Developing & Planning Investor Communications: constructing a communications plan for Mediracer

Abstract

Mediracer is a medical technology company based in Oulu, Finland. This work was commissioned by Mediracer for the purpose of discovering how they could develop their communications for attracting new investors via the channels available to the company. Hence, the aim of this thesis was to construct a communication plan with practical recommendations for the commissioner.

The commissioner was interested in three investor groups: venture capitalists, corporate investors, and business angels. Ultimately, the objective of the commissioner was to gain attention and awareness among these investor groups.

Research for this work consisted of two parts: conducting a literature review and primary research. The literature review explores the aforementioned investor groups, as well as, content marketing, marketing, professional, and investor communications. Following the theoretical framework, primary data was collected by qualitative methods; semi-structured interviews were conducted with investors from the groups of interest to learn more about relevant channels, content, and company aspects.

The findings from both secondary and primary research show that investors prefer to be contacted via personal channels and value recommendations form their network and other trusted sources. Non-personal channels should be considered in conjunction with personal ones. It was also discovered that content which is produced for investors should reach them via their network, trusted sources, email, webpages, or search engines. Content should also be concise, informative, and descriptive of a company. Lastly, a company should seek to highlight its knowledgeability and enthusiasm about their field.

Finally, a communication plan was drawn up for the commissioner. Based on the findings, it is recommended that the commissioner continues to expand their network and reaches out to investors directly via personal channels. For non-personal channels, the company webpage should be considered and potentially search engines; particular attention should also be paid to opportunities to be covered by a source which is highly regarded by investors.