An industry of insiders
To an outsider, the mining industry may seem like a vast industry, spanning the entire globe and periodic table. However, as insiders, we understand just how small the industry actually is.
How often have you met someone at a conference only to realise that you started out working on a mine on the opposite side of the world that their former colleague is currently working on? Okay, maybe not that exact scenario, but at least something along those lines.
It is extremely rare that a geologist or a mining engineer works on the same mine for the entire life of that mine, especially when that LOM spans several decades. The fact that mining is highly cyclical, requires a diverse skill set, which changes depending on the mine’s phase of development, and that professionals can be called to work in some of the world’s most remote places anywhere in the world and then move on, fosters relationships. These relationships are nurtured by attending conferences aimed at bringing investors, miners and service companies under one roof. Attend enough of these networking events and you soon realise just how small the industry is. In general, mining insiders with around a decade of experience under their belts usually have only one or two degrees of separation between them. This makes marketing and networking extremely easy. Add in a couple of roadshows and you are golden.
The value of conferences
Other sectors are not so lucky. While professionals in retail, high-tech, medical, property etc certainly have industry-focused conferences that are well attended, conferencing is usually part of a greater marketing effort, not the whole budget. In fact, people in these industries would generally look at conferencing as something that has its place, but is a relatively antiquated marketing tool. Indeed they are right in this assertion when one compares the capabilities of meeting maybe a few hundred people at a conference as opposed to using the power of the internet to brand and influence thousands.
Make no mistake, conference attendance is a very powerful marketing tool. PR | Re:public built their reputation and made their debut by becoming a keynote speaker at a major conference more than ten years ago. Today we offer clients investor and networking days because we understand the value of getting the right people into a room to listen to your company’s story. Face-to-face meetings is still the gold-standard for doing business. Investors still like to meet the managers of the companies they invest in and vice versa. It is true that once a company has paid for registration fees, flights, accommodation, their exhibition stand, and beer, the costs of attending a conference could run into thousands of dollars. But most would argue, that generally this is money well spent and companies budget accordingly.
How to market when conferences are getting cancelled?
2020 has been an interesting year. In January, PR | Re:public had committed to being a keynote speaker for six global mining events. To date, the only one we managed to get to was the Mining Indaba in South Africa in February. While these conferences were quick to go online, the experience and efficacy is not the same as the real deal.
Even if companies are paying registration fees to attend these events online, at a minimum they are saving on the flights, exhibition space and beer money. So what can companies do with this spare change to ensure that they are visible to investors and shareholders?
Here are some ideas to suit every budget:
Entry-level marketing budget: $750 – $900 / month
There are a few ways to get noticed on line. Getting referenced on high-traffic websites is a great start. If you could then get these websites with high authority to link back to your website, what we call a “backlink,” then the credibility and traffic of your company website grows.
Mid-level marketing budget: $4,900 – $6,100 / month
If your company is spending between $60,000-75,000 annually on online marketing, then you can begin to see significant online traffic and a tangible increase in interest in your company.
With this budget, one could expect to receive a comprehensive marketing strategy. This would ensure different types of coverage including a video interview, write-ups on a on a higher-authority website, be mentioned in a few newsletters, monthly write ups about your company, sponsored promotions on high-traffic news sites such as BBC, CNN, and The Guardian, and exposure on social media to create.
Below is an image showing a monthly result from one of PR | Re:public’s clients that was promoted on high-traffic news sites. In this instance, PR | Re:public produced high-quality articles on the company, A/B tested it and then promoted this content on high traffic news websites such as BBC, Fox News, and CNN. The results was that this firm’s write-up was viewed millions of times (“impressions”) and read by over 5,000 people (“clicks”). Undertaking this process on a regular basis helps refine the audience to ensure that your company starts to engage relevant people with a high probability of buying the stock, and also ensures regular coverage of your company.
Comprehensive marketing budget: $10,000 – $20,000 / month
If you are setting aside these kinds of funds to market your company, then your firm is really serious about increasing its stock price, or winning new business.
An online presence requires as many types of engagements as possible, and all aspects of one’s marketing strategy should tie together in a coherent way. The ultimate aim of this type of marketing is to aggressively move readers through your company’s sales funnel. In the case of a junior miner, this ultimately means that you want to start with a wide audience who are interested in reading an article on your company, watch a video interview, or engaging with your marketing material in some way. From there, you want a subset of these people to show continued interest in your firm by leaving their details, downloading a company report and following your stock. After this step, the aim is to move these people through to the last part of the funnel by “making the sale.” In the world of mining, PubCo’s means buying or investing in your company’s stock.
In order to do this effectively, you can expect a complete overhaul of your company’s communication and marketing strategy, starting at the ground level with your firm’s marketing material by ensuring your company’s presentation, fact sheet, landing pages and marketing material is professional and representative and sparks enough interest to a prospective investor to want to engage further with your firm.
From there, the idea is to apply influencer marketing techniques. Some of the tools used would include video interviews, media relations services, influencer marketing including thought leadership, blog posts and promotion on high-traffic news sites, network meetings, banner ads, social media engagement, PPC marketing and regular newsletters informing prospective investors about the company and it’s potential and then ultimately targeted outreach to offer help to interested parties to purchase the stock.
Summary
Traditionally mining is an “old boys” club where face to face meet ups were the norm. Even in the absence of COVID19, this landscape was quickly changing. Marketing budgets for mining firms have increased from 3% of revenue in 2014 to 13% in 2019 (The CMO Survey & Delloitte Digital) as company executives have recognised the growing importance of a comprehensive communications strategy to their business.
COVID19 has reduced global travellers and many conferences that facilitated these meetings have been canceled or postponed, accelerating a growing trend in virtual meetings and online marketing.
For as long as mining depends on investors, the need to promote one’s company and executive teams will remain. As more investors choose to receive their research information and ideas online, it is imperative that mining executives expand their online marketing presence and direct their communication efforts so as to ensure that they are seen by the right people.
The competition for capital is intense. Information, opportunities and investment ideas flow freely and constantly across the web. For a mining company to be successful today, management needs to ensure that they are keeping pace with the information age.
What measures will you take to promote your company at a time when you cannot be seen in person?
