FTI Digital’s 2019 A Social Divide In The City: Mining For Impact

We’re seeing new social media expertise, and perhaps confidence, emerging among corporates across the board, with a decline in the total number of results-related posts shared and yet a substantial increase in engagement. In 2018 for every half- and full-year results post shared on social media channels, the average number of engagements was 160, compared to 72 in 2018. We have found that some of the top performing companies are deploying paid strategies to boost the reach and engagement around results-related content.

We were pleased to have been joined this year by Dr Pawel Bilinski of the Centre for Financial Analysis and Reporting at London’s Cass Business School. Reviewing our performance data over the last five years for each constituent of the FTSE 100 alongside the share price performance and analyst ratings pre- and post-results, Dr Bilinski shows that analysts are more likely to upgrade a firm that communicates results on Twitter in a 30-day period after an earnings announcement has been made. In addition, our data suggest that posts on Twitter increase price reaction to earnings news by 0.3%.

This year’s Social Divide is further positive endorsement of the role played by social media in the corporate and financial communications, where well-planned live-video, rich graphics, authentic leadership commentary and employee advocacy are creating unprecedented levels of impact.