Social media quickly has gone from newfangled tool to a key component in the communications mix at some public companies.
Others remain hesitant.
“More companies are thinking about the strategy but never starting,” said Aubrye Foote, communications chairman for the Orange County chapter of the National Investor Relations Institute. “They tend to put it on the back burner.”
There’s also an underlying split when it comes to social media: More public companies have embraced Facebook, Twitter and the like for promotional purposes but still hold back when it comes to investor relations.
One concern involves U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure protocol.
Some companies avoid using social media to engage shareholders for fear of running afoul of SEC guidelines of when information can be disclosed and to whom.
A recent article on a New York Stock Exchange website said social media can be useful to supplement conventional channels for SEC disclosure requirements but is “not a good way to deliver breaking developments.”
Networking gear maker Emulex Corp. is one of the more active Orange County-based companies when it comes to using social media to reach key constituents. The company exemplifies the split between customer relations and investor relations.
“We’re looking to target 50,000 at the [original equipment manufacturer] level, 500,000 on the dealer level and 5 million at the end-user level,” Emulex Vice President of Marketing Shaun Walsh said. “Social media gives us a way to not only reach that scale but also target messages to each of those constituencies.”
Updates
Costa Mesa-based Emulex—No. 30 on this week’s list of largest public companies based in OC, which starts on page 12—frequently updates corporate profiles on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google’s recently launched Google Plus social network. The company has more than 60 videos uploaded to its YouTube channel, and more than 20 presentations available on SlideShare, a website that allows companies and individuals to post slideshows similar to Powerpoint presentations.
But Emulex has shied away from using social media as a channel to communicate with investors.
“Most of our stuff is focused on the end-user community rather than the investment community,” Walsh said. “If we do anything like that in the future, it would be with a certain level of caution.”
Others have found that social media can be a valuable tool to communicate with shareholders.
“I can say first hand that the Internet overall, and social media for sure, have really had tremendous impact on [investor relations],” said Mark Tullio, worldwide marketing vice president at Irvine-based networking-tech provider Lantronix Inc., No. 66 on the public companies list.
“Now more than ever, shareholders truly have a voice,” Tullio said. “Social media provides a venue for them to share information and a vehicle for communicating their thoughts directly to the company and the executive team.”
Real-time monitoring is considered a key among companies dabbling in investor relations-by-social media.
San Diego-based StockTwits last year launched a suite of investor-relations services via social media, giving companies access to verified ticker pages on StockTwits.com with the ability to disseminate information via Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
StockTwits also offers a “social compliance” add-on that allows companies to append disclaimers to social messages and links to third-party sites.
“It’s important to point out that social media isn’t a silver bullet but rather is simply another set of tools in the marketing tool belt,” Tullio said.
Some days start as early as 4:30 a.m. and others end past midnight for Arthur Beavis, social media and marketing manager for Santa Ana-based identity-tech developer Identive Group Inc., No. 50 on the public companies list.
“If you really want to be effective, you have to put in the time,” Beavis said.
Beavis joined Identive Group last August and has held a number of internal workshops designed to educate personnel on the benefits and best practices of social media. The workshops have played an important role in the company’s willingness to embrace Facebook, Twitter and the like, Beavis said.
“They saw the benefits and were eager to learn,” he said.
Identive Group Chief Executive Ayman Ashour was a big advocate for social media adoption from the start.
“Our CEO is very savvy both in terms of communication and technology,” Director of Investor Relations Darby Dye said. “He was very aware that many investors and analysts are using social media, and expect the companies they follow to use it.”
Beavis combs the Web each morning for industry news he can push to the company’s followings on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook.
He also updates Identive Group’s YouTube channel with company videos, adds to a photo gallery, works with the company’s Web-development team to find new ways to drive traffic and raise awareness for Identive Group’s brand, and answers industry-related questions on the company’s home-grown social media resource, Ask Identive.
“Within a few months, I’ve seen a huge increase of traffic to our sites, and our visibility in the industry has grown immensely,” Beavis said.
Brandon Johnson, chief information officer for Irvine-based consultancy Resources Global Professionals—operated by Resources Connection Inc., No. 26 on the public companies list—said social media makes for “richer conversations” with clients and consultants.
Effective
Resources Global Professionals has taken a similar approach to a lot of other companies—using social media to syndicate industry news and trying to create an online dialogue with others.
“Our use is not necessarily unique, but it’s effective,” said Johnson, who monitors the company’s profiles on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
