Q4 Research: Public company use of social media for IR - Part 1 Twitter & StockTwits

Summary Presentation: Download Complete Whitepaper

June 2012

http://go.q4websystems.com/2012-06-19twitterstocktwitswhitepaper.html

Q4 Whitepaper: Public Company Use of Social Media for IR – Part 1:

Twitter and StockTwits - Summary Slides

Why Social Media Matters For Investor Relations

• Social media has become one of the key methods for companies to

engage in discussion, share information, and connect with their

audiences.

• The number of users communicating on social media platforms is

also compelling; over 900 million on Facebook, 555 million users of

Twitter and over 150 million people on LinkedIn1.

• Research shows that:

– 49% of professional investors are reading blogs and 27% use YouTube2

– 3 out of 5 financial bloggers use Twitter as their primary news source3

– 63% of institutional investors believe social media will become

increasingly important to them4

Sources: 1. All Twitter Blog (Mediabistro), 2012 | 2. Rivel Research, 2010 | 3. Financial Media Conference, 2011 | 4. Brunswick Group, 2009

Download Complete Whitepaper




Overall Social Media Findings


• Q4 performs year over year reviews of social media is used for

Investor Relations by the companies in our sample. Our findings in

2012 reveal:

– slight increases in Twitter and Facebook use

– significant increases in use of SlideShare and corporate blogs

• Our study includes some new measurements for 2012:

– 64% of companies are listed on StockTwits

– 65% of companies have their social media links on their corporate

website

– 32% of companies have a social media summary page to help users

find the appropriate feed or page




2012 Research Sample


Q4 Web Systems’ research sample size for social media research has

grown from 80 public companies in 2009 to a total of 807 in 2012.

Airline, 16

Automotive, 12

Consumer Goods, 114 Exchanges, 4

Financial Services, 67

Industrial goods/Basic materials, 67

Media, 8

Natural Resources, 134

Pharma/Healthcare/Biotech, 43

Real Estate, 13

Services, 120

Technology, 139

Telecommunications, 30

Utilities, 40

Companies Included in Study by Sector




Twitter


• Twitter has the highest usage rates for IR of all the social media

platforms.

– Twitter has over 550 million users, and is available in 28

languages

– The average number of tweets per day is well over 50 million,

with an average of 182 million monthly visitors to their website.

– 74% of Twitter users are between ages 26-54




Twitter For Investor Relations

• Q4’s 2012 sample shows that 98% of companies have a Twitter account. Of these, 63% use Twitter for Investor Relations, pretty much on par with our 2011 statistics.

– By Sector – Top three sectors using Twitter for IR are Exchanges, Natural Resources, and Technology, followed very closely by Industrial Goods/Basic Materials.

– By Region - North American companies (US and Canada) in our sample significantly outpaced the rest of the world, with European companies (led by the UK and Germany) as the next highest.

– By Market Capitalization – Small and Large cap companies were virtually neck and neck in their use of Twitter for IR (37 and 36 percent, respectively). Medium cap came in a close third place.





Twitter Usage and Content

• Twitter is the most popular social media channel used by public companies to share Investor Relations material.

• Companies use Twitter to share materials, providing consumers and investors with information about their organization, their industry and their markets. – Commonly shared information includes: press releases, corporate

social responsibility updates, quarterly financial releases, annual reports, corporate videos, interviews, media coverage and information on conferences

– Related industry news content and market/analyst commentary is increasing in popularity

– More companies are experimenting with the practice of live-tweeting of earnings calls and AGMs





Twitter Best Practices

1. Sharing industry and sector news/media coverage

2. Providing photos and videos broadcast from conferences

3. Linking to analyst reports and trade information

4. Sharing corporate/company news

5. Enhanced quarterly reporting practices

6. Live-tweeting annual meetings or analyst/investor days

7. Proactively engaging followers with direct questions to stimulate

discussions

8. Directing followers to other social media channels they are using





Best Practices

1. Sharing industry and sector news/media coverage (traditional news

outlets, financial and industry blog content, etc.)


https://twitter.com/Novozymes/status/177558022019756032

Novozymes, for instance,

shared a news announcement

regarding new government

funding for initiatives in their

industry.

A development of this kind

could greatly impact the

fortunes of a biofuel company

like Novozymes, and would be

of keen interest to shareholders

or prospective investors.









Best Practices

2. Providing photos and videos broadcast from conferences


https://twitter.com/ittcorp/status/198099598231863296

Companies are also providing

more than a link to the press

release announcing an upcoming

conference.

In the ITT Corporation example

(left), they’ve augmented the

tweet with a picture of their

conference exhibit booth,

showing off their latest

technologies at the Offshore

Technology Conference.


https://twitter.com/ittcorp/status/198099598231863296



Best Practices

3. Linking to analyst reports and trade information


http://www.twitter.com/germantrader71/status/202333130034642944

Many companies are also using Twitter

to share information that is not

technically considered “material,” but

nonetheless could be deemed important

for shareholders, such as analyst

coverage and trade information.

For instance, we frequently see

companies posting tweets regarding

Moody’s or Standard & Poors ratings,

like CIT Group’s tweet (top left).

Another example is from Jabil Circuit

Inc., who monitor analyst commentary

on its stock, and retweets information

and announcements to its own Twitter

feed (bottom left).

http://twitter.com/citgroup/status/170245927041380352


http://www.twitter.com/germantrader71/status/202333130034642944








Best Practices

4. Sharing corporate/company news (new products, press releases,

corporate social responsibility information, new IR tools and apps,

etc.)


http://twitter.com/ACE_Group/status/155505952316080128

Many public companies are also

providing links to other news on

their Twitter feed that investors

might find interesting, like news on

corporate social responsibility

practices, awards won, external

recognition received. Often the

news is not material to investors, but

can provide a great deal of context

around the company, its market, and

its practices.

In this example (right), ACE Group

tweets the press release on a recent

acquisition.









Best Practices

5. Enhanced quarterly reporting practices (eliciting questions in

advance of the call, including disclaimers during the live-tweeting

session)


http://twitter.com/NISSAN_GLOBAL/status/200821282118447105

A common piece of investor-related information that

companies share on Twitter relates to the quarterly

conference call. Many companies tweet details for

accessing the call or webcast, as well as the quarterly

financial release that typically includes the financial

tables, etc. Nissan’s 2011 fiscal yearend press

conference is a great example.

First, they tweeted the announcement of the live

streaming (through Ustream) the event (right). Then,

they tweeted over 30 separate posts on highlights,

CEO quotes, 2012 plans, and financial markets

commentary. Nissan then tweeted an announcement

that the press conference was at an end, and then a

link to a YouTube video of their CEO providing

commentary and context about the 2011 yearend

results.







Best Practices

6. Live-tweeting annual meetings or analyst/investor days


http://twitter.com/arcresources/status/202496175885131776

Arc Resources is a great example (left).

They recently live-tweeted their Annual

Meeting using StockTwits’ platform

(with some tweets on Twitter). They

tweeted the time, date and link to the

live feed, and directly following that,

provided a link for a webcast.

In the two weeks leading up to the

AGM, they tweeted resource materials

for review (online Annual Report, a

press release outlining Q1 2012 results,

and a video update from their COO).

On the date of the Annual Meeting,

their StockTwits feed had over 15

tweets, and the official Twitter feed by

comparison, had 5 tweets, providing

just the AGM highlights.

As companies become more comfortable sharing their financial information

and subsequently live-tweeting their earnings calls, we are seeing

companies extend both of these practices to their annual meetings and

investor/analyst days materials.









Best Practices

7. Proactively engaging followers with direct questions to stimulate

discussions


https://twitter.com/Fiserv/status/200223755430137856

Another way companies are using

Twitter is to help engage those people

following their feed with questions or

offers. It gives followers (especially

shareholders) a sense that they are “in

the know,” part of the discussion, that

the company is listening. It also

provides transparency – they can see

the call for questions, see the

questions come up, and see them

fielded by Executives during the

meeting.

Fiserv (right) recently solicited

questions from followers about the

housing market to field with leading

American Economist David Stiff.


https://twitter.com/Fiserv/status/200223755430137856



Best Practices

8. Directing followers to other social media channels they are using

(cross posting of content, raising awareness of new channels and

feeds, etc.)


https://twitter.com/ErsteGroupIR/status/174759135299125248

Many companies continue to link from Twitter to

their blogs or other social channels such as

Facebook, YouTube and SlideShare. This latest

batch of research continues to support this trend.

Jabil (left) announces a new dedicated Twitter feed

for Healthcare & Life Sciences topics.

https://twitter.com/JabilCircuitInc/status/195255465872076800

Similarly, Erste Group posted several tweets during

the 2011 yearend results conference call, and then

tweeted this post (right), directing followers to their

SlideShare account for a presentation copy of the

results and a great deal more information, including

detailed breakdowns of the results and contacts.







https://twitter.com/JabilCircuitInc/status/195255465872076800



Twitter Engagement

• Q4 also examined engagement practices of companies, how they

are interacting and engaging in conversation with visitors on Twitter.

• 2012 engagement remains at the level of 2011 (measured through

companies’ use of “replies,” “retweets,” and “#hashtags”).

• Engagement percentages have remained consistent, but level of

sophistication has risen.

• Increased engagement with visitors can:

– show the company as responsive, adding to their credibility

– show that the company regularly monitors their social channels,

providing another source of quick, reliable information





StockTwits

• StockTwits is a social media platform that allows the investor

community to share real-time information and ideas, discover

relevant content, and connect with a global network of financial

influencers.

• Well integrated with Twitter, StockTwits is used by more than

150,000 investors, market professionals and public companies to

share information – whose feeds are viewed by an audience of over

40 million.

• According to Q4 research, a full 64% of companies in our sample

have a presence on StockTwits.





StockTwits Best Practices

• Some of the Best Practices identified for StockTwits include:

– Appending $TICKER

– Appending Tweets with Unique #Hashtag

– Live-tweeting Earnings Calls

– Posting Earnings Q&A

– Virtual Investor Days

– Including Disclaimers & Safe Harbors

– Augmenting News Distribution

– Publicizing Upcoming Events

– Highlighting Videos and Presentations

– Sharing Annual Report





Compelling Reasons To Use Twitter for IR

• Twitter has a significant number of users – well over 550 million

worldwide.

• By far, Twitter has the highest rates of usage rates of all the social

media platforms for Investor Relations purposes. An increasing

number of companies are incorporating the use of StockTwits by

including their $TICKER symbol.

• There is an increased sophistication in many companies’ Twitter use

(better targeted, more pertinent, higher volume of announcements,

and more integrated with other social media platforms with re-

sourcing and cross-posting).

• Evidence continues to support the fact that many public companies

see value in using social media to increase awareness and engage

with key constituents.





Download and learn: – Best practices for live-tweeting quarterly conference calls, analyst/investor

days and annual meetings

– How your peers are using Twitter to elicit questions in advance of an earnings call or annual meeting

– Tactics to proactively engage followers to stimulate discussions

– Innovative ways to share content from conferences and industry-related news/media coverage

– How StockTwits is emerging as a viable social channel that public companies are using to share their financial information and corporate news in real-time

– How to effectively integrate Twitter and other social media with your IR website

Download the Complete Whitepaper Now!!


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About Q4 Web Systems

Q4 is the the leader in corporate websites and social media solutions

for public companies. Hundreds of IR professionals rely on Q4 for their

IR website, social media and mobile applications. Using Q4, public

companies of all sizes increase awareness, reduce risk and build better

relationships with their investors. Through active best practice

research, Q4 has earned a position at the forefront of the investor

relations market, sharing knowledge through webinars, whitepapers

and articles on on http://www.q4blog.com/.For more information,

please email [email protected] or contact us toll free at 1-

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Q4 Research: Public company use of social media for IR - Part 1 Twitter & StockTwits

Social Media

Transcript of Q4 Research: Public company use of social media for IR - Part 1 Twitter & StockTwits