q4 research: public company use of social media for ir - part 2 facebook

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September 2012

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Q4 Whitepaper: Public Company Use of Social Media for IR – Part 2:

Facebook - 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

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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 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





Facebook

• Though Twitter has the highest use for IR of all the social media

platforms, Facebook is too important a channel to be ignored:

– Largest networking site in the world, available in 37 languages,

with well over 900 million users

– Average age of Facebook users in 2010 was 38 years old

– Highest growth area by far was in Boomer segment (aged 50-64)

– Average users spend 23 minutes on each Facebook visit





Facebook For Investor Relations

• Q4’s 2012 sample shows that 78% of companies have a Facebook account, slightly up from 2011. Of these, 40% use Facebook for Investor Relations.

– By Sector - Top three sectors using Facebook for Investor Relations are Technology, Natural Resources, and Industrial Goods/Basic Materials.

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

– By Market Capitalization - Small cap companies lead in use of Facebook for IR, followed by Large cap and then Medium cap.





Facebook Usage and Content

• Facebook is the second most popular social media channel (after

Twitter) used by public companies to share Investor Relations

material.

• Companies use Facebook to share materials, providing consumers

and investors with information about their organization, their industry

and their markets. These include:

– press releases, quarterly financials, annual reports, corporate videos,

industry news, media coverage and information on conferences





Best Practices

1. Emulating the look and feel of the corporate website homepage

2. Pulling in RSS feeds from the IR website or blog to populate

Facebook pages

3. Using Notes and customizable pages to provide additional

information around company assets, highlight important events or

underscore sustainability initiatives

4. Precise commenting guidelines and terms of use

5. Directing visitors to other social channels

6. Linking to financial blogs

7. Expanded use of multimedia such as video and photos to highlight

particular aspects of the business





Best Practices

1. Emulating the look and feel of the corporate website homepage

http://www.facebook.com/Chesapeak

e

www.chk.com

Facebook’s Timeline format (new in early 2012)

allows companies to easily brand themselves –

logo, tagline, and stock corporate photography - as

seen in this example from Chesapeake Energy

(below).

Notice how similar the pictures and graphics are to their

corporate website landing page (above). It makes it much

easier for visitors to identify the company on Facebook.


http://www.facebook.com/Chesapeake

http://www.facebook.com/Chesapeake

http://www.chk.com




Best Practices

2. Pulling in RSS feeds from the IR website or blog to populate

Facebook pages

http://www.facebook.com/Apachecorporation/app_23798139265

Using an RSS feed on Facebook,

like the one Apache Corp does

(left), keeps all their relevant

news in one place, so visitors can

more easily weed out other

Facebook activity, and scan news

to quickly find what they need.

Clicking on the titles brings

visitors to the source, usually the

corporate website. Visitors can

also easily subscribe to their RSS

feeds.

The same sort of technique can

be used to share a company’s

corporate blog posts.


http://www.facebook.com/Apachecorporation/app_23798139265




Best Practices

3. Using Notes and customizable pages to provide additional

information around company assets, highlight important events or

underscore sustainability initiatives

http://www.facebook.com/opentext/app_56625786785

Rather than using just the Notes

section to highlight important

information, Facebook’s Timeline

format provides new applications and

tools that allow companies to group

and target their information better.

Many companies separate information

into various categories – news,

events, recruitment, blog entries, CSR

material, etc. – to allow visitors to

more quickly and easily find what they

need.

In the Open Text example (right), the

drop down menu allows visitors to

navigate directly to News, Blog or

Events.


http://www.facebook.com/opentext/app_56625786785




Best Practices

3. Using Notes and customizable pages (continued)

http://www.facebook.com/SmithfieldFoods/app_4949752878

Many companies highlight their social,

environmental and charitable endeavors

with a dedicated Corporate Social

Responsibility page on Facebook.

Smithfield Foods (left) has a comprehensive

‘Responsibility’ Page, breaking out all the

relevant areas they focus on in their CSR

efforts and commitments including the

environment, employees, animal welfare,

communities and food safety. Every button

and link is interactive, allowing visitors to

easily get to the corresponding section on

their website.


http://www.facebook.com/SmithfieldFoods/app_4949752878




Best Practices

4. Precise commenting guidelines and terms of use

http://www.facebook.com/Cenovus/app_139649419438726

We continue to see many

companies provide social

media terms of usage and

commenting guidelines. This

example to the left is from

Cenovus, who provide “House

Rules” and a “Disclaimer” about

how they use and expect

others to use their Facebook

account.


http://www.facebook.com/Cenovus/app_139649419438726




Best Practices

5. Directing visitors to other social channels

http://www.facebook.com/ittcorp

ITT Corporation (above) posts a SlideShare link on Facebook,

connecting visitors to the company’s latest earnings

presentation.

http://www.facebook.com/iberdrola

When companies spend time and resources on producing

regular blog content should be sharing the information on

any channels they are on. Iberdrola (below) directs visitor to

their newly launched corporate blog.


http://www.facebook.com/ittcorp

http://www.facebook.com/iberdrola




Best Practices

5. Directing visitors to other social channels (continued)

http://www.facebook.com/KimcoRealty/app_111087479007595

Many companies provide links

so specific social media apps

right on the main page of their

Facebook accounts.

Kimco Realty (right) has a

summary of all the social media

platforms they use on the

Welcome app of their Facebook

account. This easily connects

visitors to any platform they

themselves use.

Each of these icons – RSS,

Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and

Flickr – is a hyperlink to their

specific pages on each platform.


http://www.facebook.com/KimcoRealty/app_111087479007595




Best Practices

6. Linking to financial blogs

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Quest-Rare-Minerals-Ltd/13932817609387

Some companies also link to sector-

related articles from financial blogs.

Being in tune with what is being said

on financial blogs about their company

and sector is an important

consideration for companies using

social media. It helps to inform

investors and add to the company’s

credibility.

Quest Rare Minerals regularly shares

articles (left) on their Facebook page

from Rare Earth Investing News. The

articles are not just focused on Quest,

but rather provides commentary on

several other companies in their

space.












Best Practices

7. Expanded use of multimedia such as video and photos to highlight

particular aspects of the business

http://www.facebook.com/Checkpointsoftware/photos

Sharing video of interviews with a CEO/CFO

commenting on their company’s strategy or results

is another way to provide visitors additional context

around earnings or acquisitions. An example of this

is Syngenta’s post below.

http://www.facebook.com/Syngenta

Many companies use various multimedia, repurposing

content, photographs and video in several places, such as

their IR website, YouTube and Facebook.

Check Point Software (above) posts photo albums from

events and conferences they participate in.


http://www.facebook.com/Checkpointsoftware/photos

http://www.facebook.com/Syngenta




Facebook Engagement Increases

• Q4 also examined engagement practices of companies, how they

are interacting and engaging in conversation with visitors on

Facebook.

• Companies providing direct responses or referrals to IR contacts

has risen significantly in our 2012 sample, increasing by 13% since

last year.

• 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





Compelling Reasons To Use Facebook for IR

• Facebook has the highest number of users – well over 900 million

worldwide.

• The mistaken assumption that Facebook users are too young to be

consumers of IR material has proved false – average age is 38, and

highest growth demographic is aged 50-64.

• Early 2012 changes to Facebook’s format (Timeline) are making it

easier for companies to customize tools and applications to

organize, highlight and group content according to their needs and

activities.

• Evidence continues to show that many public companies see value

in using social media to increase awareness and engage with key

constituents.





• Download and learn how to:

– How your peers are using Facebook to interact and engage with investors

– What sectors, geographic regions and size of companies are leading the way in adoption

– Innovative uses of video and photos to highlight particular aspects of your business

– New ways companies are using Facebook tools (welcome, notes, events and Corporate Social Responsibility pages) to group and highlight information

– How to effectively integrate RSS feeds from your IR website or blog to populate Facebook pages

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About Q4 Web Systems

Q4 is 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 http://www.q4blog.com/.For more information, please

email [email protected] or contact us toll free at 1-877-426-

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