The study was put together by IR Insight and in a nutshell found that IROs have strong opinions about working with analysts and how they interact with investors. For the study, over 1,600 IR Professionals were surveyed and examined:

• The importance of the IRO in investor interaction relative to the importance of senior management.
• The problems IROs cite in sell-side analyst coverage quality.
• Which investors are easiest to deal with.
• The top 10 equity analysts that are IRO favorites

IRO Vs. Senior Management

Both North American and European IR Professionals believe that in the eyes of the investor that Senior Management is much more important to the image of a company. However, in Asia, the IR Professionals consider themselves the most important link to the investors. The biggest gap in the importance of Senior Management to IRO is North America.

Issues with Sell-Side

Sell-Side was given an average of 6.5 out 10. This shows that while IROs approve of Sell-Side, it is only a luke-warm approval. The real problem that IROs seem to have is with Analyst Coverage Quality. Most IROs noted that they had worked with my Analysts and that no one rating would be represent the work that was being done as while many were up to standard, many, many more were seen to be incompetent.

Favorite Investors and Analysts

The list of favorite investors comes as not surprise with Fidelity, Capital and T Rowe Price taking the top three stops. Likewise, the Analysts selection is also populated with familiar names like Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Barclays Capital.

Great report. Make sure that you check it out yourself. A great way to get an idea of how IRO professionals perceive the Investor Relations industry and what their role is within it.

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New HTML Content Editor

The HTML editor is used throughout Q4 Web, whether updating web page or adding an event, the editor is everywhere inside Q4 Web. The first thing you’ll notice is that the editor now uses a Microsoft Office “Ribbon” across the top for quick access to all formatting options. There is also quick access to a “Full Screen” view, which is very handy when working on long content items.  The copy and paste capability has been upgraded with numerous ways to achieve this now, and the editor also has an improved file upload and management center.

The editor has been integrated with your websites CSS “Style Sheet,” which means that the content inside the editor will always look the same as it does on the website, including headers, fonts, etc. Finally there is a long list of performance improvements to both speed, editing and overall experience in working with the editor. We think you’re going to love it!

Quick Access to Common Tasks

You asked for an easier way to access commonly used functions. In response to this we have moved common tasks to the right side of the user interface. This now allows you to easily access these tasks from anywhere inside Q4 Web.

New File Upload

One of the most frequently requested improvements we have heard from users is to have a generic file upload ability from the dashboard. In response to this, we added “Upload Files” to the common tasks so you can access it from anywhere.

This new file upload lets you browse your computer or company network and upload single or multiple files at the same time. We’re confident this will bring a lot of efficiency to working inside Q4 Web.

Dashboard Announcements

The next time you log into Q4 Web you’ll notice a new Announcement panel on the dashboard. This will be used to let you know of new releases (like this one!) as well as to gain your feedback on Q4 Web and our growing number of products to help your IR department get the most out of the web without investing more time and effort!

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This is the second annual report of its kind by SMI and looking at them in comparison, it is exciting to see the growth of companies that are using social media as a way to share what they are doing to make their operations more sustainable.  The number of companies taking advantage of social media specifically for Sustainability related material has more than doubled from 120 last year to 250 this year.

Great Use of Social Media

IBM was noted this year for creating some very compelling content with the help of well-known filmmakers to present their story in a clear and watchable way.  Checking out their Youtube channel, you can see some of the great video content they have uploaded recently showing their efforts to make positive change in the world:

In the case of General Electric, they have used Social Media as a way of crowdsourcing innovative ideas for their Ecomagination Challenge.  The challenge enabled GE Facebook and Twitter followers to send in ideas and proposals for different ways that GE could work to create more Sustainable products and services.  While the challenge ended this year, GE has continued to work on the main webpage where people can interact with one another and see some of the great ideas that GE has been working on through the challenge:

Some tips for others

SMI also does a great job of offering up some general tips on how to mange Sustainable Communications over Social Media. Including:

• Companies stay on top of what is happening on their Social Media Channels.
• Public critiques made on Facebook and Twitter are addressed.  Thinking that these kinds of comments and posts will go unnoticed is incorrect and can be detrimental.
• The kind of content that you are uploading be relevant and encourage followers to interact.  People are looking for engaging content that they can be a part.  As mentioned earlier, General Electric did a great job of this by encouraging followers to give them ideas about how they can find sustainability solutions.
• Finally, it is important to respect the intelligence of Social Media users.  People are looking for transparency and honesty through these channels, especially when the discussion centers around sustainability.  Understand that this is not a forum to take advantage of people or try and up your “Like” count.  It is a great opportunity to work on creating a more sustainable company and at the same time getting customers involved and closer to the company.

For more ideas on what to do and what not do with Social Media, check out a great SMI article from earlier this year: http://socialmediainfluence.com/2011/09/05/social-media-screw-ups-the-updated-history/.

Specifically for Financial Services

While only 10 Financial Services companies were listed on the index, it was noted that these companies have been especially innovative with how they have approached Sustainability Communication through Social Media.  Companies like BBVA and Allianz get a special mention for their Family & Friends and Knowledge programs that have a specific focus on community building.  Family & Friends allows for customers to set up a specific goal or cause and then invite people to donate to their cause.  Knowledge is a partner site launched by Allianz that outlines issues involving climate change, energy, microfinance and other sustainability issues they are involved in and encourage users to take part.

SMI, as always, has created another great report where we get to see what the latest and most innovative uses of Social Media in the corporate world.  Social Media is an excellent channel to get close to consumers and their wants and needs.  Using Social Media as a means to communicate a company’s Sustainability efforts allows for consumers to see the importance of giving back and being socially responsible as well as gives the consumers a voice to let companies know what they want from them.

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We’ve shared our thoughts on this front via a discussion we had with @thehartley via Twitter – a technology reporter with the Financial Post here in Toronto in this post: ‘A reporter’s perspective on Interacting with the Media Using Social Networks‘.

It’s not just about picking up the phone or emailing a journalist to pitch a story anymore. A recent survey conducted by TekGroup confirmed that the media landscape is changing:

In today’s digital era, where news breaks around the clock, millions of people are sharing news stories using social media and fewer journalists are responsible for more content.

They surveyed more than 1,000 journalists asking them how they are using digital media, online newsrooms, and social media to write, research and report on news stories.

Here are some of the highlights:

Getting their attention

95% journalists prefer to receive news, information and story pitches via e-mail and 80% say they only want to get news and information that applies to their research and writing. Interestingly, more than 60% of journalists see the ability to receive news via their wireless device as important to their work, and more than 60% also rate getting news via an online newsroom RSS feed as important.

Content is King

Almost all the journalists noted the importance of keeping up-to-date and useful content on the online newsroom. 99% of those survived noted that it is important to have access to news releases within a company’s online newsroom. An important aspect of an online newsroom is to make clear what kind of news is being posted. 93% of journalists felt that it is important to have news being organized and clearly labeled. Seeing how journalists work in a fast past environment, having a clearly labeled news section allows journalists to find what they are looking for easily and not pass your site by. Journalists are also regularly looking for visual content. The survey also notes that online newsrooms are a prime location for journalists to find specific media that can be used in their reporting like pictures, graphics and video and audio files.

The Social Online Newsroom

Just as you expected, a large percentage of journalists noted that it is important to access a company’s social media links from inside an Online Newsroom. Corporate blogs specifically have been growing in popularity recently with 92% of journalists stating that they will visit these blogs when they are researching a story. Journalists also regularly visit other social media outlets like Facebook and Twitter when they are researching a story with 26% visiting Facebook and Twitter with 43%.

What about Investor Relations?

The study does go on to ask journalists how important they feel an investor relation’s component to an Online Newsroom is. The answer turned out to be overwhelmingly positive with 81% stating that it was an important aspect of an online newsroom. Clearly, from a journalistic standpoint, the inclusion of specifically Inventor Relations related material would be useful when trying to learn more about the company. An Investor Relations section would be a great addition to an Online Newsroom because it offers up additional information about the company and can create a greater level of exposure. This specifically highlighted in the article:

Using an Online Newsroom for web disclosure is one way to ensure compliance and to generate additional exposure for your financial information.

The 2012 Online Newsroom survey offers some great insight into the importance of having an Online Newsroom and how to best optimize the space. Online Newsrooms are a great way to get the attention of journalists who are becoming increasingly difficult to reach and engage with. It is important to make sure that the content of the newsroom is informative and easy to find or else you risk loosing people. Through social media you can encourage people from outside traditional media to go to your newsrooms and find out more about your company. Finally, from an Investor Relation’s standpoint it is a great space to share and be open with people, something that is important to investors and other key stakeholders.

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Following his presentation, Greg Secord, a board member of the Virtual chapter caught up with Darrell and interviewed him on two separate topics. In the first interview, Darrell talks about what is driving IROs to start to employ Social Media and the trends in the market and, in the second interview, he discusses tactical planning including the typical costs, measurements and returns of using social media.

Talking IR – Social Media Strategic Insights for IR

Social Media Tactical Planning for IR

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Together with the features and best practices of the our completely customizable and flexible website platform, Steel Rose adds a full service, outsourced investor relations consultant company, specializing in the resource sector, with small to mid-cap public companies trading on the North American and European markets.

Darrell Heaps, ceo of Q4 had this to say:

We are pleased to be working with such a talented group at SRC. I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Jon Bey, the company’s President and CEO, who is a high-quality, experienced investor relations professional. Our best-in-class corporate IR website and social media solutions, coupled with SRC’s comprehensive suite of services and IR solutions tailored to meet each client’s specific needs, ensure a well-managed investor relations program that will drive shareholder value.

Jon Bey, President and CEO of Steel Rose Communications also commented:

We are excited to be partnering Darrell and his talented team at Q4. We understand that public companies are increasingly focusing budgets, and attention, towards a more strategic utilization of web channels for investor communications – including both the corporate/investor website and social media channels. So it was natural for us to partner with Q4, as they have the right suite of products and services designed to address our clients’ strategic IR communications requirements.

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Taking into account 85% of our mobile traffic across a sampling of our clients sites comes from iOS (iPad/iPhone/iPod) devices, we wanted to find out which device people in the IR space prefer.  We consider “in the IR space” to be IRO’s, retail investors, institutional investors and bloggers/analysts/media people.  We consider “not in the IR space” to be people who do not work in IR in any capacity and people who do not invest.

These are the results of the survey:

If you’re interested, here are the questions we asked:

1) What best describes you:

• I work in an Investor Relations office (IR manager, director, executive etc)
• I’m a retail investor
• I’m an institutional investor
• I’m an analyst, blogger or media person

What is your primary mobile device?

• Apple (iOS)
• Android
• Blackberry
• Windows Phone 7
• I don’t know/other

Do You Use and iPad?

Yes/No

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Howard Linzdon, co-founder and ceo of StockTwits had this to say about the collaboration:

Public companies are trying to find ways to connect directly with investors, analysts and other key constituencies as the number of potential communications channels expand dramatically. IR professionals at public companies are increasingly facing challenges in reaching all their key audiences in the most effective way, with limited resources. Our partnership with Q4 provides simple, time saving access to our solutions to public companies using Q4 products.

Darrell Heaps, Q4′s ceo added:

By integrating StockTwits Investor Communications Solutions, we help IR professionals build stronger relationships with their stakeholders across the financial web. We are a leader in optimizing investor relations websites and social media strategies for effective communication, and using StockTwits products has become a critical ‘best practice’ in helping companies attract and engage investors.

Companies such as Teekay Corporation, Ryder System, Inc., Shuffle Master Inc, and Vical Inc., all utilize Q4’s customizable IR website system, as well as StockTwits’ Investor Communications Solutions to optimize investor relations activities.

The video below shows how Q4′s platform integrates with StockTwits:

Q4 Web StockTwits Integration from Q4 Web Systems Inc. on Vimeo.

You can read the release in its entirety here:
http://mwne.ws/zHVzvq

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Short and long-term goals and objectives can include identifying investors who are interested in your sector and/or known to have invested in your peers to meet with over the course of the year. (Although making sure you also meet with your current investors should also be a priority).

Okay, so you (the IRO) have your targeted list of investors, now what? What follows are some thoughts to help you and your management team make the most out of the one-on-one meeting.  I’d like to thank Rivel Research Group as these ideas are derived from their best practice reports based on topics of interest from members of the Rivel Intelligence Council (comprised of senior level investor communications executives) and assessed by buy-side investment professionals in both the US and Europe.

Adequately preparing the management team is essential. It may seem obvious, but having a discussion about Reg FD is important – as this meeting should not be used to divulge new information.

Another effective way to prepare management is compiling a list of questions and conducting a mock Q&A. As the IRO, you should work with management to come up with a list. It can also be useful to go through transcripts from previous events such as an earnings call to ensure a good sampling.

Be sure to include tough questions and how you will handle them if asked.  It is important that management not get defensive if asked difficult questions and be conscious of not sounding too rehearsed. As a one-on-one may do more harm than good if management comes across as overconfident, hard selling or as setting overly aggressive goals.

You should also take into consideration who you are meeting with and tailor the information accordingly.  For example, if this is a new investor, you may want to give a bit more detail around certain areas than you would for someone you have met with before. That said, don’t get caught up in too many details – stay focused on high-level details such as the ‘how’ behind the strategy.

Insight and transparency into growth drivers and key business goals are preferred over a regurgitation of previously disclosed information shared via press releases and on earnings calls.

A decision should also be made as to whether using a powerpoint presentation to supplement the discussion will be useful.  If you do decide to use a presentation, make sure the slides have minimal text and instead whenever possible, use visuals. Doing so, will help alleviate the temptation to read directly from the slides.

If it’s possible, having an Internet connection will allow management to access the company’s website to show a video or other asset that is housed on there on the fly.

Bear in mind, that whatever additional materials you choose, that they are helpful and relevant to the discussion. Also have a few printed copies and/or a softcopy on a usb key to leave behind – just in case.

Lastly, if there is anything that comes out of the discussion that needs to be followed up on, do so.  For example, providing supplemental material to help address an unanswered question. It also doesn’t hurt to send a follow up note to thank them for the meeting.

The buy-side values one-on-one meetings as it gives them the opportunity to have direct interaction with senior management.  Companies can maximize this experience by considering some of the ideas presented above.

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Every year, we, at Q4 look forward to networking and the amazing show put on by @irmagazine.

We’d like to take this opportunity to congratulate our clients who have been nominated:

Grand prix for best overall investor relations – large cap (C$10 bn and over)

Goldcorp

Best investor relations officer – large cap

Goldcorp

Best IR by a CEO – large-cap

Goldcorp

Best IR by a CEO – mid-cap

Intact Financial

Best financial reporting

Goldcorp

Best investment community meetings

Goldcorp

Best use of technology

Agnico-Eagle

Best Practice of corporate social responsibility

Barrick Gold

Best Crisis Management

Agnico-Eagle

Best IR by a Canadian company in the US Market

First Quantum Minerals

SECTOR AWARDS

Materials
Agnico-Eagle
Barrick Gold
Goldcorp

Real Estate
Riocan

Congratulations and good luck!

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