Your corporate website is the ‘first port of call’ for your stakeholders, so it is crucial that your content is relevant, up to date and authentic, and is also presented in a clear, compelling and easily accessible way.
We assess how the needs of different stakeholders are met by analysing content relating to overall corporate narrative, as well as specific information intended for investors and shareholders, current and prospective employees, sustainability professionals and journalists.
Today it is even more clear that transparency and authenticity are the foundation of stakeholder trust and long-term success for corporates. At the same time, key stakeholders, particularly investors and shareholders who depend on financial and non-financial disclosure to make an informed investment decision, are increasingly looking for more forward-looking strategic information from corporates to understand how they navigate the uncertain marketplace and evaluate who is likely to come out of this crisis stronger and more resilient.
Particularly in times of uncertainty, corporate websites are the most agile and powerful communications channel to quickly respond to rapidly evolving stakeholder expectations and evidence the resilience and sustainability of a business. In that sense, it is more important than ever that corporate websites need to go beyond simply displaying evergreen content to reflecting companies’ strategic views and evidencing their understanding of emerging risks and opportunities to clearly demonstrate how they are future proofing their businesses.
Although the total number of companies providing top-line strategic narrative has remained consistent over the years, there have been some positive developments in the level of insight and supporting strategic information provided. For instance, we have observed a slight but noticeable increase in those providing strategic targets (23%, +11 from 2019) and in those disclosing more specific strategic timeframes (19%, +8 from 2019) this year.
More progress was found in the clear alignment between strategic priorities and performance, with 22% of companies now demonstrating how their strategic progress is directly measured through specific financial and non-financial KPIs. In addition, companies are also starting to establish a more explicit link between strategy and market discussion to clearly demonstrate their strategic plans are well-positioned to respond to emerging market opportunities (32%, up from 21% in 2018).
On the other hand, this year’s research has highlighted little sign of progress in terms of risk discussion as the overall disclosure of an overview of risk management has remained around 30% over the past few years. As investors continue to focus on how companies are navigating the uncertainty and managing imminent and emerging risks, we expect increased disclosure in this area going forward.
Black Sun is a global stakeholder communications company with offices in London and Singapore. We are united by a common purpose of making businesses more valued by their stakeholders. We are powered by a unique mix of strategic insight, creative inspiration and technology advantage, and help businesses communicate authentically how they deliver value to their stakeholders. We believe that inspiring strategic communications can spark positive change and drive long-term, sustainable performance.
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