AGORACOM Small-cap Investor Relations Blog

AGORACOM is pleased to announce the results of the Small Cap Resource Investor Survey from the Toronto PDAC Conference held on March 1-4, 2009.

The results of this survey could be invaluable to small-cap metals and mining companies across North America.  Given the global economic situation, as well as, the speed at which the Internet impacts investor relations, we continue to survey investors at conferences in order to better understand their online habits and preferences.

One trend that stands out, when comparing the results to the survey we did one year ago at the 2008 PDAC, is that online stock research, collaboration, and discussions continues to increase.

The results clearly point to an overwhelming need for a “pro-active” and “integrated” online IR strategy that goes well beyond your basic “text” website.

2009 Toronto PDAC Conference Survey Results

With approximately 100+ small cap resource investors surveyed at the 2009 Toronto PDAC Conference, we were able to extract some extremely valuable information that will be of great importance to all of us.

The information will have different implications for each one of you, depending on your primary metal/mineral, market capitalization and online strategy. As such, though I’ve provided some tertiary comments following each of the results below, the final analysis will be your own.

To this end, we’re happy to provide you with the following results:

AGORACOM Survey Highlights

• 50% of investors were most Bullish on Gold compared to other minerals and metals.
• 75% of investors prefer Small-Cap Resource Companies over Large-Cap.
• 75% of investors conduct 75%+ of their stock research online.
• 55% of investors conduct 90%+ of their stock research online.
• 54% of investors use discussion forums for information and/or research.

QUESTION #1 – Which Metal/Mineral Are You Most Bullish On?

Gold (50%)

Silver (15%)

Uranium (12%)

Nickel (9%)

Copper (5%)

Diamonds (5%)

Chromite (1%)

Moly (1%)

March ’08 Results – 54% were bullish on Gold.

QUESTION #2 – Do You Prefer Small or Large-Cap Resource Companies?

Small (75%)

Large (18%)

March ’08 Results – 79 over 21

QUESTION #3 – What Percentage Of Your Research Into New Stocks Is Done Online?

100% (29%)

90% (26%)

75% (20%)

50% (10%)

<50% (11%)

75% of investors use the web to conduct 75%+ of their research into new stocks. This is an increase of 12.3% over last year’s result of 62.7%. What’s more striking is the fact that 29% of investors rely entirely on the web to find their next small-cap investment, an increase of 11.4% over last year’s result of 17.6%.

Based on these findings, a CEO who fails to implement an online IR strategy is doing a great disservice to their company and shareholders.

QUESTION #4 – Would You Like To Participate In Private Placements Of TSX-V Resource Companies?

Yes (49%)

No (46%)

March ’08 – results were 56.5/43.5

QUESTION #5 – Had You Heard Of AGORACOM Before This Conference?

Yes (48%)

No (47%)

52% of the investors who had heard about AGORACOM did so via BNN and Google.  We’ve focused more than 95% of our marketing budget to a National Television Campaign as well as Search Engine Marketing. Not only are we putting our money where our mouth is – we’re proving an “integrated” approach using both online and offline marketing strategies works!

QUESTION #6 – Do You Use Discussion Forums For Information and/or Research?

Yes (54%)

No (41%)

March ’08 – results were 54.4/45.6

With 54% of investors using forums for information and research, CEO’s need to begin taking this medium seriously. Online investors are no different from other web users that flock to social media such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.

As such, CEO’s need to start the process of creating their own shareholder communities for the purposes of controlling their message and communicating with shareholders. The alternative is to have unscrupulous investors hijack your message through unmonitored online communities.

CONCLUSION

The importance of the web in achieving your IR goals simply can’t be overstated.

Investors are overwhelmingly using the web to research and discuss their current or prospective investments. They’re dissecting your fundamentals, collaborating about your future, watching videos, sharing photos and making decisions about whether to buy, sell or hold your stock.

Unfortunately, most of this is still going on without the participation of small-cap public companies themselves.  By our best estimates, more than 90% of small-cap companies have failed to implement an IR strategy beyond hosting a web site.

The good news is that we are still in the early stages of a dramatic paradigm shift. As such, you have an incredible, cost-efficient opportunity to be a part of that process and significantly impact the future of your company for years to come. Feed your audience with the best information possible, ask them questions, listen to their feedback and create a connection with an ever increasing number of investors that will pay you perpetual dividends.

If you are not a significant part of that ecosystem, you are doing your company a great disservice and will inevitably be left behind the unstoppable growth and habits of online investors.