How Blackpearl gained retail investor support
Raising the standard of communications to develop a more engaged and loyal retail investor base.
At a glance
Blackpearl Group is one of the NZX’s fastest-growing software as a service (SaaS) businesses, developing AI-driven sales and marketing solutions for clients across North America, Europe, Asia, and Australasia.
As a listed entity with growth ambitions, Blackpearl was seeking to build trust and rapport with retail investors. They needed to deliver more engaging retail investor communications that reflected their brand vision with a consistent tone and cadence—and measure the effectiveness of their efforts.
The challenge: Focus and tailor communications to retail investors, increasing engagement, building trust, and strengthening relations to secure their support.
The solution: An investor relations platform that provides access to potential and current retail investors, making it easy to measure and optimise the impact of communications and track investor acquisition and activity.
The result: A more engaged and fast-growing shareholder base ready to back Blackpearl’s strategic objectives.
“Our approach was to integrate Sharesies Open into our shareholder communications strategy to provide a more seamless and modern experience for our retail investors. We focused on clear, accessible updates that demystify complex information ... Sharesies Open allowed us to share updates in a way that felt personal and impactful.”
Tori Colebourne
Chief Marketing Officer, Blackpearl Group
The challenge
Improve Blackpearl’s connection to retail shareholders
Before adopting Sharesies Open, Blackpearl were struggling with outmoded tools and a lack of meaningful data on the impact of their retail investor communications. With no dedicated retail investor strategy or platform, they were often simply sending on NZX announcements. Each communication required exporting an updated list of shareholders into a CRM.
To support their next phase of growth and retain and expand their retail shareholder base, Blackpearl were seeking to more effectively and purposefully engage this growing investor cohort.
This led to the search for a tool with more sophisticated capabilities and greater ease of use, that could provide crucial data on the effectiveness of communications and shareholder behaviour.
The solution
Engage the retail investor like a customer
Blackpearl took a two-pronged approach—first, revamping their retail investor engagement strategy and refreshing their tone of voice to convey their vision.
The second task was upgrading their tools. They chose Sharesies Open as a specialist investor relations tool with robust reporting that provided access to New Zealand and Australia’s largest combined retail investor base.
Consistent communications that really connect
Blackpearl were conscious of the tendency for tech companies to alienate everyday investors with jargon and dense, abstract language. Their goal was to create communications that were concise and motivating, centring the most relevant metrics and providing accessible commentary.
To support this, their messages needed to have a consistent look and feel. They needed a platform that was easy to use, so that technical constraints wouldn’t detract from their messaging, and to help their team produce a steady stream of quality communications to build trust and momentum.
Informed by data, enabled by technology
Sharesies Open offered a communications platform that connects directly to Sharesies investors, underpinned by intelligent reporting to provide visibility into Blackpearl’s retail shareholders and how they’re behaving.
Tracking on shareholder growth and engagement to measure the effectiveness of communications.
Reporting on buy and sell trends to track investor activity and correlate to company actions.
The ability to send communications to potential investors who have added Blackpearl to their Sharesies Watchlist.
Competitor benchmarks to put results in context and indicate company performance against peers.
The result
A better-connected, more loyal retail shareholder base
Blackpearl has gained the ability to move at speed, measure success, and hone their messaging, with continuous access to their current and potential investors.
Guided by a stronger understanding of their retail shareholders and equipped with better tools, Blackpearl can craft more effective communications, boosting engagement and investor growth.
74%Average open rate for Blackpearl communications sent through Sharesies Open in 2024.
62%Percentage growth of Blackpearl investors on Sharesies during 2024.
“Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with investors appreciating the transparency and simplicity of the platform. It’s also helped us save time and resources by consolidating our communications into one easy-to-use channel. Sharesies Open has reinforced our commitment to engaging meaningfully with our New Zealand shareholders, which has further strengthened our overall brand.”
Tori Colebourne
Chief Marketing Officer, Blackpearl Group
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Disclaimer
The companies and their representatives who take part in case studies use Sharesies Business products and agree to share their perspective and experiences. The statements made throughout are the personal views of Sharesies Business users and do not constitute advice. They are not to be attributed as the views of, or advice provided by, Sharesies.
Past performance does not guarantee future performance. Figures provided in images are for illustrative purposes only. The content is current at the time prepared—views and data are subject to change.