What happens on Twitter stays on Twitter. Single Tweets and community dialogues have real-world effects, from influencing Oscar nominations to driving a 2500% rise in app downloads. Because of this, social media for investor communications is vital.
Social media’s global effect is here to stay. Rethinking your engagement approach can help you tap into this strong communication channel. Let’s look at how social media may help with the public market, investor communications, and perception.
The advantages of utilising social media for IR
Recent research shows that 75% of investors utilise social media to make financial decisions. Investor relations is evolving, requiring greater corporate collaboration than ever.
“Investor relations specialists use social media to monitor critical market and corporate conversations,” says Sprout Social’s Corporate Communications Strategist Abigail Schmitt. “Retail and institutional investors are increasingly using forums like Reddit and Twitter to debate and evaluate market trends.”
In terms of education and relationship, it is vital that the firm provides the correct material, data, and investor message on social media. The #stocks topic alone has 5.2 billion views on TikTok. According to Business Insider, the r/FinancialPlanning subreddit grew 87% between June 2020 and June 2021.
A proactive social content strategy may help IR departments eliminate friction and strengthen decision making.
“Investor presentations, data, and investment information were once exclusive to the world’s greatest institutional money managers. According to Sprout Social’s Head of Investor Relations and Corporate Development, Jason Rechel, “this information is now democratised on social so all investors may make the best possible judgments with the most relevant information.”
“IR executives increasingly recognise the impact a social media campaign may have on a stock’s price.”
On social media, there are billions of data points that can be leveraged in real-time to keep IR professionals updated about corporate and employer brand health as well as competitive shifts. When used properly, this data can help senior management avoid crises and respond to investor questions.
Here’s how you can utilise social media to strengthen your investor relations staff and strategy.
Find future investors and influencers.
The epidemic prompted new retail investors. A Charles Schwab poll found that 15% of current retail investors began investing in 2020. And Gen Zers prefer stocks to other financial assets, including cryptocurrencies.
Social media has democratised investment education. Stock Tok financial influencers have thousands of fans. According to a new poll, 41% of 18-24 year old investors learn via Reddit, Instagram, and TikTok.
“A social media plan is essential for IR leaders,” Jason says. IR leaders must aggressively reach this audience on social media with relevant financial information, KPIs, and messaging to democratise the investment process.
You’re missing out on a new audience if you’re not in the same channel as potential investors. Use social media to listen in on potential investors’ chats, learn what inspires them, and what information they like.
Keep an eye on the mood
Imagine knowing about market volatility months in advance. Social listening can keep you updated about changes and new importation on social media months before they effect a stock price.
For example, when GameStop’s stock soared in early 2021, Nasdaq utilised social media to track unusual trading activity. This is social listening in action—listening to internet discussions to learn what people are saying and how they feel.
Listening allows you to hear conversations and sentiments that may effect your firm and its stock, allowing you to move with the market and take preemptive measures.
“IR executives may utilise social listening techniques to keep tabs on external events and investor opinion that may damage the business or corporate brand,” Jason says. In a fast changing company or market environment, social listening is a great tool.
A tool is required for successful social listening. Thanks to Sprout Social’s Listening feature, you can get a 360-degree picture of the issues that matter most to you and your investors.
Expect investor queries.
Managing an investor relations team without using social media is like leading a book club without reading the book—you’re behind the curve.
The last thing you want to do is be caught off guard by an investor’s queries.
“Many investors are fast turning to social for firm news and information,” says Jason.
More retail and institutional investors are utilising social to learn about companies, therefore you need to be there too. Knowing what resources your investors use might help you better prepare for their queries.
Social listening may help you, too. In addition to strengthening your knowledge base, social listening gives you access to the same information as retail and institutional investors.
Social media for investor relations: mastering
Following are a few practical strategies to include social media into your investor relations strategy.
Use your teams
Using social media for investor relations takes teamwork. Our Investor Relations, PR, Corporate Communications, Social Media, and Legal teams meet often at Sprout.
Create a plan, coordinate your messaging, and verify your social media material fits SEC requirements. You want the same tone and message everywhere your brand appears.
“We try for consistency of message, substance, timeliness, and legality of content,” Jason says. “We design material to keep our audience engaged on social media.”
Work cooperatively to include communications team feedback around key investor events like earnings. Are your messaging hitting the correct buttons? And your posts?
A plan that complements your existing IR strategy and your brand might be developed by collaborating with teams who already understand the social landscape. The company’s social media presence may be used to evaluate mood ahead of major events or announcements.
Work with the social team to adapt sound clips from earnings calls into shareable messaging on your brand’s platforms.
Channels to watch
Having your own investor relations channels allows you to communicate directly with investors and the media. It all boils down to bandwidth.
If you want specific channels, choose which social media networks to utilise. Here are a handful to consider and their benefits.
Companies like Ford, CVS, and Sprout choose Twitter for their investor relations channels because it is news-friendly.
With $cashtags, Twitter makes it easier for investors to access information about your stock. It’s like a hashtag in that it points people to related conversations, but it’s all about your brand and stock. Put a dollar sign in front of your ticker symbol for your $cashtag. Sprout’s is $SPT.
Many financial forums have developed in prominence on Reddit throughout the epidemic.
Use Reddit to communicate corporate news with the Reddit financial forums and to monitor company-related topics. Sprout’s Listening tools use it to acquire information about your organisation and rivals.
LinkedIn is a great place to showcase your company’s achievements, development, and announcements. Give your company’s LinkedIn Page an audit to ensure it’s up to date.
Listening to others
Here are a few ways social media listening might aid your strategy, from gauging stock sentiment to predicting market volatility.
- Observe conversational shifts
- When GameStop’s stock skyrocketed in 2021, mentions of the firm and r/WallStreetBets rose 2,805 percent in a week.
- To avoid possible crises, you might use social listening to notice discussion spikes or troughs.
Changes in public perception of your brand or stock might signal deeper difficulties. This can assist you comprehend the market and create better internal stock forecasts.
Engage your audience
Just following your tags means you’re losing out on a lot of the dialogue. Using a service like Sprout that searches social media for keywords, you may identify brand and stock mentions even when you’re not tagged.
- Keep an eye on rival news.
- How does your stock talk compare to others? Monitoring competitor sentiment can alert you to market shifts that could influence your market position.
- Consider your material.
- Unrelated content causes nearly half of unfollows. Audience-appropriate material
For example, K-pop music isn’t appropriate for Twitter’s investor relations channels or website. In the meanwhile, a blog article on K-pop Tweet volume reaching new highs shows the platform’s worldwide reach and appeal, which may motivate investors.
- Consider what important to an investment audience when using social media for investor relations.
- Company press
- Company and staff triumphs and celebrations
- Shares of important and fascinating use cases, mentions and more
- Bet on social media for investor relations
In recent years, we’ve witnessed the emergence of stocks impacted by debates in online places.
Retail investors saved Hertz from bankruptcy in 2020 after buying up shares 825 percent .
AMC barely averted going for bankruptcy when investors on Reddit gave them with funds.
Social media has drastically transformed the financial world. It can—and should—change how you operate. You don’t need to be a social media specialist to tap into social insights. You only need the proper tools, the correct team cooperation and the right goals.
Use our template to construct a social listening map and be ready to revolutionise the way you think about investor relations.