If you’re the CEO / IRO of a small to mid-cap company and (erroneously) think that one good reason for not conducting online investor relations is the age of the target market – think again. Â What you are looking at above are the demographics of investors that tune into AGORACOM Small-Cap TV via YouTube and it reveals the following.
- 80% of viewers range between 35-64.
- 40% of vieweres range between 45-54
- 22% of viewers range between 55-64
- 19% of viewers range between 35-44
- 21% of viewers are females (Is that my good looks or because they feel sorry for me?) 🙂
(The figures won’t add up to 100% because we are cross-referencing the same age groups, so look at each statistic independantly.)
OLDER INVESTORS ARE PROGRESSIVE – WATCHING YOUTUBE FOR FINANCIAL CONTENT
What is really striking about these stats is the fact we are not talking about visitors to general finance sites. Â Afterall, we clearly know that investors of all ages (i.e. my semi-retired Greek immigrant father) utilize AGORACOM, Yahoo Finance, Globe Investor and other finance sites.
Rather, what is striking about these stats is they are telling me (and you) that older investors are using YouTube – the ultimate fun site for young people – to watch serious financial content. Â As such, I can only conclude that older, more sophisticated investors are far more progressive when it comes to online research than most of us may have originally thought.
FEMALE INVESTORS ARE MORE ACTIVE ONLINE THAN OFFLINE
What I also find interesting is the fact that female investors make up 21% of the audience. Â Now this is anecdotal but I know that female investors do not make up 21% of the audience at offline events such as AGM’s and conferences. Â As such, though the data set is far too narrow at this point, it provides another great potential reason for taking your investor relations online.
CONCLUSION
The trend towards online investor relations is unstoppable. Â With YouTube video demographics so heavily skewed towards older and more sophisticated investors, it no longer makes sense to continue ignoring online investor relations. Â The potential bonus of being better able to reach female investors only further supports the argument.
If you don’t have an IR strategy that incorporates – at the very least – search engine targeting of new investors, electronic shareholder forums for current shareholders and online video to showcase your company beyond text – then it’s time to get one. Â Otherwise, you’re only hurting your company and its shareholders.
Regards,
George
[…] AGORACOM demographic data over the last 18 months shows that older, sophisticated investors are researching new stocks and watching AGORACOM videos on YouTube. If the 45-54 set is as far into the web as online video, you need an online investor relations program. read more… […]
Looks like the 45-54 are the most enlightened people here. The youngsters, especially aged 25 – 34 and 35 – 44 should learn more about investing — afterall, the earlier the better!
[…] in support of an aggressive online video strategy comes from two recent articles posted to our blog here and […]
This is a very interesting piece of data that I am certain would strike the interest of CNBC and Bloomberg. Did you gather this intelligence yourself or did you use a third party?