2013 National Investor Relations Institute

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Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 562-7700
www.niri.org












Social Media Use for
Investor Relations










By Ariel Finno, Director-Research
Ted Allen, Director-Practice Resources
Matt Brusch, Vice President-Communications and Practice Information


A NIRI White Paper


NIRI White Paper: Social Media Use in Investor Relations


2013 National Investor Relations Institute




NIRI Social Media Use in Investor Relations Survey Results

Presented here are key findings from NIRIs 2010, and 2013 NIRI Social Media Use in Investor Relations
research projects.

In 2010, NIRI released Social Media Mainstream for IR Professionals Not Yet for Profession, which
announced the results of its member data on the subject.

2010 Key Findings

IR professional survey respondents are using social media more for personal networking rather
than for professional IR communications, though non-survey anecdotal evidence indicates
growing IR use.
Respondents are not using social media for IR largely due to their core constituencies' (the
investment community and financial media) lack of interest in social media interactions or
engagement with their IR departments as an additional or replacement medium beyond their
current interactions.

SEC Permits Social Media Use for Corporate Disclosure

On April 2, 2013, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a press release stating
that companies may use corporate social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter to announce key
information in compliance with Regulation Fair Disclosure (Regulation FD) so long as investors have
been alerted about which social media will be used to disseminate such information.

In 2008, the SEC issued an interpretive release (SEC Release No. 34-58288) which acknowledged the
use of a company website to satisfy Regulation FD disclosure requirements if the company had ensured
that it met certain criteria including:

1. The website is a recognized channel of distribution of information to the market;
2. The website is a source of broad dissemination to the market; and
3. There has been a reasonable waiting period for investors and the market to react to the posted
information.

As a result, whether the use of a company website satisfies Regulation FD disclosure requirements is
dependent on company-specific facts and circumstances, an analysis that is the responsibility of each
company and not the SEC.

The new social media guidance is similar in that the SEC leaves it for each company to decide if the use
of social media for material disclosure is appropriate after a careful Regulation FD analysis. The guidance
emphasizes the importance of issuers examining rigorously the factors indicating whether a particular
channel is a recognized channel of distribution for communicating with their investors. Among other
important points:

First, issuer communications through social media channels require careful Regulation FD
analysis comparable to communications through more traditional channels. Second, the
principles outlined in the 2008 Guidance and specifically the concept that the investing public
should be alerted to the channels of distribution a company will use to disseminate material
information apply with equal force to corporate disclosures made through social media
channels.


2013 National Investor Relations Institute


The SEC also made clear that the personal social media accounts of corporate executives would not
ordinarily be assumed to be channels through which the company would disclose material corporate
information.

Given the SEC April press release, NIRI again studied this subject in 2013 in order to assess the current
state of social media for professional use among IROs. The survey inquired about recent SEC
announcements concerning social media, IR-related social media use, which is activity focused on a
company's IR program (i.e., where the investment community is the primary audience), broad corporate
policy concerning social media use by employees for work purposes, and organizational staff changes as
a result of social media. In this context, social media was defined very broadly as the myriad tools and
technologies on the Internet that enable the creation and dissemination of interactive, often user-
generated content such as: LinkedIn, Google+, RSS or other web feeds, Twitter/TweetDeck, StockTwits,
private social networks, message boards and forums (any online groups that are established for specific
interests, memberships or private groups), YouTube, Slideshare, IR-oriented corporate blogs, other
blogs, video blogs and podcasts, wikis, Facebook, social bookmarking (e.g., Delicious, Digg,
StumbleUpon, etc.), chat/IM functions, text messaging, QR codes, feedback functions, and other tools.

In June 2013, NIRI released NIRI Social Media Use in Investor Relations 2013 Survey Results and
presents input from NIRI corporate and counselor practitioners.

2013 Key Findings

The majority of survey respondent investor relations (IR) professionals (72%) do not use social
media for their work.
Although differences can be seen in social media use by practitioner type (corporate or
counselor) and market cap size, respondents within all spheres are not using social media for
their work.
Consistent with the results of NIRIs last (2010) study, respondents report not using social media
for IR primarily due to lack of interest in the medium by the investment community.
Almost half (49%) of respondents who do not currently use social media for IR plan to reassess
the issue within the next 12 months. The recent SEC guidance on the topic is a driving factor in
determining reassessment.
Those already using social media for IR state the recent SEC social media and Bloomberg
Twitter announcements will not affect the way they utilize the medium.
Over half of IROs using social media for IR state that social media postings are held to a lower
degree of review than applied to press releases or SEC filings.
The top five social media tools among IR practitioners using social media are: Twitter (72%),
webcasts (50%), LinkedIn (38%), Facebook (33%), and StockTwits (25%).
The companies within the majority (66%) of social media IR users have formal social media
policies outlining expected employee behavior while using the medium.
IR counselors are more likely to have a social media manager on staff than corporate IR
practitioners. IR counselors also report an increase in staff directly related to social media
investment, and plan to increase their social media use within the next 12 months.

More Resources:

SEC Press Release: www.sec.gov/news/press/2013/2013-51.htm
SEC Report of Investigation: www.sec.gov/litigation/investreport/34-69279.pdf
SEC Interpretive Release on the Use of Websites: www.sec.gov/rules/interp/2008/34-58288.pdf
NIRI Standards of Practice: www.niri.org/standardsofpractice
NIRI, Social Media Use in Investor Relations 2013 Survey Results: http://tinyurl.com/m8hojo6

Please visit www.niri.org for more information.

2013 National Investor Relations Institute






About the National Investor Relations Institute
Founded in 1969, the National Investor Relations Institute (NIRI) is the professional association of
corporate officers and investor relations consultants responsible for communication among corporate
management, shareholders, securities analysts and other financial community constituents. The largest
professional investor relations association in the world, NIRIs more than 3,300 members representing
over 1,600 publicly held companies and $9 trillion in stock market capitalization.