Earlier this week, I attended a very interesting lunch seminar hosted by Regi and Qbrick about how Nordic companies use social media.

Regi presented parts of the result from their Annual Survey, Årets Byrå 2009 where over 2 000 Swedish marketing directors have provided feedback about how and if they use social media.

Only 6 percent reported that they use social media to a large extend, while one third (28%) stated that they do not use social media at all. Although, Marketing Directors seems to have acknowledged the benefits of social media a bit more than Nordic IROs. While attending the Nordic Investor Relations Conference (NIRC 2009) in June last year, none of the 150 Nordic IRO’s present stated that they use social media channels as Twitter, YouTube, Facebook or other microblogging channels to strengthen their communication with investors.

Investors and analysts are often seen as quite conventional when it comes to adopting new technologies as on-line reporting, especially Annual Reports. If asked, I believe a majority of them still would prefer a printed version or a searchable PDF-file.

Although, when it comes to use of social media, the financial community have been keener to adopt the new communication channels. A survey done by Brunswick Group in September 2009, interviewing 500 institutional investors and sell-side analysts in US and in Europe showed the following:

• One third (30 %) state that blogs have become a more important source of information the latest year.
• Every fifth investor and analysts (20 %) read information on a blog which resulted in an investment decision or a recommendation
• 52 % of the European investors say blogs and social networking sites will play an increasingly important role in investment decisions in the future.

These facts bust the first myth about social media; it is not a primary communication channel for teenagers, students and technology freaks. Professional investors and analysts use it frequently.

Social media and IR have great potential of strengthen your financial brand as well as finding new investors. I will in a series if posts take a deeper look in to how Nordic companies use social media and IR, hopefully revealing the most appalling pros and cons.