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AGORACOM Survey Reveals Web Research and Discussion Forum Habits of Small-Cap Investors

Posted by AGORACOM at 5:03 PM on Sunday, September 9th, 2007

Earlier this year, AGORACOM surveyed approximately 800 small-cap investors at 3 separate conferences for the purposes of discovering how much of a role the web plays in their small-cap / micro-cap research and investing. We purposely avoided an online survey to avoid skewing of the results.

We were pretty convinced the number was significant based on anecdotal evidence but given the fact some small-cap CEO’s still believed the internet had no significance, we had to settle it once and for all.

Well, the results are in and they are irrefutable. In fact, they’re even bigger than we thought. Ir you’re an old school CEO, it’s time to re-visit your web strategy. If you’re a shareholder of a small-cap or micro-cap company, you need to find out their web strategy and, if one doesn’t exist, encourage them to create one.

Percentage Of Research Into Next Investment That Is Derived From The Internet

  • 76.6%

Comment: This is a wake-up call for small-cap and micro-cap CEO’s that believe a website is sufficient exposure on the web. Small-cap investors depend heavily on the web to find their next investment. As such, companies must incorporate proactive web marketing strategies in order to reach them. Search engine programs are the easiest and most effective method. In addition tools such as podcasting and blogging must be considered. You should even speak to your newswire provider about any web optimization they can offer for each of your press releases, or at least your most important press releases. In short, you need a web 2.0 strategy

If you don’t make it easy for new potential investors to find you , then they won’t. It is that simple. Companies that incorporate these tools into their IR programs will win. It is that simple.

Percentage Of Investors That Participate In Discussion Forums

  • All Investors – 59.7%

Comment: Despite the often ridiculous nature of stock discussion forums on most portals (we won’t mention any names) the fact of the matter is that investors do not want to sit at home and feel as if they are the only person invested in your stock. As such, they are going to use discussion forums to seek out fellow investors and exchange information.

Unfortunately, this also means that unscrupulous investors can have a significant impact on your stock price on both the downside (bashing) and the upside (hyping). It also provides your competitors with an opportunity to bait and switch your shareholders by bashing you while presenting their case.

This dynamic is not going to change. Stock discussion forums have been around since the advent of the mass web and they are going to be here long after. They’ll get better (watch for our big move into this space) but you’ll have to contend with it one way or another.

Suggestion – take control of your message by creating your own community that amalgamates your current and prospective investors into a controlled environment. Use the community to communicate with investors, while providing investors with an ability to discuss the pro’s and con’s of your company.

For Those Who Do Not Participate In Discussion Forums, The Percentage That Would Participate If Quality Control Measures Were Implemented

  • All Investors – 72.5%

Comment: This number only serves to further support our contention above. Small-cap companies that create a community and give their shareholders safe haven will benefit tremendously.

Moreover, this was a real eye-opener for us as it indicates three very telling things:

  1. The current state of discussion forums is not working. The abundance of profanity, spam, bashing, hyping and name-calling is driving away a large percentage of small-cap participants.
  2. Small-cap investors have a strong desire to collaborate online with fellow investors. Much of this can probably be attributed to the fact that small-cap investors do not have the comfort of analyst coverage, independent research and financial media coverage. As such, they are forced to rely on “the wisdom of crowds” by amalgamating and exchanging information in stock discussion forums.
  3. A Web 2.0 model that can minimize noise and maximize the exchange of information in a constructive and professional environment will receive mass acceptance from small-cap investors.

Total Percentage Of Investors That Would Participate In Discussion Forums If Quality Control Measures Were Implemented

  • 88.5%

Comment: This number combines the percentage of small-cap investors currently using discussion forums with the percentage of small-cap investors that want to use them if quality control measures were implemented. It is a huge number. If small-cap and micro-cap CEO’s that previously thought the web was unimportant do not see the error of their ways, then there isn’t anything more we can say.

On the other hand, if you are a shareholder of one of these companies, you have a lot to say. Mobilize your fellow investors and insist as a group that your company invest in a web 2.0 strategy to attract new shareholders and better maintain current ones.

CONCLUSION

These survey results should come as no surprise to readers that are the slightest bit web savvy. Online communities have gone parabolic in the past 18 months as like minded individuals seek each other out to share, collaborate and grow. MySpace for teenagers, Facebook for college students and grads, Linkedin for professionals. Each one of these started from zero and now have tens of millions of members.

Would you expect small-cap investors to be any different?

Regards,
George

AGORACOM Surveys 150 Investors At Vancouver Cambridge Conference 2007 (Summer)

Posted by AGORACOM at 1:43 AM on Sunday, July 1st, 2007

Good evening to you all and welcome to all our new “C” level executives and IRO’s that have joined our resource company newsletter. I would like to extend a special greeting to all of you who stopped by our booth at the Conference. This was our second show exhibiting with Cambridge Conferences and you can expect to see us there for many years to come.

One of the most important things we continue to accomplish at the conference is surveying investors in order to better understand their habits and preferences. As most of you know, we surveyed investors at the PDAC and Cambridge Calgary Conference in March and posted all the important results on our blog for you to review here. Response to the surveys has been overwhelmingly positive from executives that have found the information incredibly helpful.

With more than 150 investors surveyed at the Vancouver conference, we were again 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: (more…)

AGORACOM Surveys Over 150 Retail Investors At Calgary Cambridge Conference 2007

Posted by AGORACOM at 12:05 AM on Tuesday, April 24th, 2007

Good evening to you all and welcome to all our new “C” level executives and IRO’s that have joined our resource company newsletter. I would like to extend a special greeting to all of you who stopped by our booth at the Conference. This was our first show exhibiting with Cambridge Conferences and you can expect to see us there for many years to come.One of the most important things we accomplished at the conference was surveying investors in order to better understand their habits and preferences. As most of you know, we surveyed investors at the PDAC earlier in March and posted the results on our blog for you to review PDAC Survey

With more than 150 investors surveyed at the Cambridge 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:

Percentage of Small-Cap and Large-Cap Investors At The Cambridge Conference

  • Small-Cap Investors – 89.10%
  • Large-Cap Investors – 10.90%

Comment: Small-Cap Investors Are Much More Involved In Their Investments. As such, small-cap companies should consider means of communicating with them and motivating them beyond conferences. Conference calls and online tools should be explored.

Metal Or Mineral Most Bullish On

  • Gold – 42.7%
  • Moly – 24.55%
  • Silver – 20.00%
  • Uranium – 18.2%
  • Nickel – 4.5%
  • Zinc – 4.5%

Comment: Gold still dominates. Copper and Diamonds didn’t make the grade in Calgary – but the biggest surprise came from Moly, which didn’t even appear on the radar screen at PDAC, yet ranked #2 at Cambridge. Moly is on the move with resource investors.

Percentage of Investors That Use The Internet To Conduct Research

  • All Investors – 99.4%

Comment: Both small and large-cap companies should take note of this extreme number, which is consistent with PDAC yet even surprised us. A simple web page is no longer sufficient if you want to differentiate yourself from your peers.

Percentage Of Research Into Next Investment That Is Derived From The Internet

  • 50% of Research – 23.6%
  • 75% of Research – 22.7%
  • 90% of Research – 27.3%
  • 100% of Research – 25.5%

AVERAGE % OF WEB RESEARCH INTO NEXT INVESTMENT – 78.9%

Comment: Investors depend heavily on the web to find their next investment. The PDAC figure was also consistent at 77.5% so companies should take heed and significantly increase marketing and communications on the web. Search engines are the easiest and most effective method. In addition, tools such as webcasting and podcasting must be considered. In short, you need a Web 2.0 strategy.

Percentage Of Investors That Participate In Discussion Forums

  • All Investors – 48.2%

Comment: Small-cap companies need to pay attention to this number. At PDAC, the figure came in even higher at 65%. Though most CEO’s say “I don’t read forums”, 50 – 65% of your investors and potential investors use discussion forums. As such, you need to take control of your message by creating your own community. Otherwise, unscrupulous investors on unmonitored forums will have just as much impact on your share price as you do.

For Those Who Do Not Participate In Discussion Forums, The Percentage That Would Participate If Quality Control Measures Were Implemented

  • All Investors – 70%

Comment: This is incredibly significant as it indicates investors’ strong desire to collaborate online about their investments. This is consistent with the advent of Web 2.0 in which community and mass collaboration has exploded in non-financial fields. Combined with the number of investors that already use discussion forums, 85% of investors use or want to use discussion forums to communicate further about their investments. Companies that adopt online community tools early will be the big winners in the end.

CONCLUSION

The AGORACOM survey at the Cambridge Resource Investment Conference in Calgary has provided valuable information that companies need to review, consider and act upon. Putting our money where our mouth is, a big reason for starting this blog is to provide you with an ability to ask questions and comment on this topic and all future topics. By creating a community and collaborating between ourselves, we can all become better Web 2.0 communicators and marketers.

Thanks and have a great day!

Regards,
George

AGORACOM Surveys Over 500 Retail Investors At PDAC 2007

Posted by AGORACOM at 1:56 PM on Friday, March 23rd, 2007

AGORACOM Survey Reveals Important Information For Public Companies

Good morning to you all and welcome to all our new “C” level executives and IRO’s that have joined our resource company newsletter. I would like to extend a special greeting to all of you who stopped by the AGORACOM Sponsored Stock Market Resource Center at PDAC 2007. This was our first year as a sponsor of the event and you can expect to see us there for many years to come.

One of the most important things we accomplished at PDAC was 4 days of surveying investors in order to better understand their habits and preferences. With more than 500 investors surveyed, 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 and market capitalization.

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:

Percentage of Small-Cap and Large-Cap Investors At PDAC

  • Small-Cap Investors 88.55%
  • Large-Cap Investors 11.45%

Comment: Small-Cap Investors Are Much More Involved In Their Investments. As such, small-cap companies should consider means of communicating with them and motivating them beyond conferences. Conference calls and online tools should be explored.

Metal Or Mineral Most Bullish On (Top 6)

  • Small-Cap Investors
    • Gold 47.9%
    • Uranium 14.4%
    • Silver 8.4%
    • Nickel 6.5%
    • Copper 3.8%
    • Diamonds 3.8%
  • Large-Cap Investors
    • Gold 52.9%
    • Diamonds 11.8%
    • Uranium 8.8%
    • Zinc 5.9%
    • Copper 5.9%
    • Nickel 5.9%

Comment: Gold still dominates. Silver isn’t of interest to large-cap investors but the same group is 3 times more bullish on diamonds that small-cap investors. Silver and Diamond companies should alter their messages accordingly.

Percentage of Investors That Use The Internet To Conduct Research

  • Small-Cap Investors 99.2%
  • Large-Cap Investors 100.00%

Comment: Both small and large-cap companies should take note of this extreme number, which even surprised us. A simple web page is no longer sufficient if you want to differentiate yourself from your peers.

Percentage Of Research Into Next Investment That Is Derived From The Internet
Small-Cap Investors

  • 50% of Research 30.4%
  • 75% of Research 21.3%
  • 90% of Research 25.5%
  • 100% of Research 22.8%

Comment: Small-Cap Investors depend heavily on the web to find their next investment. Small-cap companies should take heed and significantly increase marketing on the web. Search engines are the easiest and most effective method. In addition, tools such as webcasting and podcasting should be considered.
Large-Cap Investors

  • 50% of Research 50%
  • 75% of Research 26.5%
  • 90% of Research 5.9%
  • 100% of Research 17.6%

Comment: A significant divergence from the Small-Cap Investor results above. Indicates that large-cap investors continue to rely just as heavily on brokers and financial media. Large-Cap companies should probably focus on traditional broker IR and possibly marketing through traditional media sources. Online marketing still needs to be in the mix but not as heavily as small-cap companies.
Percentage Of Investors That Participate In Discussion Forums

  • Small-Cap Investors 64.8%
  • Large-Cap 26.5%

Comment: Small-cap companies need to pay attention to this number. Though most CEO’s say “I don’t read forums”, 2/3 of your investors and potential investors do read forums. As such, you need to take control of your message by creating your own community. Otherwise, unscrupulous investors on unmonitored forums will have just as much impact on your share price as you do.

For Those Who Do Not Participate In Discussion Forums, The Percentage That Would Participate If Quality Control Measures Were Implemented

  • Small-Cap Investors 77%
  • Large-Cap Investors 84%

Comment: This is incredibly significant, especially as it pertains to large-cap investors. Both large and small-cap investors strongly deisre an ability to collaborate online about their investments. This is consistent with the advent of Web 2.0 in which community and mass collaboration has exploded in non-financial fields. Given the desire of those who don’t currently participate in discussion forums, it is only a matter of time until community and collaboration becomes a lynchpin of both small and large-cap investing.

CONCLUSION

The AGORACOM survey at PDAC has provided valuable information that companies of all sizes and focus should review, analyze and act upon. Putting our money where our mouth is, I have now started a blog at http://www.agoracom.com/blog for you to post comments and questions on this topic and all future topics. By creating a community and collaborating ourselves, we can all become better Web 2.0 communicators and marketers.

Regards,
George