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Trending on Twitter: What Q4 is reading & sharing on social networks – week of September 19, 2011

Sheryl Joyce — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 18:26:33 +0000

Here is what we’ve been reading and sharing on Twitter for the week of September 19, 2011:

Say-on-pay votes not tied to corporate performance: http://bit.ly/pkJtWe

Four mega trends shaping the future of commerce: http://bit.ly/o2GlAz

5 bad PR practices that will frustrate journalists: http://bit.ly/pR1Gzw

Social media use by Financial Advisors: http://bit.ly/r4kOwt

UBS Bonuses At Risk As $2.3 Billion Trading Loss Erases Profit: http://bit.ly/nMIhDL

Frustrations Rise on Whistleblower Hotlines: http://bit.ly/qFrZ1M

The Future of Websites: http://goo.gl/I2OwK

How Social Should a Newscast be?: http://bit.ly/pAgPW1

Is FINRA Set to Be the Big New Regulator on the Block?: http://bit.ly/nFaMaY

50 tips for a better online newsroom: http://bit.ly/r8Cj2y

Netflix apologizes, rebrands DVD business ‘Qwikster’: http://bit.ly/qEVELk

What is the real impact of social media for financial advisors?: http://bit.ly/qcVbCN

SEC provides support to small business: bit.ly/qHMu8H

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Socialware Survey: Social Media Use by Financial Advisors

Sheryl Joyce — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 15:57:49 +0000

In its second survey on social media use by financial advisors across North America, Socialware sought to gather insight on social media use by financial advisors through answering the following questions:

What percentage of advisors use social media for business purposes?
Are firms taking the necessary steps to support this activity and remain compliant?
Are financial advisors getting value from their investment in social media?
Are the myths around social media true? For example, the sites are only used by the younger generation, it takes too much time, etc.

Based on the executive summary that can be downloaded here, 144 financial advisors were asked 35 questions that found:

More than 84% (up from 60% in 2010) of the 2011 respondents use social networks for business purposes.
80% of respondents (up from 57% in 2010) said their firm had a social media policy, 16% did not and 4% were unsure whether there was a policy or not.
35% said the policy was detrimental to their business practices, and only 39% shared that the firm policy supports their business efforts.
Of the 42% that are using social media for business purposes, 42% have no archiving process in place (with 17% using manual approaches to archive).
38% cited inability to archive data, compliance issues and time constraints as major hurdles for adopting social media for their business.
65% of respondents said they use social media every day, spending between 5-60 minutes daily on social networking.
More than 30% of the respondents using social media for business have received referrals,and 35% have generated new prospects (with many converting to new clients).

Socialware’s research is important as it highlights key findings that can be used to benchmark the use of social media in such a highly regulated industry.

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Q4 Whitepaper: Public Company Use of Social Media for Investor Relations – Part 2 Facebook

Sheryl Joyce — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 13:41:55 +0000

In this second part in our series of whitepapers concerning public company use of social media for investor relations (the first addressed Twitter) we have found that Facebook has quickly become a popular channel used by companies – with 45% using it to provide investor-related material compared to 37% we cited in July 2010.

IRO’s continue to use Facebook to provide greater context to the company and its markets by sharing industry-related information and using multimedia to showcase assets. We are seeing emerging trends, such as increased engagement with investors and interesting new uses of Facebook, including a notes page to provide a weekly recap of new information and events.

The increased adoption of Facebook points to a changing attitude of the channel, from primary use by a younger demographic to a viable channel to connect with investors.

In nearly 50 examples, complete with screenshots and discussion, we give you a comprehensive look at how IRO’s are taking advantage of Facebook.

Get the FREE whitepaper today and you’ll learn:

How your peers are using Facebook to interact and engage with investors.
Innovative uses of video and photos to highlight particular aspects of your business.
New ways companies are using welcome, notes and corporate social responsibility pages to highlight important events and underscore sustainability initiatives.
What sectors, geographic regions and size of companies are leading the way in adoption.
Ideas to help formulate precise commenting guidelines and terms of use.
How to effectively integrate RSS feeds from your IR website or blog to populate Facebook pages.

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Trending on Twitter: What Q4 is reading & sharing on social networks – week of August 22, 2011

Sheryl Joyce — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 16:25:39 +0000

Here’s this week’s roundup of what we’ve been reading and sharing here at Q4 on Twitter:

A front row seat to Steve Jobs’ career: http://tnw.co/pC9x4w

Twitter Is #1 social network for financial groups: http://bit.ly/ojpaO6

Investor Relations Atwitter Over New Technologies: http://t.co/08ElEHH

Bank of America Fires Back at Henry Blodget: http://t.co/j2uew0E

Mckinsey report predicts return to basics for investors: http://t.co/MjziXHY

Canadian Investor Relations Institute issues backgrounder on social media: http://t.co/i2q82g1

How baby boomers could depress stocks for decades: http://on-msn.com/rc9YCo

Financial Services Clamor for Social Media Guidance: http://bit.ly/prbkYl

B2B social media: Highlights from new benchmarking research: http://bit.ly/pL7dQ3

How to deal with the ongoing stock market turmoil from a financial communications perspective?: http://t.co/3eCQgPA

Despite Reg FD, study finds traders profit from private CEO meetings: http://t.co/pnqJxLs

Happy Reading!

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Trending on Twitter: What Q4 is Reading and Sharing

Sheryl Joyce — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 18:05:00 +0000

Social media has made the sharing of ideas and information easy and at lightening speed! Sometimes you may see a tweet that catches your eye – but if you’re not fast enough it’s already been replaced with something else. Add to that, the fact that sometimes there are not enough hours in the day to read everything.

That’s why we’ve decided to put together a list of some interesting things we’ve been reading and subsequently sharing with our followers. We’ll be doing this on a weekly basis.

NYSE shareholders back D.Boerse deal | Reuters: http://t.co/Un82iae

SEC delays NYSE’s IR services rule for deeper review: http://t.co/vidAhCC

Good video review of how traders and investors use Twitter: http://bit.ly/mNhxqk

Half of Massachusetts Financial Advisers on Social Media: http://ow.ly/5AXrO

Six Questions Board Members Should Ask About Social Media Usage: http://bit.ly/mSgGeQ

IR and Corp Comms Practices Are About to Get a Lot More Visual: http://bit.ly/nMuddi

Mobile Social Networking Continues Strong Growth: http://bit.ly/qtIYO0

Consumers Now Spending More Time on Mobile Apps Than the Web: http://ow.ly/5mjiM

Today’s NIRI Post: IR in the Boardroom, Regulation and NIRI Chapters: http://bit.ly/kLSiKS

78% of Executives Say Having a Social Strategy is Critical to Future Success: http://hub.am/mSwaIk

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IR Community Debates Social Media’s Role in Equity Research

Sheryl Joyce — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 14:53:28 +0000

I missed this week’s #irchat. As I was reading through the transcript (which can be accessed here), I thought I would transcribe the discussion for the benefit of everyone.

Typically, three or four questions are asked. But this week, the first question dominated the hour-long session. @meetthestreet asked:

Q1: Institutional Investor recently wrote about social media’s role in equity research: http://bit.ly/94w06K. Do you think this has legs?

Here is a snippet from the article:

Bolstered by the low cost of online publishing and the rising popularity of blogs, discussion forums and commenting, a growing number of niche web sites are creating opportunities for new forms of investment analysis to emerge — and for buy-side professionals, even those at rival firms, to collaborate and learn directly from one another. These social media web sites are supplementing, and in some cases supplanting, the traditional Wall Street information ecosystem that transmits sell-side investment research and stock calls to the buy side.

Here’s a recap of the conversation (a subset of questions evolved from the original question, so I have grouped these together to make it easier to follow along):

@meetthestreet: “SumZero has attracted 4k institutional investors in 2 years in pure organic fashion. I think that there is something here.”
@thomasros: “I like the “democratizing of information” idea of SM.”
@SculptorIR: “Definitely think this trend will continue, as the market wants more information about market drivers.”
@AVGoldberg: “Intuitively believe SM trend is here to stay but contradictory 2 analysts claim of limited access thru work & not using it.”
@meetthestreet: “I know the founders of SumZero. I wonder if they can tell if their users are using it from home? I will ask.”
@mcjennings: “Sounds like buy side analysts do have access to these specialized sites–sumzero, val invest club, distressed debt invest club.”
@meetthestreet: “If SumZero grows 2 B 20k or 50k buyside they will B able 2 easily move markets & IROs don’t have the same transparency as w/ SS.”

@meetthestreet: “Any thoughts on how they could monetize their offering? This will be important to their long-term viability.”

@meetthestreet: “Now institutional investors have 2 submit 2 ideas per year 2 gain access 2 the research pool. How can SumZero make $ from this?”
@trevorheisler: “Implementing a paid subscription service would make sense to me.”
@mcjennings: “If they are looking for revenue model, charge IROs for access, which will be necessary in some way shape or form.”

@meethestreet: Do you think that closed research networks pose a challenge to IROs as they become more popular?

@SculptorIR: “Yes”
@fredmcclimans: “Agree that closed research networks pose a challenge to IROs, but also a potential captive audience at some point?”
@fredmcclimans: “How locked out are firms/IROs from SumZero? Any access at all? Or is data totally locked for all time?”
@meetthestreet: “SumZero confirms users & only lets buyside in. Closed network. Plus its a 1 2 many network which can’t B managed/influenced by IROs.”

@trevorheisler: “Would you consider something like Covestor to be in competition with SumZero?”

@meetthestreet: “I don’t think so. Covestor is a retail product. If you want to invest alongside best investors, then invest in their funds.”
@trevorheisler: “Right. Guess a better question is, should SumZero go after retail as well, with a paid subscription?”
@fredmcclimans: “IRO could then pose as retail investor?”
@meetthestreet: “Agreed RT @fredmcclimans: RT @trevorheisler: Should SumZero go after retail as well, w/ a paid sub

As usual, the hour went by quickly. I’d love to hear your thoughts about the discussion!

Don’t forget to join us every Thursday @ 11:00 a.m. EST. In the meantime, if you have any questions you’d like to submit for an upcoming #irchat, tweet @meetthestreet or send an email to sherylj@q4websystems.com and I’ll pass it along.

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60% of Financial Advisors in North America are Using Social Networks to Drive New Business: Study

Sheryl Joyce — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 13:23:45 +0000

According to a survey by Socialware, over 60% of financial advisors in North America are using social networks to drive new business and build better relationships with customers. The survey consisted of over 30 questions and was completed by a total of 196 financial advisors; 44% of the respondents have an average account size of $300K and more than 53% of them have over 100 clients.

KEY FINDINGS:

Usage:

In addition to the 60% who are already using social networks for business, 11% more plan on using them in the future.
Of the 29% with no plans to use social media in the future, 85% of them are prohibited by their firms.
The average number of social networks employed is 1.8.
Linkedin is the most popular social network used.

Impact:

100% of the respondents believe that social media has a positive or neutral impact on their business’ reputation.
Over 60% agree that there is business value in adopting social media as it allows them to gather information on the clients without having to meet them face to face.
47% have identified one or more referral from their social media activity.
36% have acquired new customers through social media.
10% stated they identified over 21 new referrals.

Compliance:

57% are aware that their company has a policy in place.
11% were unsure if a policy existed.
40% believe that the firm’s social media policy is a detriment to performing one’s job successfully.

Click here to download the executive summary and key findings

Socialware’s findings are in line with a survey conducted by Ledermark Communications in March of this year which found:

LinkedIn was the top social networking site used for business and Facebook for personal use; however, both social networks allow them to be more visible, have a platform for questions and answers, and reconnect with old friends, introductions and referrals — all cited as how social media helped bring in business.
Respondents agreed that social networking will be an important business tool within five years.
None of the respondents claimed that social media wasn’t worth their time.

Here is presentation that conveys the findings:

Financial Advisors’ Use of Social Media – 2010 Survey

View more presentations from gerrileder.

One of the big questions that Investor relations officers have about social media is the ROI of using these channels as part of their IR communications strategy. Both of these studies convey the power in using social networks to make new business connections and build better relationships with customers. These are two compelling reasons why public companies should consider when pondering using social networks for investor relations.

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Q4 Whitepaper: Public Company Use of Social Media for Investor Relations – Summer 2010

Darrell Heaps — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:58:03 +0000

Download the latest Q4 Whitepaper on social media for public companies.

We’re thrilled to announce our latest report on the use of social media by public companies for investor relations. If you’d like to get right to the report you can download it here.

Last year we released two research reports on Twitter for investor relations. At that point, our sample told us that 35% were using Twitter for IR, in the current report you’ll see this number is now 65%.

However, it’s not all about Twitter. So we expanded our research to include Facebook, Linked, Blogs, YouTube and SlideShare. Their respective adoption rates for IR came in at:

37% Facebook

29% YouTube

10% Corporate blog

10% SlideShare

We’re thrilled to announce our latest report on the use of social media by public companies for investor relations. If you’d like to get right to the report you can download it here.

Last year we released two research reports on Twitter for investor relations. At that point, our sample of 350 companies told us that 35% were using Twitter for IR, in the current report you’ll see this adoption is now at 65%.

However, it’s not all about Twitter. So we expanded our research to include Facebook, LinkedIn, Blogs, YouTube and SlideShare. Their respective adoption rates for IR came in at:

37% Facebook
29% YouTube
10% Corporate blog
10% SlideShare
93% LinkedIn

Social Media Used by Public Companies for IR

We included LinkedIn because company pages are created automatically and now anyone can “Follow” any company.

What impresses me the most about the state of the market is just how many companies are using social media . We’ve included hundreds of examples in this report and we’ve literally just scratched the surface.

The complete report is 96 pages and has tons of stats, charts and web links.

Register on the landing page and we’ll email you the whitepaper right away.

We hope you enjoy it.

Let us know what you think in the comments below! Is social media for IR reaching a tipping point?

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Corporate Social Media Best Practice: List Social Networks on Your Website

Sheryl Joyce — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:24:44 +0000

We are currently working on our next research report on how public companies are using social media. This research is based on our analysis of over 350 companies and their uses of social media from a corporate and investor relations perspective. We have recently completed the primary research and have decided to share our findings as we go, through a series of blog posts that will highlight various aspects of the report.

To kick things off I thought we’d take a quick look at how companies are promoting their social media channels on their corporate website.

We are only just beginning to scratch the surface on our new research, but are seeing an increase in the number of companies who are providing links to all of the social networks they have adopted as part of their broader communications strategy via a “Stay Connected”, “Connect With Us”, or “Follow Us” approach.

We are also seeing some companies who have a dedicated social media tab on the main navigation of their corporate homepage. The social media tab links to a comprehensive listing of all of the social networks with details about the kind of information that can be found on each network.

The companies who have chosen to post the social networks they use on their website come from various sectors but technology leads the way, followed by services, pharma/healthcare/biotech and consumer goods.

What follows are some examples of those companies who we feel are innovators in this category and should be highlighted:

DEDICATED SOCIAL MEDIA PAGE

Ford Motor Company

Ford has a “Ford Social Networks” link on the main navigation which is carried throughout all of the pages on the website. When users click on the link, it has a sub-navigation of all the social networks and what can be found on those particular networks. The company also has a right hand navigation that is also carried throughout all of the pages on the website and includes a link to their Twitter account with the most recent tweets, as well as links to their YouTube and Flickr accounts that each have thumbnails of recent videos and pictures respectively.

Henkel

Henkel has a section on the right-hand navigation entitled “Henkel & Social Media”. Once users click on “Henkel & Social Media”, they are taken to a robust social media section. Like Ford, Henkel’s social media section has a sub-navigation that lists all of the social networks and what can be found on each.

CONNECT WITH US

Alaska Airlines

Alaska Airlines has a “Connect With Us” link prominently displayed on the “About Company” homepage. They also have a dedicated “Social Media” tab on the left-hand navigation. Upon clicking on either of these tabs, users are taken to a listing of all of the social networks with a link and a description of what can be found on each channel.

I’d also like to point out an interesting feature they have called “flyer talk” which is a forum where customers can exchange ideas and interact with employees. Users can also login to Flyertalk using their Facebook account. I tried this and there doesn’t seem to be a flyertalk forum on there, but the company does a great job of interacting with people on Facebook as well as using it to post videos and other company information.

FOLLOW US / STAY CONNECTED

We are also seeing some companies that have a “Follow Us on the Web” or “Stay Connected” feature. For example, Monsanto provides a listing of all the social media links on their homepage only in a featured area “Follow Us on the Web”.

Agnico-Eagle has a “Follow Us” feature that appears on the top of every page – and once users click on this they are taken to a page with various ways to “follow” the company such as email alerts, RSS feeds, Facebook, Twitter and Vimeo (disclosure Agnico-Eagle is a Q4 client).

While Monsanto and Agnico-Eagle do not have a dedicated social media page on their respective websites, these companies recognize the importance of letting users know of the other places they can interact with the company as well as putting this information on the website where it can be easily found.

We are still in the early stages of analyzing the data and will share more as we uncover the trends. To state the obvious, we strongly recommend that if your company is using social media, that you let your constituents know by adding a “Connect with Us” or “Follow us” area on your corporate website. Otherwise you are depriving them of the opportunity to engage with your company as well as limiting your company’s chance to interact with current and potential shareholders on their chosen medium.

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Investor Relations and Buy, Sell & Hold Recommendations

Sheryl Joyce — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 17:05:17 +0000

In her article “Should CEOs lose sleep over analyst recommendations” Clare Harrison, IR Magazine’s Deputy Editor, poses the question “How much attention do investors really pay to analyst recommendations?”

I think she raises some interesting points in answering the question. So much so that I’d like to reinforce and provide my two cents from an IRO perspective on those points here. I’ll also provide some suggested tactics IROs can use to foster relationships and gain credibility with investors, and ways to help them make informed investment decisions about your company.

Recommendations are typically issued after quarterly earnings. This fact makes it difficult to determine how much the share price would have moved on the basis of the recommendation alone.

While there are many factors that trigger investors to buy or sell, one would hope that quarterly financials would be seen in the context of the company as a whole – not just viewed as the only metric to base the company’s performance.
IROs can help to ensure that financials are not the only factor in an investor’s decision to buy or sell shares of their company. For example, companies need to effectively convey their investment proposition and the market opportunity of their business. Having a comprehensive IR web site will help fill in the holes and should be current and up-to-date. In addition, now more than ever, investors want to know the long-term strategy as well as the roadmap to achieve their business goals. Lastly, communicating in good and bad times and consistently speaking with investors will help the company gain credibility. When taken all together, all of the previously mentioned tactics will help ensure that investors are exposed to all relevant aspects of a company’s story so they can get the complete picture and make an informed investment decision.

How much do Fund Managers rely on analyst recommendations? This is tough to prove and Clare rightly states that “no fund manager with any sense would admit to relying solely on the recommendations of analysts to do his or her job satisfactorily”

While this would be an interesting conversation, having this information in my opinion is a moot point.
Companies have buy and sell recommendations issued on them all of the time. The key is to be in tune with how investors are making their investment decisions. One way to do this is by establishing a rapport which means proactively reaching out to them. The more often you speak with them, the better chance you have to establish a rapport. Also, as the liaison between management and the investment community, regularly communicating with your investors will help you as the IRO become a credible source of information. Being well versed in the company and the ability to answer tough questions as well as providing appropriate access to management when deemed necessary will help you foster a relationship with them. Don’t forget, while it is important to be able to adequately answer questions, these conversations don’t have to be one-sided, and understanding how they make investment decisions is crucial to IR messaging and objectives. So go ahead and ask specific questions.

Good investment ideas come from equity salespeople – Clare cites a recent study conducted by hedge fund GLG Partners that argues that information gleaned from sales teams helps fund managers achieve better performance than recommendations directly from research departments.

Clare makes an interesting point when saying this information is useful as it helps make the case for the company to cultivate a closer relationship with the sales team. One opportunity to do this is, is during a roadshow when issuers can end up spending a lot of time with analysts.
Referring back to my point in #2 where I recommend proactively reaching out to your analysts on a regular basis, will help pave the way as a relationship would already be in the works through regular contact with them.

Non-consensus recommendations – She also notes that certain issues should trigger a re-evaluation of how time is spent with analysts. For example, she says “When there is disagreement between analysts about a stock, the recommendations of certain analysts are more likely to influence your stock price. It should be no surprise that the GLG study found recommendations from large, global brokerage firms have more of an impact on stock prices than smaller brokerage firms.

There is bound to be some differing opinions among analysts regarding your company. And yes it is logical for analyst recommendations coming from larger brokerage houses to have more clout.
However no matter what the recommendation is and whether it is coming from a large or small brokerage house, IROs should still regularly speak to analysts. You have a right to ask your analyst to review the report. You could even try asking them how they came up with their recommendation – but be prepared to be shut out as analysts oftentimes have complicated financial models that have taken many years to put together, so they aren’t likely to tell you their trade secrets. That said, I adhere to the old adage “do not ask, do not get”, so in the very least I would ask for a sneak preview of their report before it is issued. There are a few benefits to doing this i) it gives you a reason to contact them; ii) it gives you the opportunity to clarify anything misleading or blatantly erroneous in the report; and iii) it gives them a “fact” checker right from the source.

Analysts who don’t engage with investors – Another dilemma Clare highlights are “rogue” analysts who don’t engage with issuers - IR people occasionally complain that investors ring up citing an analyst report the issuer isn’t on the distribution list for.

I have not had a lot of experience with this issue – but it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.
If you get blindsided by this, get them to send you the report. Then let them know that you would like some time to review and you’ll get back to them. This will give you some time to investigate the report and the author. In any case, whether they have given a buy or sell recommendation you should reach out and introduce yourself.

With the many places that investors can access to get information about your company, it is difficult to determine whether investors put a lot of stock (no pun intended) on analyst recommendations. That said, IROs should make it a point of knowing what is being said by this important audience. Whether there is a buy, sell or hold recommendation on the company, the IRO should take it upon themselves to proactively reach out and foster a working relationship with them. The tactics I have previously outlined can help IROs foster relationships and gain credibility with investors and help them make informed investment decisions about your company.

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