IR Social Media Reality Check 2.0

Social Media Reality Check 2.0
Dimitra Maniatis, Associate Vice President, Leger Marketing
Carolyn McGill, President and CEO, CNW Group
Strategize. Innovate. LEAD.CIRI’s 24th Annual Investor Relations ConferenceJune 5-7, 2011 - Lake Louise

Social Media Reality Check 2.0
Background:
One of the most quickly evolving areas in the investor relations profession is social media.
In 2009, CNW and Leger Marketing conducted the first Social Media Reality Check, a unique study that explored professional communicators’ use of social media compared with consumer opinions about social media’s influence on their purchasing behavior.
This year, we’ve expanded the scope of the study to include investor
relations professionals and institutional investors.
Questions to be Answered:
What are investor relations professionals’ perceptions about the use of social media and what are their / their companies’ stake in it? How is it changing/growing? Are they on the right track with their audience?
How do financial industry professionals use social media to gather information about the companies they follow/invest in/advise others to invest in? Do they trust it? Or would they rather stick with traditional disclosure pieces?

Research Method
Two target groups were invited to take the survey – who responded?
- sample of 61 Canadian and U.S. financial industry professionals
- sample of 99 Canadian and U.S. investor relations professionals
1
Target groups were accessed via CNW contact lists and Leger’s online panel
Respondents completed a 10 - 15 minute online questionnaire
from April 19 – May 9, 2011.
2
Those who said they did not use social media for business were screened out from the balance of the survey. Findings from both target groups were analyzed together, and results of other recent surveys on social media usage in the financial industry were considered for context.
3

References
The Use of Social Media by European Investment Professionals,a joint survey by Deutsche EuroShop AG and DVFA, the society of investment professionals in Germany, April 2011. 74 investment professionals responded, including sell-side/buy-side analysts and asset managers.
2011 Financial Professionals Social Media Adoption Studyby American Century Investments, Feb 2011. 303 respondents including advisors, brokers and RIAs.
Questionnaires were based on the 2009 Social Media Reality Check a joint study by Leger Marketing and CNW Group, August 2009.

An Overview of Social Media usage among Investor Relations
& Financial Industry professionals

How many use social media?
Investor Relations:
Do You Use Social Media For Business?
Financial Industry:
Do You Use Social Media For Business?
Similarly in Europe, only half of those surveyed see social media as a channel for information distribution and dialogue, that they are likely to use.
In the U.S., half of financial industry professionals surveyed say they are participating regularly in social media.
Q: Do you ever use social media for business purposes?
N=99 (IR professionals) N=58 (financial industry professionals)

Reasons for not using it
Regulatory/compliance issues are the top concern for financial industry professionals in the U.S. while Europeans cite lack of relevance and reliability of information to be the key reason.
Q: What is your biggest concern about using social media for business purposes?
N=37, (financial industry professionals who don’t use social media for business)

Who does use it?
Investor Relations
Financial Industry
Q: What industry/sector do you work in? N=56 (IR professionals)
Q: Do you work on the buy-side or sell-side? N=21 (financial industry professionals)

What do they use it for?
Investor Relations
Financial Industry
Q: For what professional reasons do you use social media?

How often do they use it?
Financial Industry Professionals use it less often
Almost half said once a week or more
Another third said less than once a week
Q: In general, how often would you say that you use social media applications as part of your professional role? N=56 (IR professionals) N=21 (financial industry professionals)

Where do they go?
Financial
Mainstream
Facebook and LinkedIn are the sites most used for business among U.S. financial industry professionals
Top European sites are the business network platform Xing (49%) and LinkedIn (31%).
Q: Which of these, if any, have you used in your professional life? Select all that apply.
Q: Which financial aggregators and communities do you follow and use? Select all that apply. N=33 (IR professionals) N=7 (financial industry professionals)

Are they actively monitoring?
Why are you monitoring companies?
Investor
Relations Professionals
Financial Industry Professionals
Why are you monitoring companies?
Q: Do you monitor how the companies you follow are being discussed online and in social media? N=56 (IR professionals) N=21 (financial industry professionals)
Q: Why are you monitoring companies in social media? Select all that apply.
N= 32 (IR professionals) N=6 (financial industry professionals)

Insights into Social Media usage
for Investor Relations
and Financial Industry professionals

Using Social Media to Conduct BusinessInvestor Relations Professionals
How Would You Describe The Types Of Social Media Campaigns You Undertake?
Do You Have Measurable Objectives?
Q: Do you set any formal, measurable objectives related to what you want to accomplish with social media? And how would you describe the types of social media campaigns you undertake? N= 56 (IR professionals)

Using Social Media to Conduct BusinessInvestor Relations Professionals
How Would You Characterize Your Social Media Objectives?
How Do You Measure Against Those Objectives?
Q: How would you characterize your social media objectives?N= 56 (IR)
Q: How do you measure against those objectives? N= 56 (IR)

Using Social Media to Conduct BusinessFinancial Industry Professionals
“Use of social media can give me a competitive edge.”
““Social media outlets are a wise use of my professional time.”
“In my industry, there is a clear benefit to using social media
to conduct business.”
“Most financial industry firms are using social media to their advantage.”
“Social media has become indispensible in the way I conduct my business.”
“Use of social media can negatively impact the quality of my work.”
Agree
Neutral
Q: Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. N=21 (financial industry professionals)
Disagree

Impact on Buying/Investment BehaviorInvestor Relations Professionals
Stakeholders I communicate with…
Q: Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. N=56 (IR professionals)

Impact on Buying/Investment BehaviorFinancial Industry Professionals
“More IR professionals should be engaging audiences online and in social media.”
“Reading about a company or its products and services in the social media space can impact my opinion about a company's valuation .”
“I find honest, balanced reviews of companies, products and services online that I wouldn't have found otherwise.”
“I find corporate-initiated or sponsored blogs a useful source of information.”
“I find it useful when a company's IR person engages with me or others in a social media space.”
“I look on industry blogs to get opinions about a company or its products and services.”
“Engaging in social media is a dangerous move for public companies.”
Agree
Mostly Agree
Neutral
Q: Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. N=21 (financial industry professionals)
Disagree

Impact on Corporate ReputationInvestor Relations & Financial Industry Professionals
One third of financial industry professionals also agree
Q: Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. N=56 (IR professionals) N=21 (financial industry professionals)

Impact on Corporate ReputationInvestor Relations & Financial Industry Professionals
One third of financial industry professionals also agree
Almost half of financial industry professionals also agree
Q: Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. N=56 (IR professionals) N=21 (financial industry professionals)

Impact on ValuationInvestor Relations & Financial Industry Professionals
Investor Relations Professionals
Half of the Financial Industry Professionals agree
Q: Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. N=21 (financial industry professionals), N=56 (IR professionals).

Use of Multimedia ElementsInvestor Relations Professionals
What Type?
Do You Distribute Multimedia Assets?
Q: Do you distribute multimedia assets? N=56 (IR professionals)
Q: Why types of multimedia do you provide? N=30 (IR professionals)

Use of MultimediaFinancial Industry Professionals
“The use of multimedia can help clarify my understanding of a company’s business.”
“I would like to see more companies use multimedia in their investor communications.”
“Multimedia captures my attention and draws me to news I might not otherwise read.”
“ “I use company-supplied multimedia in my reports to add visual interest.”
“I consider a company’s management team to be more credible when they use multimedia in the social media space.”
“I don’t have time to watch videos.”
“I have no use for multimedia elements in my work.”
Agree
Neutral
Q: Please indicate the extent to which you agree or disagree with the following statements. N=21 (Financial industry professionals)
Disagree

Use of TwitterInvestor Relations Professionals
Does Your Organization Have a Twitter Account?
What Is It Used For?
Q: Does your organization have a Twitter account? N=56 (IR professionals).
Q. What does your organization use Twitter for? N=34 (IR professionals whose organizations’ have Twitter)

Use of TwitterInvestor Relations Professionals
Do You Use Twitter
During Live Events?
What Types of Events?
Q: Do you use social media tools, like Twitter, during your organization’s live events?
N=56 (IR professionals)
Q: What types of events do you use these social media tools for?
N=11 (IR professionals who use Twitter)

Social Media BudgetInvestor Relations Professionals
Does Your Organization Have A Budget For Social Media?
More or Less Than Last Year?
Q: Does your organization have a budget devoted specifically to social media?
N=56 (IR professionals)
Q: How much more/less was the social media budget this year compared to last year?
N=13 (IR professionals).

Conclusions
Less professionals in the Financial Industry are using Social Media than we thought
This trend will change as the use of Social Media is increasing
When FI Professionals DO use Social Media, they use it to gather information and stay informed
In addition, they show great interest in multimedia assets
IR Professionals also use Social Media to stay informed and gather information
It will become increasingly important for IR Professionals to use Social Media as a tool to distribute information

IR Social Media Reality Check 2.0

by CNW Group

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