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
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
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
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