Financial results: how to communicate effectively on LinkedIn

Quarterly results, half-year results, full-year results; financial reporting gives shape to the corporate year. It is also increasingly present on social media.

A recent study* shows that all stakeholders—both financial and non-financial—expect executives to communicate on social networks. Investors view LinkedIn as the second most important source of digital information after the corporate website: 88% of employees, meanwhile, actively expect their leaders to use the platform to communicate on the company’s mission, vision and values.

In this context, financial results provide a useful opportunity to communicate on the company’s wider progress. Taking the time to craft an impactful strategy for posting about financial results can help you connect with customers, partners and employees and contribute to even better performance down the road.

In this article we explore the most effective strategies for communicating financial results on LinkedIn. We analyzed posts by 15 companies based in France, Germany, Switzerland and the UK, including posts by their CEOs. Here are five best practices we identified.

1. Show progress against your strategy

Numbers on a page can demonstrate sales growth, a healthy EBITDA margin or high core operating income. But alone, they do not tell the whole story.

Make it clear that your growth is sustainable by linking your progress to your strategy. Clarify the relationship between your current performance and your roadmap in the months and year ahead. Highlight how your culture provided the foundation for your recent achievements and your next steps.

Carsten Knobel, CEO of Henkel modelled this practice in 2024. When announcing half-year results, he posted a video on his personal LinkedIn in which he walks the viewer through some of Henkel’s impressive achievements. He goes on to say that these results are “clear proof that our strategy works and that we are well on track to deliver on our purposeful growth agenda.”

 2. Make it human

Financial results can feel dry when presented as charts and approved press release quotes. Instead of simply copy-pasting your regulatory announcement, find people-centric ways to share your progress.

A video message from the CEO humanizes your company’s financial performance. It puts a face to your strategy, making it more relatable and compelling to employees. Videos also have the potential to get five times more engagement than straightforward text posts,expanding the reach of your message beyond what you might typically expect for financial communications. 

Roche  and Unilever are two companies that feature CEO videos as part of their suite of quarterly financial communications. The aesthetic of these videos tends toward uniformity: sleek, face to camera interviews against the backdrop of the CEO’s office floor or boardroom. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It provides a convenient visual flag to users that the company is issuing an important update on financials and strategy.

3. Thank your people

Celebrating your company’s progress should also mean celebrating your people. Financial results are, after all, the product of their effort and collaboration.

Show gratitude to your teams around the world by mentioning them prominently in your results post. Identify specific milestones they reached and applaud their achievements that may not appear in traditional financial reports.  

Take Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis, as a guide. He made Novartis employees the focus of his LinkedIn post about Q3 results, both in his caption and in the accompanying group photo. Before even discussing the group’s sales growth, he first expressed his pride in “our people.” He concluded with a message of thanks to “our teams.”

4. Showcase your purpose

A company is so much more than its financial results. Your organization has a purpose, be it to develop new medicines, advance the energy transition or design the next generation of cars.

 To communicate effectively around your financial results, put them back into the context of your company purpose. Demonstrate to readers that your growth is enabling you to do more of what you set out to do, and that you will continue to deliver the products and services your customers want and need.

 We found a strong example of purpose-focused communications in John Pettigrew, Group CEO at National Grid. He announced the company’s 2022/23 full-year results with a long form article that reminded readers of the energy company’s purpose: “supporting our customers and communities through the winter.”

5. Turn it into a series

Consistency is key. While your financial results change with time, your communications around them should remain recognizably the same.

How does this work in practice? You could design a template for how all your results posts will look throughout the year. Or you could define a standard outline for the text in these posts, with pre-validated language. Readers will be primed to your post’s content if they recognize its packaging before they even begin to read.

Bayer presents a particularly strong example of this practice. Its “90 days in 90 seconds” videos feature CEO Bill Anderson speaking to the camera about his company’s results. By breaking a financial quarter into a real period of time, it brings financial communications to life in a way that viewers can easily understand.

Where should you begin?

Designing an engaging, impactful communications strategy around financial results takes planning.

 Building on our experience and insights, Hollis & Bean can help you leverage your financial results communications to connect with your key audiences, from major clients to future talents. Reach out today to discuss your company’s needs.

*Source: Brunswick Connected Leadership 2022