Mining Companies Need To Leave The Fax Machine Era And Enter The Digital Marketing Era

I started in the mining business in 1993, back then marketing was done by the phone and fax machine or in meetings. The news was sent out by fax machine, or an investor called their broker for the news or the company. That is what I call the Fax Machine Era.

Back then, it was a red flag if companies didn’t answer their phone or didn’t return their messages. It still is. Another red flag was when they got on the phone if they wanted to focus on the stock promotion over the project promotion. 

From then until now, a key differentiator I look for is whether an exploration company is trying to mine the public or find a mine. It is best to avoid mine-the-public companies and pay attention to find-a-mine companies.

I see a lot of mining companies stuck in the Fax Machine Era. It saddens me that they have great projects but lack the commitment to consistently tell their stories. Using social media platforms like X-Twitter and YouTube.

I’m always wary of companies that aren’t consistently out telling their stories on social media. The attention of investors is not easy to keep in the digital world as they are pulled in many directions. If companies aren’t telling their story, they won’t be top of mind for investors. 

Red Flags

Lack of, or minimal, storytelling on social media. A key thing is people want to be engaged with on social media. 

Having a presence isn’t enough. Only using social media to put out news releases doesn’t get the job done. The result will be a low click through rate when a company shares information in this fashion. Few people will click on news releases if that is all they see from a company profile.

To resonate with social media users requires engagement. Recognizing those that post about the company with a thank you sends a message of professionalism. Answering questions when users ask them can also help distinguish a company. Putting out industry related information and company information is a great way to use social media to engage.

Companies that don’t monitor social media for what people are saying about their company are making a big mistake. They may not like to hear the negative comments, but they could be very valuable. As are the positive comments. 

News releases heavy on geology and industry jargon put their shareholders to sleep, they don’t inspire the audience. 

Many miners seem to think that writing news releases should be written by geologists to impress other geologists, or writers don’t understand their audiences are investors. These kinds of news releases are usually written by management that is stuck in the Fax Machine Era.

Don’t get me wrong, the geology information is very important as institutional investors have geologists on staff, as do high net worth investors or they have a network of geologists they talk to in order to dig deeper. Of course the geological information is important, but it needs to be presented in a way that also speaks to the audience of investors. Otherwise it won’t resonate with investors. 

Obviously bigger mining companies have geologists on staff, and if a company wants to attract them as strategic investors, joint venture partners or to be taken over by them, they need to talk about rocks.

I have personal experience with this from my days of consulting for explorers. One of the companies I worked with made a discovery and because our team was so effective in talking about the rocks, we were able to get the largest mining company for that style of deposit to spend millions by showing them the rocks and data before the assays were announced from the discovery hole.

But mining companies that don’t also effectively communicate with retail investors that aren’t geologists, run the risk of having lower stock prices, with low trading volumes, and higher costs of capital. 

Lack of understanding that marketing makes the business world go around. Or even worse, not going to where investors are these days which is on social media is not a good marketing strategy.

Far too often, I see mining company executives don’t get this. Even worse, they are too lazy to make the effort or just as bad is they think it is beneath them. Mark Bristow, CEO of Barrick, runs one of the largest gold mining companies, he is very active on social media telling their story. If it is not beneath him, it certainly isn’t for every gold mining company down the gold stock food chain.

Green Flags

Using social media tools effectively. They are more than just a tool for distributing news releases, they are a wonderful tool for engaging with shareholders and those interested in a company.

Thanking content creators for putting out content about their company is professionalism personified. 

Answering questions from those taking an interest in their company is an amazing way to engage. For every investor that asks a question there are many more that don’t, but they definitely see it and judge whether or not a company engages.

Putting out industry related content and plenty of content about the company and then engaging with those that comment on it is the way to go. This helps investors stay well informed about the industry and the company. A well informed investor is a sticky investor less prone to making investment decisions based on stock action.

Monitoring social media for positive and negative comments and then taking actions on them is very effective. Mining company executives would be surprised how many investors see a negative comment and recognize when a company take actions to fix it.

It is very impressive when a company has people that can make the data dance. This requires people that can take the geological data and present it in a way that speaks to geologists and investors.

After a news release is put out, it helps when management gets out on Youtube interviews and podcasts to dig deeper into the news release. This is where management can continue making the data dance. I love it when executives of mining companies can tell their stories in an exciting way in news releases and in person. As do most investors.

Over my career, I have had the pleasure to work with very talented geoscientists, converse with management of companies at mining conferences and interview plenty of talented executives on my YouTube videos. I have witnessed up close and personal common traits amongst the successful people in mining. One is they one hundred percent get how important marketing is and are brilliant at it. 

They put out well written news releases that speak to the geology and present it in a way that their shareholders (that aren’t geologists) clearly pick up on the key information. You can always see if this is working when investors talk about a company and mention the key information in a news release.

Another common trait amongst the successful mining people is that they are tireless in their efforts to get the story out by appearing in online interviews using YouTube and on podcasts. 

People love YouTube videos because they are tired of talking heads on legacy media channels. They want genuine and passionate guests and hosts that talk in a conversational way.

I worked for many years with a large geological consulting firm and everyday we would sit at the board room table for lunch and talk about rocks and stocks. I try to emulate that when I do my interviews. And I love it when management is great at the back and forth conversation about their company’s project, news and the metals they are involved with. 

Successful mining executives are obsessed with getting their story out to as many investors as possible. If they had no marketing tools, they would shout it from the rooftops.

Another common trait is they are excellent storytellers that speak in a compelling way that resonates with investors. When it all comes together it is a beautiful thing. 

They have inquiring minds so they are constantly looking at how marketing tools evolve and the best way to use them. They were adept at marketing when all they had was a phone and fax machine, they evolved when email and the internet came along by using websites and corporate presentations.

They continue to evolve and are now effectively using social media to get the story out on platforms like YouTube and X-Twitter. They have completely left the Fax Machine Era.

Without a doubt they understand storytelling is the key marketing tool and they need an amplifier such as digital marketing platforms to reach investors out there in cyberspace.

They never stop learning, and possess a natural gift for the gab and have an intense passion to tell their stories and get it out to as many people as they can.

Steve Jobs of Apple fame knew that marketing makes the business world go around. Successful mining company executives know it as well.

Elon Musk knows it, which is why he bought Twitter and has turned it into X which gives him the most important platform for people that want to find the news and commentators to engage with about the news. Now, he has the biggest soap box on the planet.

In-Person Mining Conferences versus Online Interviews

They both have their place. 

But when you dig into the numbers to compare the dollars spent for time spent with engaged investors, there is a clear winner. I’ve done both extensively during my career and can give you some real world examples of the differences. Online interviews win by a country mile.

Management that think going to the odd in-person mining conference is effective marketing are behind the curve. They need to always be marketing and the only way to do that is to use YouTube interviews. They need to go where the investors are or be lost in the digital wilderness. 

Investors are pulled in many directions and it takes consistent efforts telling their stories to keep a company, any company in any sector, on the top of mind for investors. This applies from the biggest miners down to the small explorers. 

It takes more than just great news. I have seen many times, a company puts out great news and their stock sees a couple days of high volume and positive stock action. This only last for a couple days because they didn’t set the stage by doing interviews when their drilling starts, then there is no follow through with YouTube interviews when the news is out. So they suffer the dreaded round trip.

Investors need to always be mindful of a company's focus on marketing. Actions speak louder than words, either they are committed to effectively doing it or not. 

Investors also need to watch for when companies do interviews and then stop. It is always an accurate tell, when I see company executives actively marketing and then they go into a shell, about how the drilling is going.

YouTube viewers like conversational discussions that are focused on a company's projects. If the guest and host seem to want to focus on the stock more than the rocks, be wary.

Viewers aren’t interested in a corporate presentation delivery, they can easily find that on the websites. I think viewers prefer to see company leaders fielding questions from a host in a conversational way. People are conditioned to look at people speaking, it helps give nuance and gauge reactions that help investors get the message.

Another failure I see is when executives of public companies try to time their interviews or content creation around news events. As an investor, I want to know what a company is working on and their value proposition well before news is out. It gives me time to do my homework. Then I want to hear a deeper dive into the news when it is made.

As a content creator, you would be surprised how often I get the message when talking to management of a company in an email or over the phone and they say things like well we aren’t doing any marketing now. I think to myself that they don’t get that they always need to be marketing. It is the only way to keep a company top of mind for investors.

Another message I get is we are waiting for news. This always raises a red flag for me because it tells me that they want to tell their story when they think it is best for promotional purposes. Again, that is not the way to keep their company on the top of mind with investors and especially keep them well informed.

It also tells me that they want to use my audience solely for their promotional wants. I want my audience to know what they are working on and why before the news of results comes out. As it gives them a chance to get in prior to news. When the news comes out, I love to do interviews so that my audience can assess whether or not they made a good investment decision.

I’m very protective of my audience, I don’t want them to be used to create hype around news. Some may wonder why I will cover a company in a written report or in an interview but then don’t cover them much afterward. It is always because when I try to arrange follow up content, I either hear a message that makes me concerned, or sometimes they don’t even respond to my emails.

I always do the first interview for no charge, then monitor the views and engagement, plus watch the volume and stock action after the initial interviews. If I see the signals that the company resonates with my audience I will offer them a chance to become a sponsor. This gives me the opportunity to give them the full meal deal, with a series of reports and interviews. 

Here is some inside baseball, when you ask a content creator about their engagement stats, it is a red flag if they answer with the viewer counts. A key focus when it comes to content creation are engagement metrics. The backend engagement stats at YouTube are much more important than viewer numbers. 

Sometimes I’m approached by other content creators to create content together. I ask them about their backend metrics, it shocks me when I get answers that tell me that they either don’t look at them or they are poor and don’t want to tell me.

When it comes to YouTube videos the headline numbers are the views, while the engagement statistics are the much more important details to pay attention to. Views cheap to buy, but that is just fluff for views. It is the backend engagement numbers that are the ones to pay attention to. 

When viewers are bought to pump up the viewer count using cheap bot farms, it can be seen in the backend numbers. The common result for paid views, can be seen in the backend statistics. Those viewers will click play and then leave within seconds. 

Let’s face it, the investment community for miners is very small. When videos have a hundred thousand or more views, they are almost always paying for the viewers and getting a ton of views from bot farms clicking play and leaving within seconds.

The goal is to find engaged viewers of investors in mining stocks that are genuinely interested in the company being discussed. 

I know this subject very well because I have done hundreds of interviews and follow the backend statistics on YouTube closely. I do long form interviews that get reasonable to relatively high view counts. I don’t buy views because it just messes up my backend statistics. 

What I see in the backend is that the viewers watch for 30% to over 60% with average around 40%. This crucially important statistic is affected by the quality of a company’s story and the talents of their management to tell their story in an engaging way.

When I talk to executives of mining companies I compare it to an in-person mining conference. Most companies at a mining conference will be lucky if they can speak to a hundred or so engaged investors in mining stocks and keep their attention for 10 minutes.

For that, they pay a lot of money to attend as they need to send their people to the conference on planes, put them up in hotels and go to expensive restaurants to eat and drink while schmoozing, plus pay for the fee to exhibit at the conference. 

I have attended many mining conferences, both as a consultant to exhibiting companies and as an individual reporter on the sector. At the PDAC in March, 2024, I attended as a reporter on the sector walking the floor of the conference to chat with mining company executives.

I flew from Mexico, stayed at a modestly priced hotel that was around a 30-minute cab ride from the conference, ate at moderately priced restaurants, and paid a modest price to attend. My cost was well over C$5,000. Consider that the exhibitors costs are much higher and can easily be well over C$20,000. 

My business model is to have companies sponsor my work. For less than they pay for one conference, I can deliver multiple interviews that give them much higher numbers of engaged mining stock investors that listen to their story for longer than they can keep the attention of the average investor at a mining conference.

At mining conferences there are hundreds of companies and thousands of investors. Those investors are often distracted. While watching an interview from the comfort of their own office or from their phone, they are much less distracted and can easily watch, and do, for 10-20 minutes of a long form interview. 

The ratio of costs compared to engaged mining stock investor attention is much better in an interview at Rocks And Stocks News than at an in-person mining conference. It isn’t even close when you consider that a mining conference is a one-time thing, while my sponsors get multiple interviews.

There is a term in video marketing concerning sit back viewers. YouTube’s success is predicated on sit back viewers who are at their computer or on their phone. They can sit back and enjoy a coffee while watching. This is much different than the actions an investor has to go through to attend a mining conference and walk the floor to research exhibitors.

Rocks And Stocks News is certainly not the only company that does online interviews. Some better than others. My point is that mining company executives should be using them more to tell their stories to engaged mining stock investors. If they aren’t committed to this, be careful. It tells investors that they are stuck in the Fax Machine Era and not involved as much as they should be in the modern Digital Marketing Era.

Video interviews are a chance to do more effective marketing than a mining conference, to investors in mining stocks, while the host, guest and viewers are at their own desks with a push of a button.

All the best,

Allan Barry Laboucan

Disclosure

Rocks And Stocks News does not make buying or selling recommendations. The reports are for information purposes only. Sponsors pay a fee to Rocks And Stocks News for content creation. The business model of Rocks And Stocks News is to fund research and reporting on the sector, picks and sponsors through corporate sponsorship. We are thankful to sponsors for enabling commentary free of charge to readers and viewers of the reports. When reporting on sponsors it is on behalf of the sponsors discussed in the portion of the report mentioning the sponsor. Before making any investment decision it is important for you to speak with your financial advisors to consider your risk profile. It is also important to do your homework. To help in that process, Rocks And Stocks News means to be a gateway by doing reports and interviews of management of sponsors and picks. The reports and interviews should not be considered investment advice. Allan Barry Laboucan is the founder and owner of Rocks And Stocks News, he has worked in the mining sector since 1993 and has been reporting on the sector since 2005. He has worked with and been mentored by very talented geoscientists in geology, geochemistry and geophysics. He uses the skills he has picked up during his career to assess sponsors and picks in the reports. Whether a company is a pick or a sponsor they go through the same filter and are reported on when important news is made that Allan Barry Laboucan wants to discuss on the Rocks And Stocks News platform. He may own shares in sponsors and picks for investment purposes which he discloses when discussing them in the reports.