Alternative Investment Firm Social Media Strategy

Reputation Management, Content Amplification & Money

Benefits of Social Media Engagement

1. Monitor & Leverage Industry News2. Build Brand Equity & Social Authority3. Introduce Firm to Potential Investors

Reputation Management

“Leveraging social media to listen, amplify,

and direct.

There are some things Hedge Fund managers need to know about social media:

● If you’re not social, you’re dead● Game on! Financial Services piling in● Twitter: Not just a mouthpiece● Opportunity in early adoption

If You’re Not Social, You’re Dead

Source: http://fortune.com/2015/11/18/businesses-cant-survive-social-media/?iid=sr-link1

Not incorporating Twitter, Facebook, and other

social channels into your strategy in 2015 is

roughly the equivalent of insisting the web was

just a fad a decade or so ago: backward-looking,

blinkered, and above all, a serious business

liability.

Fortune

“

Game On! Financial Services Piling In

“

Source: http://insurance-journal.ca/article/financial-services-take-to-social-media/

The use of social media in the

financial services industry

increased by more than a third

last year.

The Insurance & Investing Journal

Twitter: Not Just a Mouthpiece

“

Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/freddiedawson/2016/03/25/twitter-your-hedge-fund-better/#6fb645ca4801

Eagle Alpha is taking information and

large data sets from a variety of sources

ranging from posts on Twitter to

collections of satellite imagery and

photosynthesis levels to create its range

of products.

Forbes

Tapping Into Twitter

“The key problem with Twitter is separating useful data from the noise”

“...we found that there’s

real economic knowledge to be gathered.”

“The rise of social media allows us to

measure the sentiment of a large number of

individuals in real time.”

Source: Bloomberg Technology http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-04-21/andrew-lo-study-says-twitter-can-help-you-trade-fed-meetings

Opportunity in Early Adoption

“

Source: http://www.pionline.com/article/20160307/PRINT/303079990/hedge-fund-managers-still-shy-about-social-media

Only 11.1% of the world's 300 largest hedge

funds had any sort of social media presence

apart from LinkedIn in 2015, up from 9.9%

the previous year.

Pensions & Investments

Approach

● Utilize the Brian D. Colwell Network to

quickly build social authority for Firm and its

star players.

● Post quality content from reputable sources

with high frequency across all Firm handles.

● Identify the most effective hashtags and stock

tickers to distribute content to a wide, but

targeted audience. “#Hashtag RealEstate”

● Actively build follower base by engaging with

key industry players.

Building theSocial Media

Empire

Content Amplification

Hello, My Name is...Social Media Activities

Boost Search Engine Performance

Become a Trusted Source:Search Engine Performance is

Critical to Website Success

Website

Social Media Traffic Drives Website Visits BUT, Your Website Drives Conversions

Branding & Conversion

Messages

Company Website

Contact Requests

& Subscriptions

Building the Firm’s Social Media Network

(Brand Content + Curated Content) x

(Social Media Channels)Engagement =High Search Engine Visibility Drives

Social Authority & Brand Awareness

Alternative Investment Firm Content

Brand Content● Philosophy● Process● Insights● What sets us apart?● Approach● Press Releases● Media & Videos● Community Service / Philanthropy● News from investment team● News from management team● Monthly views● Weekly round-up and blog?● Weekly live $twtr interviews?

Curated Content● #Economics:

○ @wef○ @elerianm

● #Geopolitics:○ @intlspectator○ @militarytimes

● #EmergingMarkets:○ @qzafrica○ @china

● #AlternativeInvestments:○ @techcrunch○ @preqin

Twitter Workflow

Curated News Feeds & Source Lists

Brian Colwell’s Twitter Network

Star Player Twitter Handles

Event Twitter Handles

Business Twitter Handles

Industry Events

Other Star Players

Firm Twitter Handle

Firm’s Branded Content

Twitter Workflow

Curated News Feeds & Source Lists

@bcolwell_econ @bcolwell_emgmkt

@bcolwell_alt @bcolwell_cta

@briandcolwell

@xxx_bob @xxx_bill @xxx_brenda @xxx_brent

@xxx_bobob @xxx_brit

@bcolwell_salt @firm_salt

@firm_sohn other?

@firm_news @firm_alts @firm_etc

Industry Events

@employee personal handles

@other?

@firm_xxx

Firm’s Branded Content

Twitter Workflow: @firm_news

Insights, community service/ philanthropy,

news from management, approach, process, what

sets us apart, press releases, media & videos,

monthly views, weekly round-up and blog

Firm Twitter Handle

Firm’s Branded Content

Twitter Workflow: @firm_alts

News from investment team, monthly views,

content re: public funds, weekly live twitter

interviews, investment q&a, financial education:

focus on educating financial advisors on use

of alts in portfolio strategy

Firm Twitter Handle

Firm’s Branded Content

Twitter Workflow: @firm_salt, @firm_sohn

Aggregating all event news,

improperly or untagged tweets, speaker tweets,

media tweets and content: “reporting

on the reporters”

Industry Events

Firm Twitter Handle

Use Twitter Lists to Refine Raw Information

Lists = Leverage: Listen, Engage, Promote● Hedge Funds & Strategies

● Private Equity

● Real Assets

● Venture Capital

● Liquid Alts

● Fintech & Cryptocurrency

● REITs

● High Yield & Distressed Debt

TWITTER LIST:

A curated group of Twitter accounts.

Viewing a list timeline will show you a stream of Tweets

from only the accounts on that list.

Not Just Talking About Twitter

Walsh Trading CTACase Study: 28 Day Findings

28-Day HighlightsTwitter● 0 to 1.5 Million Twitter Impressions ● +1,804 Twitter Followers ● Avg 822 Impressions Per Tweet● Top Tweet earned 29K Impressions● Top Mention earned 32 Engagements● Top Twitter News Stories on:

● #ManagedFutures● #GlobalMacro● $GLD

LinkedIn● 0 to 33,079 LinkedIn Impressions● +1,616 LinkedIn Connections

Hashtag Group: Agriculture

820,121 Impressions

746 Average Per Post

1,100Posts

2/27/16 - 3/26/16

4,406 Engagements

4 Average Per Post

Hashtag Group: Alt Investments

830,409 Impressions

709 Average Per Post

1,171Posts

2/27/16 - 3/26/16

3,736 Engagements

3 Average Per Post

Hashtag Group: Asset Management

1,764,492 Impressions

883 Average Per Post

1,999Posts

2/27/16 - 3/26/16

7,491 Engagements

4 Average Per Post

1,492 Average

Impressions Per Post

As of 3/26/16

#globalmacroTop News Story

1,153 Average

Impressions Per Post

As of 3/26/16

#managedfuturesTop News Story

Hashtag Group: Energy

727,956 Impressions

1,223 Average Per Post

595Posts

2/27/16 - 3/26/16

2,505 Engagements

4 Average Per Post

Hashtag Group: Metals

582,451 Impressions

868 Average Per Post

671Posts

2/27/16 - 3/26/16

3,089 Engagements

5 Average Per Post

870 Average

Impressions Per Post

As of 3/26/16

$GLDTop News Story

2,766 Average

Impressions Per Post

As of 3/26/16

#basemetals

Twitter Hashtag Ownership

Twitter Engagement

● Getting noticed by influencers in our niche

Twitter Engagement

1

2

3

Engagement

Furthering the Conversation

Boosting Impressions

Top Mentions

362 @walsh_trading

1,316 Walsh Trading

Star Players

2,469 Brian D Colwell

Network

4,146Followers

As of 3/26/16

Twitter Followers

ProducersTop Followers

LinkedIn Followers

❏ LinkedIn Network: 10,510❏ Walsh Trading

Company Page: 63

❏ John Walsh

Connections: 1,420

❏ Brian D Colwell

Connections: 9,027

As of 3/26/16

Twitter Posts & Impressions

60 Average Posts Per Day

316@walsh_trading

1,763Walsh Trading

Star Players

1,985Brian D Colwell

Network

4,064Posts

2/27/16 - 3/26/16

Twitter Posts

Impression-Building Posts

Top Posts

Subscription-Based Posts

Top Posts

822 Average Impressions Per Post

384,740 @walsh_trading

1,180,939Walsh Trading

Star Players

1,775,432 Brian D Colwell

Network

3,341,111Impressions

2/27/16 - 3/26/16

Twitter Impressions

5,331,10028-Day

Impression Count As of 3/26/16

28-Day Impression Count

389,000 @walsh_trading

1,164,100 Walsh Trading

Star Players

3,778,000 Brian D Colwell Network

LinkedIn Followers & Posts

LinkedIn Posts, Impressions, & Engagement

❏ 254 posts❏ 33,079 impressions❏ 130 impressions/post❏ 2 engagements/post

LinkedIn Post Activity: 3/2/16 - 3/26/16

Top Performing LinkedIn Posts

Defining & Measuring Social Media SuccessKPI Definition 2/27/16 3/26/16

Phase 1: Content Aggregation

Walsh Trading Content Promoted

Each piece of content (audio, webinar, blog, etc) 0 52

Phase 2: Authorship Profile Views Google+ views 15,421 17,026

Phase 3A: @walsh_trading Distribution

Main Page Post Impressions Number of times a tweet populated a twitter user’s feed: 28 Day Summary; @BColwell+++

9,928 384,740

Phase 3B: Star Player Distribution

Walsh Trading Players 0 1,180,939

BDC Network 3,362,000 3,778,000

Phase 4: Twitter Engagement

Followers Twitter users following @walsh_trading or Walsh Trading star players’ news feeds

44 1,848(3/31/16)

Phase 5: LinkedIn Presence

Update Impressions Number of times an update populated a LinkedIn user’s news feed

0 33,079

Phase 6: LinkedIn Engagement

Followers LinkedIn users following Walsh Trading’s company page and/or connected with John Walsh

42 1,658(3/31/16)

Month 1 Performance

2/27/16 Week 1 Week 2 Week 3Week 4

(as of 3/26)Month

End

Phase 1: Content Promoted

-- 11 21 20 0 52

Phase 3A: @walsh_trading Impressions *

9,928 44,800 198,000 319,000 384,740 384,740

Phase 3B: Star Player Impressions*

3,362,000 3,302,361 3,838,600 4,316,100 4,958,939 4,958,939

Phase 4: Twitter Followers (Company + Star Players)

44 347 979 1,3681,848

(3/31/16)1,848

(3/31/16)

Phase 5: LinkedIn Post Impressions*

0 4573 15,935 24,414 33,079 33,079

Phase 6: LinkedIn Followers (Company + John Walsh)

42 429 852 1,1231,658

(3/31/16)1,658

(3/31/16)

* Twitter impressions reported are 28-day running value

WalshTrading.com Analytics

502 Unique Users

64%New Visitors

2.9Pages Per Session

2:18Average Session Duration

704Sessions

2/27/16 - 3/26/16

WalshTrading.com Traffic

Traffic peaks during the week, generally between Tuesday and Thursday.

Top 5 Web Pages

Web Traffic: 2/27/16 - 3/26/16

PageviewsAverage

Time on PageBounce Rate Exit

All Traffic 2,012 2:18 Session Duration

48%Not Applicable

Home Page 693 1:26 44% 44%

Team 144 1:25 66% 43%

Walsh Trading Insights 133 3:32 50% 56%

Executive Team 95 1:12 40% 32%

Careers 79 0:51 84% 44%

User Behavior By Traffic Source

Web Traffic: 2/27/16 - 3/26/16

Sessions New UsersNew

SessionsPages Per

Session

Average Session

Duration

Bounce Rate

All Traffic 704 502 64% 2.9 2:18 48%

Organic 378 241 64% 3.3 3:07 44%

Direct 195 111 57% 2.2 1:11 52%

Referral 65 48 74% 2.5 1:45 62%

Social 57 49 86% 3.0 1:25 42%

Email 9 2 22% 1.4 0:49 67%

Top 5 Referral Sources

Web Traffic: 2/27/16 - 3/26/16

Share of Total Sessions

Bounce RatePages Per

Session

Average Session

Duration

All Referral Traffic (65 sessions) 100% 62% 2.5 1:45

Twitter (t.co) 30% 56% 1.8 0:59

insidefutures.com 16% 45% 3.0 1:56

LinkedIn 14% 6% 5.9 2:39

investing.com 12% 60% 3.5 1:55

Email (us3.campaignarchive1.com)

5% 0% 2.5 2:50

Walsh Trading was a great partner and made significant contributions to this project.

Special thanks to Bill Reavis, Head of Asset Management at Walsh Trading. @WGR101

Social Media Manager for HireBrian D. Colwell

briandcolwellblog@gmail.comhttp://briandcolwell.com

Build Your Social Authority

● Emerging & Frontier Markets

● Global Macro & Commodities

● Economics & GeoPolitics

● Alternative Investments

“Great answers aren’t found on paved roads and well-beaten paths.

Great answers live in the wild. I vow to venture deep into the digital jungle

in the hunt for knowledge.”