Archive for the ‘IR 2.0 – Web & social media’ Category

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »

Social media: Go there

September 17, 2009

Social media guru Brian Solis, principal of Silicon Valley PR firm Future Works, visited the Kansas City chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) tonight – bringing the message that interactive web platforms are transforming the way companies communicate with their publics.

Brian comes at social media from a branding and public relations perspective, and his PR 2.0 blog is well-known. His first engagement in social media was selling digital cameras through the old bulletin boards and forums of the 1990s. And he still approaches the topic looking for measurable impact on sales of products.

As an investor relations practitioner focusing on communicating with financial audiences, I see most companies struggling to come to grips with social media. Web 2.0 is a threat to corporate reputations – and an opportunity. Most companies are still experimenting and trying to clarify their strategies. Some are in full denial.

Several messages that Brian shared stuck with me:

  • We are moving into this uncontrolled, overstimulated world of social media. Like it or not, customers and investors and employees are talking about our companies in blogs, on Twitter and Facebook, with videos on YouTube.
  • Most companies and communicators are struggling to find the best ways to participate in social media to connect with their audiences. “We’re all sort of equal in terms of what we don’t know,” Brian said. This was reassuring to hear from a guy who’s been at it since before Facebook, Twitter, etc. existed.
  • There is great value in personally visiting social media sites, searching for your company and brands, and listening to what people say. We should know who the influential reporters, bloggers and Twitterers are in our industries. By monitoring, we can calculate sentiment, garner feedback and get an early warning on crises, he said. Observation and data come before engagement.
  • Companies need to address the organizational issues of social media. In a couple of years, all areas of our companies will be using networking platforms, one way or another, Brian said. It’s inevitable given the rapidly rising public use of websites for networking, content creation and sharing.

Brian noted that his contacts from companies seeking help come from different departments: Customer Service, Marketing, IT – not just PR (usually not IR, I bet).

As communicators, we should come to grips with policy issues raised by new media and put tools and procedures in place for people across our companies. As IR people, we need to lead in planning for disclosure and capital market impacts.

Update: See also a post on this topic by Dan Schawbel on the PR 2.0 blog, and a neat post by Laurel Papworth, an Australia social media strategist, with lots of examples and links to social media policies (thanks to Dan for the link to her blog).

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in IR 2.0 - Web & social media | 1 Comment »

Looks mainstream to me

September 8, 2009

If you’re still wondering if social media are too far “out there” to consider using for your company, think again. As Exhibits 1 & 2 for the idea that social media have become mainstream for corporations talking to investors (among other audiences), consider Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer.

These two mega cap pharmaceutical companies, despite regulatory hurdles, legal worries and their status as conservative blue chip companies, are getting out there in the world of Web 2.0. Regardless of what business you’re in, you may be interested in comments from their execs as reported in Medical Marketing & Media:

JNJ began dipping its toe in social media three years ago and has been getting more involved since, media relations director Marc Monseau says in the August 2009 issue of MM&M. Now JNJ has a corporate blog, JNJBTW, a Twitter account @JNJComm, a JNJ YouTube channel and so on.

“It hasn’t been easy, and there certainly have been some stumbles along the way,” Monseau tells MM&M. He shares some lessons learned:

  • Understand your audience. Begin by listening in online communities.
  • Start small. Try out some low-risk activities in social media.
  • Work with legal. Address those regulatory concerns by working together.

Most of the social media effort is soft-sell marketing about health issues, but JNJ has done some interesting things in IR – such as live blogging its annual meeting on Twitter. You might think dishing up an annual meeting in three dozen 140-character tweets borders on silly, especially since people could hear it live on a webcast. But JNJ, like many companies, is experimenting to see what works best.

Pfizer is newer to social media. In the September 2009 MM&M, Ray Kerins, PFE’s VP of worldwide communications, talks about launching on Twitter (@Pfizer_News):

We’re trying to become transparent, but we’re doing it slowly and cautiously. For us to jump in with two feet would be stupid.

First step for Pfizer was monitoring Twitter, then being sure the right people were on staff to implement social media tactics, Kerins says. PFE has only been on Twitter for seven weeks, but already about 2,000 people are following – getting tweets ranging from earnings and merger updates to links to news stories on PFE.

Other companies do social media, too – and JNJ and PFE weren’t pioneers in IR 2.0, as some tech companies were. But their learning can contribute to our learning.

Tags:, ,
Posted in BioPharma, IR 2.0 - Web & social media | 1 Comment »

Social media, reputation & IR

August 17, 2009

There’s a gap in many corporations – and among investor relations people – between recognizing the growing influence of social media (on one hand) and hesitating (on the other) to engage proactively to support company reputations.

In a guest post today on the “Full Disclosure” Big Fat Finance blog, Sharon Allen, Chairman of Deloitte LLP, talks about the firm’s recent “Ethics & Workplace” survey of 500 executives and 2,000 employees. Bosses and workers take different tacks:

  • Although 60% of executives believe companies have a right to know what employees are saying about themselves and their employers, the majority of workers say posts on networking sites are none of management’s business.
  • While most employees recognize that online posts affect their companies’ reputations, a third say they don’t consider bosses or customers’ possible reactions before posting on social networking platforms. 41% of employees say they wouldn’t change their online behavior “even if there were a clear corporate policy about social networking use.”
  • In any case, only 17% of the companies “have programs in place to monitor and mitigate the possible reputational risks related to social network use.”

Allen comments:

As we’ve seen all too often recently, offensive Internet postings and viral videos can race across networks at the speed of light. Left in their wake are damaged brands and shattered reputations …

Establishing policies — or assuring that existing core policies extend to include employee behavior on social networking sites — is crucial to helping everyone understand what constitutes acceptable behavior, especially when our survey results indicate that so few companies have addressed the issue.

Because of the reputational risks, boards of directors should be addressing social media, the Deloitte exec suggests. She says companies should establish policies on use of social networking – and integrate new media into their cultures.

Allen doesn’t address potential risks in investor relations – such as employees leaking financial information on Facebook or tweeting about business trends (whether optimistically or negatively) on Twitter. These risks are good reason for IROs to help management incorporate social media into disclosure policies, implement monitoring of chatter, and develop a strategy for active engagement to support corporate reputation, in addition to individual brand marketing online.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in IR 2.0 - Web & social media | 2 Comments »

From old media to social media

July 7, 2009

Entrepreneurs trying to raise capital – and get businesses up and running – are turning more and more to social media stars vs. traditional media to get the word out, The New York Times reports in “Spinning the Web: P.R. in Silicon Valley.”

The hottest PR people in Silicon Valley, says The Times, care less now about reporters at tech pubs or financial magazines than the influential voices online:

This is the new world of promoting start-ups in Silicon Valley, where the lines between journalists and everyone else are blurring and the number of followers a pundit has on Twitter is sometimes viewed as more important than old metrics like the circulation of a newspaper.

Gone are the days when snaring attention for start-ups in the Valley meant mentions in print and on television, or even spotlights on technology Web sites and blogs. Now P.R. gurus court influential voices on the social Web to endorse new companies, Web sites or gadgets — a transformation that analysts and practitioners say is likely to permanently change the role of P.R. in the business world, and particularly in Silicon Valley.

This, of course, is tech PR – the air has always been rarified around Silicon Valley startups, their founders and service providers. But the Times story has much to say about how information spreads in the rapidly changing world of social media.

One thing remains the same. Communicating begins with building relationships, so that when you have something to say, you’re talking to people who know you. I like the quote from Brooke Hammerling, one of those Silicon Valley publicists. Noting that Twitter is today’s fashionable way to get the news out, she says some newer platform may take its place: “It will morph, but it’s still all about relationships.”

(If you’re an investor relations person who doesn’t think IROs should even care about public relations, come back tomorrow for some compelling evidence.)

Tags:, , ,
Posted in IR 2.0 - Web & social media | 1 Comment »

The website: your front door

June 8, 2009

As investor relations professionals, we need an audience-centered approach to communicating with investors. And the audience, more than ever, is online. So we need to think strategically about our company websites and their IR sections.

Do they deliver what investors need and want? Do they accomplish what we want?

Think of a corporate website as a place that people experience. When an investor comes to your home page, it’s like a prospect stepping onto the front porch of a house you’re trying to sell. The investor looks in the front door, takes it all in, and prepares to go in and walk around. Other sections of the site are the rooms.

An investor has three kinds of experiences when he or she visits your website:

  • Finds information – which, of course, is why he’s there.
  • Forms impressions - your company brand comes across in many ways.
  • Interacts in some way – which may be your one chance to engage.

We should evaluate our websites in terms of these experiences for our audience – what they’re looking for and what drives value in their minds.

Over the years, I’ve worked on corporate websites to benchmark best practices for what IR content should be there, and I’ve done a good deal of writing for the web.

In a panel discussion today at the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) 2009 Annual Conference, I’m sharing some ideas on websites in a workshop called “Trends in Media and Technology.”

The strategic IR focus for a website looks at whether we are delivering the right information for investors in easy-to-find, usable forms, creating the right impressions of a company committed to creating value for shareholders; and inviting investors to interact with the company in convenient and helpful ways.

The IR purposes of the website must integrate with other goals – marketing, recruiting and retention, public affairs – because all of these audiences overlap. A corporate website must integrate with offline sources of information – the print reports, SEC filings, product promotion, media releases and so on that all of these audiences also see.

Tactically, we can do a great deal to maximize the value of our websites to investors. My own “audit” checklist for IR websites has about 40 potential features or content items.

But checking off information items isn’t the main point. The experience of the investor when he or she comes to this place – your front door – is the main point.

Some resources to guide IR people in maximizing our websites:

Tags:, , ,
Posted in IR 2.0 - Web & social media | 1 Comment »

A resource menu on IR 2.0

June 7, 2009

We’ve prepared a sampling of resources & websites on web media and interactive investor relations for the “Trends in Media and Technology” session at the NIRI 2009 Annual Conference in South Florida, June 8, 2009.

Because it’s a long list, you’ll find this in a separate blog page linked here or at right under “IR 2.0 – A Menu.”

This menu isn’t all-inclusive … just a starting point for investor relations people exploring new technologies and connections in web and social media. Hope it’s useful to you. Please share any thoughts, comments or questions.

Tags:,
Posted in IR 2.0 - Web & social media | 1 Comment »

Twitter for IR? Think before tweeting

June 3, 2009

twitter_logo_headerTwitter tops the list of hottest social media and is generating lots of “gee whiz” stories in the press. But is Twitter the right bird for investor relations?

We should think before tweeting. Take Twitter seriously, but think strategically.

In case you were dozing, Twitter is the rapidly growing 3-year-old networking site where users “microblog” in 140-character messages. Tweets range from “Taking the cat out now” personal chat to “Buy, buy, buy!” self-promotion. Lots of links to articles and blog posts. Some spam and porn. Some actual conversation, where two or more people talk to each other instead of at each other.

Twitter users connect to one another and can send direct messages, which seem close to taking the place of email among some devoted Twitterers.

Twitter doesn’t disclose the exact number of users, but Compete.com, a web monitoring service, estimated 19 million unique visitors to Twitter in April. By a wide margin, Twitter is the most talked-about brand in online chatter, according to Social Radar, a social media monitoring service.

The Harvard Business blog published an interesting study on Twitter this week. Analyzing a sample of 300,000 Twitter users, HBS found that a typical Twitter user contributes very rarely – the median user has made 1 lifetime tweet. The most active 10% of users generate 90% of the tweets. The authors comment:

This implies that Twitter resembles more of a one-way, one-to-many publishing service more than a two-way, peer-to-peer communication network.

Companies use Twitter to market their brands, listen to people’s uncensored comments on those brands, search for consumer complaints and respond proactively to help people deal with product problems – and to disseminate news.

Are investors – our audience in IR – using Twitter? Certainly, though the evidence is anecdotal. The financial newsbyte service @stocktwits claims 75,000 followers. The SEC is on Twitter @SEC_News. Companies are using Twitter to provide news – and attracting followers, some of whom are investors, to connect on this platform. Tweeting a link to a news release seems like another form of email alert.

Corporate activity on Twitter remains experimental. Some companies are hitting just the right voice – moving from announcing new products to resolving customer service issues to linking to earnings releases. Twitter is playing a role in the viral spread of nasty news or complaints, and in corporate responses to crises. One company live-blogged its annual meeting in 140-character snippets, which didn’t compare too well with actually hearing it on a webcast. Some posts are very casual in tone, some formal. A corporate user needs to find a good balance, I think.

On the other hand, a part of our audience is gathering information via Twitter – and potentially having conversations about our companies. Certainly, we should listen in (designating someone to search Twitter, or hiring a web-monitoring service).

And we should be addressing strategic questions: Would this help us connect with our audience? What would we say? How could we integrate a conversation with investors and outreach to other audiences ? Do we have the people resources to do this? Would Twitter as a tactic add value to our IR strategy? 

I’d love to get your reactions – here or @StrategicComm on Twitter.

Tags:, , ,
Posted in IR 2.0 - Web & social media | 4 Comments »

Tiptoeing into 2.0

April 28, 2009

A growing number of companies use blogging and social media networks like Twitter to reach out to investors and other audiences, but many are moving tentatively amid legal concerns about disclosure, The Wall Street Journal reports (“Corporate Blogs and ‘Tweets’ Must Keep SEC in Mind,” April 27, 2009, p. B4).

Among the Fortune 500 companies, 81 now sponsor public blogs, and 23 of those use Twitter to blast out 140-character corporate tidbits, according to the Society for New Communications Research.

IR 2.0 participants include old-economy giants like Wal-Mart, Chevron and General Motors, the WSJ says. Last week Johnson & Johnson distributed 23 news fragments – excuse me, Tweets – from its annual meeting via Twitter.

But getting out there comes with some concerns. the story notes:

Such efforts raise thorny questions. Blogs and tweets can run afoul of Securities and Exchange Commission regulations on corporate communications. But sanitizing such posts risks hurting credibility with online audiences.

‘This is all new to companies, and they’re not sure where they can go,’ says Dominic Jones, editor of IR Web Report …

Companies are taking different tacks on interactive IR issues.

Although several tech companies are in the forefront of social media for IR, chipmaker Intel has stayed away from blogs and Twitter because of concerns about SEC disclosure rules – and a desire to avoid sponsoring what can be negative comments from online followers – the WSJ reports.

On the other hand, tech company EMC likes Twitter’s ability to gather instant commentary and diverse opinions from employees, investors and other outsiders.

Online auction house eBay is balancing these concerns – using its corporate blog and Twitter updates to report on earnings calls and other business topics, while adding regulatory disclaimers to some posts to protect itself.

We’re in a great time of change. If you missed yesterday’s WSJ story, it’s worth going back to read. And taking a look at some of the blogs and Twitterers it mentions.

In different ways that fit our own companies, we should all be tiptoeing into 2.0.

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in IR 2.0 - Web & social media | 1 Comment »

Social media strategies: Talk, listen or … ?

April 17, 2009

I had a good conversation today with three friends who work in social media. (This was an old-fashioned conversation, sitting around a table at a coffee shop and chatting). One topic was how do companies use social media, or how should they use it?

Three strategies we’ve seen in businesses using Web 2.0:

  • Talking. Some companies are using Twitter, for example, to issue 140-character summaries of press releases or marketing pieces (with links). I heard another social media maven say recently that getting comments from other people isn’t the goal – it’s about getting your message out. He said the communications platform is what makes it “social.”
  • Listening. Other companies are listening intently to chatter in blogs and social networking sites, gleaning from these online conversations feedback about their product or service – and then fixing it. Or they’re hearing about the unmet need of consumers that could become their next big market.
  • Engaging. And then there are companies who really are creating a conversation. (“Conversation” is the social media buzzword that not all participants actually do.) These businesses are talking and listening. They may be systematically listening, which goes by the sinister-sounding verb “monitoring.” They answer questions. When they see someone complain about their company in a networking site, they reach out and offer to help. Almost like an old-fashioned conversation. 

So what’s your opinion: In the world of investor relations and corporate communication, what is the goal of blogging, Twittering and other-2.0-ing? Should a company talk, listen or engage with financial or corporate audiences online? 

And now you can engage: Click where it says “comments” at the end of this post. No name needed. And, of course, there’s no right or wrong answer – at least not in my book.

Tags:, , , ,
Posted in IR 2.0 - Web & social media | 2 Comments »

Swatting a gadfly with a cannon

April 14, 2009

Keeping a sense of perspective can protect you  from embarrassment, and this holds true in the chaotic world of social media. Goldman Sachs seems to have lost track of what’s important by sending its lawyers after a blogger who is criticizing the company – a “corporate gadfly.”

A gadfly, you know, is a little person with no power but a big mouth (or pen). He complains of some perceived wrong, and pretty much no one listens, unless … well, you can be the judge of the complaints in this case.

This story starts with Mike Morgan, a Florida investment adviser and real estate broker, setting up a blog in March called GoldmanSachs666.com. The name tells you where he’s coming from. Many of America’s corporate giants have spawned critics in the blogosphere – it’s a place outside the control of corporate giants.

But who would have read the 666 guy’s blog? I don’t see anything too interesting. He has posted about 30 times in the three and a half weeks it’s been up, offering conspiracy speculation and links to other blogs and news stories. I can’t find a disclosure of his personal or business agenda, why he’s going after Goldman Sachs.

Then Goldman – actually, its Wall Street law firm – threw down the gauntlet by sending him a cease-and-desist letter claiming he’s violating their trademark by using the company name in his URL. I’m no lawyer and don’t know the legal merits of their position. But this comes across like trying to shut up a critic.

That salvo encouraged Morgan to go into full attack mode. Besides encouraging blog readers to alert the media to his story, he’s filed a pre-emptive suit claiming the GoldmanSachs666 blog is posting news and commentary, not infringing their service mark. Some financial bloggers and the UK’s Telegraph are covering the case. Morgan is recruiting volunteers online, planning a media conference call and so on. He’s campaigning to become a cause celebre.

I don’t know the behind-the-scenes story of Goldman’s contacts with the 666 guy. In general, companies should do one of two things about a corporate protester, online or on the street outside the office:

  • Look for a way to engage and mollify the critic. Go the extra mile in person or by phone to see if there’s a grievance that can be solved, meet with him, offer respectful and factual answers or see where he’s coming from. Or if he seems intractable …
  • Ignore the gadfly, while preparing message points to rapidly respond to the criticism. If the negative chatter spreads to other venues or threatens the company’s business or reputation, provide your message points quickly but one-on-one. Don’t issue a press release or file a lawsuit (both of which just turn up the volume). Answer reporters’ inquiries in a noncombative way. And perhaps comment directly on other blog or Twitter posts as they arise, especially if they overlap into your own social media constituency.

But taking aim with the legal cannons seems to be the surest way to make a big noise and get the wrong kind of attention. It’s like calling the police to arrest someone carrying a picket sign outside the office – guaranteed to make the evening news. Goldman Sachs, with all else that is on its plate these days, has more important things to do.

Tags:, , , , ,
Posted in IR 2.0 - Web & social media, Media & public relations | 1 Comment »

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.