Understanding why investors should own your stock has never been more important than today. As the conference season gets into full swing after the quiet summer, get your “why” down by analyzing current and future outlook and explain why each of these has a case for different types of investors.

As the end of summer draws near, and the year-end push begins, don’t forget to include IR in strategic planning discussions. We often hear Investment Relations Officers (IROs) are not invited to the table. Major mistake. IROs are your frontline offense and backline defense. At their core, they are relationship builders— interacting with external stakeholders, shareholders, analysts, and portfolio managers.

The same principle applies to making noise online. Working on the right content strategy (getting the topic right with rich messaging) is more important than the myriad details of execution (how deep you go, and how wide it’s disseminated).

It’s increasingly important to strategically mobilize current and prospective investors via a sound communication strategy across social channels. The lynchpin of any plan starts with understanding the types of investors your business and industry attracts. Next, is the content discovery phase which will help guide keywords and content for SEO which will drive engagement and nurture relationships.

Summer so far, is looking quite different from last year: air travel is a mess; prices are sky high, and the market is still in a wrenching period of instability. And yet the act of taking personal time has never been more essential than at this very moment. As emails bounce back with ‘out of the office’ notifications, this the perfect time to log off from reality and give yourself a much-deserved break.

As with everything, planning well in advance can alleviate most of the anxiety associated with periodic reporting requirements. First, identify the date to report earnings and work backwards with your IR advisor to coordinate timelines, logistics, results and remarks. Internally create a protocol list of who is responsible for specific deliverables and check in periodically to ensure everyone is on task.