HOW TO AVOID THE SUNDAY SCARIES
No, not the ones you’re thinking. The IR Sunday Scaries typically occur Sunday afternoon when you realize a material press release needs to be issued before market open on Monday morning. While irlabs is always there to help in a pinch, here are some tips to avoid unnecessary stress:
Build out a content calendar: While we recognize some press releases are unavoidably last minute, a lot of stress can be avoided by dedicating time to creating and maintaining a press release calendar. This should include:
Anything that is required to be disclosed as a public company.
Any events at which your company will be presenting or attending.
Any important information around which your company will anchor a marketing strategy, like a new product release.
Make sure your calendar includes a projected date to get information to irlabs (if appropriate) as well as the actual release date.
Make sure you collect key facts and note information sources (for possible citations) as soon as you know the angle of the release. Keep them close by, because without them, it’s highly unlikely that IIROC will sign off.
Take your time to edit. While we know a last-minute press release creates a high-pressure environment, taking the extra 10 minutes to read your press release out loud to yourself helps to catch when you’ve accidentally used the wrong “witch”. 🧙♀️
Alert third parties in advance. If you’re announcing an acquisition or partnership, it’s important that you get approval for their quotes (if necessary), or at least send an FYI email to them about the release going live. It’s also critical to ensure that the correct company is linked from the press release (or tagged in the LinkedIn post). As a CEO, you wouldn’t want to be on the other side of a press release that mentions your name but provides the link to the wrong company’s website.
If you have some time to prepare, take a quick look at irlabs’ Press Release Briefing Document. This helpful document supports the pre-drafting phase of a press release and provides a glance at what goes into drafting the perfect, investor-focused, press release. Don’t have a copy yet? Send us a message and we’d be happy to share.
