Diversifying your investor base is not merely an act of opportunity but a proactive strategy to de-risk and create long-term sustainability. Identifying a promising new market necessitates a blend of strategic thinking coupled with data-driven insights. The process might feel akin to sailing through uncharted waters; however, the voyage towards global investor expansion can be both rewarding and enlightening.

Navigating the IR landscape can sometimes feel like you're stumbling through what author James Clear terms the "Valley of Disappointment" in his bestselling book Atomic Habits. The valley symbolizes that uncomfortable, despairing stretch where your company’s hard work hasn’t yet translated into visible results, like positive investor sentiment or upward valuation.

For small caps, steering and shaping your own narrative is key to building credible, strong relationships with the Street. Traditional earnings calls, while important, might not always be the most effective medium to engage with investors and stakeholders. Webinars, often overlooked, are a cost-effective and endlessly customizable alternative.

CFOs aren’t natural born storytellers. Buried in spreadsheets, they can slice and dice data into meaningful charts and graphs but extracting that data and turning it into a good story, demands a completely different skillset. We’re not saying numbers aren’t useful but, numbers are incomplete without context.

Clarify Capital recently tested the effectiveness of GPT-4 created pitch decks vs. human-crafted pitch decks, and the results are remarkable. (The experiment asked 250 investors and 250 business owners to review and rate pitch decks created by GPT-4 against those made by humans—and, those surveyed, did not know AI was involved at all.)

Mid-year is the perfect moment to review the results of your investor relations (IR) activities and plan for the next two quarters to ensure a successful second half of the year. Reflection combined with recalibration enables you to improve marketing efforts, as well as tweak how you present and share your company’s story.