughs on the share charts to press releases or RNS releases which cover the events related to the change.

Benetton is an example of this style of presentation; clicking on one of the markers on the line graph brings up a link to that release. [Read more…] about How to show the relationship between stock price and events

If you build it, they will come – Media (part 3)

I’ve already discussed the basics of a corporate media section, and then how to step it up a gear. So – how do you get to the wow factor?

Bear in mind that this section will attract not only the professional media worker, but also your potential customers and investors, so it is worth some investment. I have noticed that some companies like to verify that a visitor is a genuine media worker before allowing them access to some of the pages – and haven’t really understood the benefits of this. Please don’t require people to sign up to gain access to your media features …
[Read more…] about If you build it, they will come – Media (part 3)

Getting the basics right – Media Section (part 1)

Despite the importance of the media (both traditional and new) to a corporate brand, some companies don’t seem to cater to the needs of this stakeholder group very well at all. I am always surprised when I can’t even find a company logo for download …

(Yes, the logo is at the top left of every page, but your web design team will probably have optimised it for the web, so it won’t be good quality for printing).

When I last looked, over 5% of the FTSE 100 didn’t provide a section of their site dedicated to journalists at all.
[Read more…] about Getting the basics right – Media Section (part 1)

Informative Eye Candy

For this post, I wanted to write about the absolutely critical importance of clear and engaging web copy. After all, we’ve all come across badly written web pages that prompt a rapid visit to the good old “go-back” icon.

Then I found myself reading a Linkedin post about why human beings like visual content. And this reminded me of something we often discuss with clients at Corporate Eye. So, despite having a vested interest in writing about good web copy (I am a blog writer after all!), for this post I’m going to talk about…

infographic-arrow

Okay, I’ll admit it – we have touched on the value and effectiveness of infographics in previous blog posts. But I think it’s worth revisiting this subject, and also adding some science to explain why visual images can be an incredibly effective way to communicate core messages and key data.

Human beings like colourful eye-catching content, and perhaps that’s no surprise when we consider that:

infographic-steps

Bold and vibrant infographics on a web page can convey important stories about your company fast. And that could take the form of showing resources and markets, achievement against target, or aims and ambitions.

Providing engaging and clear infographics can also be good news for web writers. How many times have you skim-read copy within a website? Well, don’t worry too much if you might have done this on the odd occasion, as research suggests that web users often only read 28% of the copy within a website. And maybe that isn’t surprising. There is of course a lot to take in on even basic corporate sites. But good infographics can help us stop skimming and increase our willingness to read by a massive 80%! Engaging visuals that tell a story can also help to embed key messages. As a broad rule, we only remember 20% of what we read, but we remember 80% of what we see.

Infographics can be used in a variety of different ways, on webpages and downloads. And they don’t have to be static. Animated infographics can be imbedded into webpages or incorporated into video links, and both options can help to deliver memorable and attractive content.

But isn’t this just a lot of fuss being made about pretty pictures? If someone is seriously interested in a company, surely they’ll take the time to read the carefully crafted web text on your site, even if the visual content on your pages is a little on the thin side.

As a writer of carefully well-crafted web text (Note to Editor: Please feel free to disagree!), I would like to say: Yes – all you need is well-written text! But I’m afraid I can’t. The truth is we live in an incredibly information-rich age, and even the best text has a heck of a lot to compete with. And science tells us that engaging infographics can help good copy stand out, be remembered, and perhaps more important of all, be understood.

If you would like to find out more on how to use infographics and other visual tools effectively, why not drop us a line and we’ll be happy to share our knowledge.

Note: With thanks to Hubspot for inspiring me to write this post

How to increase your return on content (here’s a clue: Press Play…)

video-content
Remember that corporate website you visited yesterday? You know – the one that was very light on content? Or how about the site you looked at the day before? You must remember that – there was lots of stuff on that site, although admittedly it wasn’t very engaging, was it?

No? You don’t remember either of them. Well I’m not surprised…

The above scenarios may be imaginary, but the context isn’t that far away from reality. Let’s be frank about this. A website with low levels of content or content that just isn’t very good isn’t going to encourage visitors to stay around, let alone remember what the site was trying to say. And this kind of visitor response is of course extremely bad news if you’re trying to tell your corporate story and engage with key stakeholders.

So it’s no surprise that companies are spending more in the quest for quality content that’s engaging, memorable, and, perhaps most important of all, good enough to share on social media. The extra spending required to source good content has to be justified however, just like any other form of corporate expense.

At Corporate Eye, we’ve investigated how different types of content can deliver surprisingly different returns on investment or, as we like to call it: “Content RoI”. Now, a blog post isn’t the best way to go into much detail on how we measure “Content RoI”, but here are some key success indicators to look out for.

If the web content on your site…

  • Creates an emotional connection with a site visitor
  • Encourages sharing to social media
  • And sends out clear engaging messages about your company

…then you’re definitely on the right track.

It’s also important to remember that different types of content can deliver varying returns.

Text can engage and entertain (and I have to say that as the writer of this blog post), but even the best prose can appear a little flat on its own. Combine text with the right kind of visual content however, and this can increase a visitor’s willingness to read by 80%.

It’s also important to note that visual content doesn’t have to be well chosen quality images of the company team, products and services – we’re big fans of using engaging infographic content on web pages, because it’s a great way of grabbing a visitor’s attention and sharing key facts and figures fast. If a web page includes well-chosen quality images or inventive infographics, adding visuals of any type is a sure-fire way to aid content memorability, as we typically remember 80% of what we see, compared to only 20% of what we read.

The king of visual content is unquestionably moving pictures, and that’s no surprise when a whopping 60% of us say we prefer watching video to reading text online. Video can engage a view in a way that can leave even the best text and infographics far behind, and it can do it incredibly quickly.

If a website can include video of the right quality, and also locate it in the right place (in the site structure), video content can successfully…

  • Reduce bounce rate
  • Increase time-on-site
  • And increase recall.

Another great thing about video is that it can be used to tell different stories in different ways. Short interview clips with everyone from the company CEO to front-line staff can quickly get across key messages, ranging from strategy and attitudes to risk, right through to what it’s like to work for the company. Alternatively, videos that tell stories can be used to share everything from what a company does, to corporate values and social responsibility case studies.

Whatever the format of online video content, the rules of “Content RoI” still apply.

If the video content…

  • Creates an emotional connection with a site visitor
  • Encourages sharing to social media
  • And sends out clear engaging messages about your company

…it’s passed the return on investment test with flying colours.

If you’d like to see a great example of how video content can make a fantastic emotional connection with the online visitor, and lead to multiple sharing, then check out Corning’s three videos revolving around their “A Day Made of Glass” theme. These are videos that demand to be seen, and at the time of their release, demanded to be shared too, with over 21 million views on YouTube alone.

The Day of Glass videos are also great examples of custom-made content. And creating content of this standard does require investment, although the potential return, if that content leads to a sharing chain reaction, surely justifies the spending required.

So, the key to effective content is a possibly expensive custom-made video, yes?

Well, no, not necessarily – It’s also possible to create great video content, by using existing corporate video material that shares key messages or common themes. With some clever post-production and creative guidance, we’ve helped some of our clients use video they already have, and turn it into new content that is engaging, memorable and just asking to be shared.

If you’d like to talk to us about getting a better return on your web content, or how you can use visuals and video to connect with key stakeholders, why not drop us a line and we’ll be happy to share our knowledge.

Candidate Outreach: LinkedIn

welcome
Can I ask you a question? Have you heard of a social network called LinkedIn by any chance? Well, of course you have, and maybe you’ve just checked your own profile for updates (Still no news on that Richard Branson connect request? Oh well, maybe he’s busy).

With over 332 million members worldwide, Linkedin has become the place for professionals to network, share ideas, and recruit, and it’s not just a place for professionals either. The fastest growing demographic on Linkedin are students and recent college graduates, so, with a potential audience of experienced hires and brand new recruits, it’s no surprise that most companies use the network to share recruiting content, even it’s just listing existing vacancies.

There more than 4 million company outposts on LinkedIn, and although we work pretty hard at Corporate Eye, we haven’t checked them all out yet. We have seen quite a few however, and we’ve discovered some company pages that are very good indeed where recruiting and career messages are concerned.

So, if you have a company outpost on LinkedIn, how do you know if it’s any good, or could be better?

The good news is that we’ve come up with 3 basic rules to make your LinkedIn company page a constructive part of your online recruitment strategy:

  1. Share key messages, like: Why join us?

    The chase is on to recruit the best. If your business wants to attract in-demand high calibre recruits, it needs to project key messages that explain why they should join you, and not one of your rivals. A LinkedIn outpost can be an ideal place to explain your culture and share your employee value proposition. By sharing these key: “Why us?” messages, a company can vastly improve its chances of recruiting high quality candidates. Hopefully you’ll already have some content like this on your website, so not share it on your LinkedIn page?

  2. Engage with video

    59% of senior executives prefer to watch video instead of reading text, according to Forbes Insight, and why should potential new recruits be any different? Web statistics have shown a steadily increasing rise in the use of video content, with projections suggesting this will continue to rise. An engaging, well made video clip, like an interview or company overview, can engage and communicate key messages fast. If you already have good video content on your corporate website, why not link to it from your LinkedIn outpost?

  3. Start talking

    A company LinkedIn page can provide a great platform for directly communicating with potential recruits. This could involve answering applicant queries, elaborating on any corporate content shared on your LinkedIn page, and explaining in more detail what sort of candidate you’re looking for regards a specific vacancy. And if a company is seen to be engaging with candidates online, this also sends out powerful messages about how willing your company is to engage with applicants.

If your company LinkedIn outpost is already obeying our 3 basic rules, then we have only one thing to say to you: Well done!

However it’s important to add that we think that these are just the basics a company LinkedIn page should be doing to reach out to the right kind of candidate, and there are other ways to build an effective career strategy through social media (and other social media platforms too).

If you’d like talk to us about using social media to hire the right people, through LinkedIn or any other social media outposts, why not drop us a line and we’ll be happy to share our knowledge.