SHARETHIS FINANCE STUDY

1

SHARETHIS SOCIAL INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM

3 MONTHS OF DATA COLLECTION

53 BILLION page views

204 MILLION social signals

32 million finance sharers

120+ social channels

3.1 million sites and apps

2

EVERY MONTH, 32M USERS GENERATE 68M SOCIAL ACTIONS RELATED TO FINANCE

3

LANDSCAPE

0.7M

2.2M

2.2M

13.3M

0.7M

5.2M

0.7M

0.4M

3.5M

3.2M

0.1M

1.2M

0.3M

0.8M

1.1M

6.3M

0.1M

0.3M

0.5M

0.4M

Tax Preparation & Planning

Debit & Checking Services

Savings Accounts

Credit Cards

Debt Management

Loans

Asset & Portfolio Management

Inheritance & Estate Planning

Retirement & Pension

Health Insurance

Home Insurance

Life Insurance

Vehicle Insurance

Brokerages & Day Trading

Commodities & Futures Trading

Currencies & Foreign Exchange

Derivatives

Funds

Real Estate Investment Trusts

Stocks & Bonds

4

THE FINANCE SOCIAL LANDSCAPE

2.5M

10.5M

20.9M

4.8M

12.8M

10.8M

Accounting

Banking Services

Credit & Lending

Financial Planning & Management

Insurance

Investing

SOCIAL ACTIONS PER MONTH:

FACEBOOK LINKEDIN

5

FINANCE TOPICS BY CHANNEL

71%

12%

7% 6%

61% 19%

5%

7%

6%

FINANCE SHARING

OTHER SHARING

TWITTER Trading

Stocks & Bonds Commidities

Funds Investing Futures

Real Estate Taxes

Retirement Insurance

Banking Services Asset Management

Retirement Debt Management

Tax Planning Trading

Portfolio Management Real Estate

The Twitter feed is the ideal place for socializing news, market updates, and investments.

Facebook and LinkedIn are active forums for financial planning and advice.

(topics ranked in order of social volume)

27%

57%

16% 29%

36%

35%

6

FINANCE TOPICS BY DEVICE

DESKTOP TABLET

SMARTPHONE Stocks & Bonds

Trading Portfolio Management

Insurance Derivatives

Portfolio Management Real Estate

Trading Banking Services Estate Planning

Accounting

Credit & Lending Insurance Retirement Retirement Accounting

Taxes

People are twice as likely to use tablets to share about finance.

Smartphones and tablets are mostly used to share about investments and keep up with market news.

FINANCE SHARING

OTHER SHARING

(topics ranked in order of social volume)

7

TRENDS

1-Jan 1-Feb 1-Mar 1-Apr 1-May 1-Jun 1-Jul 1-Aug 1-Sep 1-Oct 1-Nov 1-Dec

New Years: Savings & W2 Market

Volatility

8

SEASONALITY

Finance social activity spikes around key time periods: tax season, New Years, key

quarterly earnings reports, and periods of stock market volatility

Tax Season

Holiday Spend Activity

9

WEEKLY CYCLICALITY Su

n

Tue

s Th

urs

Sa

t M

on

W

ed

Fr

i Su

n

Tue

Th

u

Sat

Mo

n

We

d

Fri

Sun

Tu

e

Thu

Sa

t M

on

W

ed

Fr

i Su

n

Tue

Th

u

Sat

Mo

n

We

d

Fri

Sun

Tu

e

Thu

Sa

t M

on

W

ed

Fr

i Su

n

Tue

Th

u

Sat

Mo

n

We

d

Fri

Sun

Tu

e

Thu

Sa

t M

on

W

ed

Fr

i

Sunday August 10th

Friday, November 17th

Finance Activity shows a very consistent pattern. Peak activity occurs during the

beginning of the week anywhere between Monday to Wednesday. Activity surrounding

finance drops as the weekend approaches and remains low through Sunday.

10

SHARING MIRRORS MARKET VOLATILITY

13.7

15.6 16.0 16.2 17.2

21.2

24.6

26.3

18.6

21-Sep 25-Sep 29-Sep 3-Oct 7-Oct 11-Oct 15-Oct 19-Oct

CBOE VOLATILITY INDEX (VIX):

FINANCE RELATED SOCIAL ACTIVITY:

Source: FRED economic data, December 2014

11

SHARING MIRRORS MORTGAGE RATES

10-Sep 17-Sep 24-Sep 1-Oct 8-Oct 15-Oct 22-Oct 29-Oct 5-Nov 12-Nov

4.12%

4.23% 4.20% 4.19%

4.12%

3.97% 3.92%

3.98% 4.02% 4.01%

30yr US FIXED RATE MORTGAGE AVERAGE:

Source: FRED economic data, December 2014

REAL ESTATE RELATED SOCIAL ACTIVITY:

12

DAILY FINANCE ACTIVITY

0:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 14:00 16:00 18:00 20:00 22:00 0:00

Sharing Search & Consumption

Personal Investing

Market News

Real Estate

Managed Funds

Stocks

Retirement Planning

Real Estate

Tax Planning

Personal Investing

Retirement Planning

Insurance

Market News

People search and browse more finance content in the mornings, particularly surrounding investments and market activity.

7am - 11am 3pm 7pm

Sharing activity peaks in the evenings, and much of this

activity pertains to longer-term financial planning goals.

13

LIFE STAGES

14

MILLENNIALS AND BOOMERS ARE MOST ACTIVE IN

2.4x

1.3x

1.1x

1.0x

0.9x

0.8x

0.8x

0.8x

0.9x

1.0x

1.4x

1.6x

18-25

26-30

31-35

36-40

41-45

46-50

51-55

56-60

61-65

66-70

71-75

76+

Social Actions Index vs Gen. Pop.

Millennials share about credit cards and investments

Baby Boomers share about retirement and mortgages

15

FINANCE SHARING SKEWS TOWARD BOTH ENDS OF THE INCOME SPECTRUMS

2.38x

3.06x

1.63x 1.35x

1.05x 0.95x 0.74x

0.57x 0.68x 0.95x 0.91x

1.29x 1.60x

4.34x

2.67x

Less than $15k

$15k - $19k

$20k - $29k

$30k - $39k

$40k - $49k

$50k - $59k

$60k - $74k

$75k - $99k

$100k - $124k

$125k - $149k

$150k - $199k

$200k - $249k

$250k - $399k

$400k - $499k

$500k+

Social Actions Index vs Gen. Pop.

16

FINANCE SHARING PATTERNS ARE ALIGNED WITH LIFESTAGES

18 - 23 $15k - $40k

1st Job &

Graduation

20 25 $30k - $60k

Renting 1st

Apartment

25 30 $30k $80k

Student

Loans

28 34 $50k $120k

First Car &

Home

30 39 $100k+

Long Term

Planning

Credit cards (1.3x)

Banking services (1.2x)

Health Insurance (1.2x)

Debt Management (1.2x)

Banking Services (1.2x)

Investing (1.1x)

Credit & Lending (1.4x)

Home Insurance (1.3x)

Investing (1.2x)

Loans (1.3x)

Car Insurance (1.2x)

Home Insurance (1.2)

Estate Planning (1.4x)

Retirement Planning (1.4x)

Portfolio Management (1.3x)

FINANCE TOPICS BY AGE AND LIFESTAGE Topics indexed vs general population

17

1ST JOB/GRADUATION SEASONAL SOCIAL ACTIVITY

P18-25 LOOKING FOR THEIR FIRST JOB AFTER COLLEGE

Social activity around job searching during students 2nd semester (Mar) and when they begin their new job at the the end of the summer.

1-Oct 1-Nov 1-Dec 1-Jan 1-Feb 1-Mar 1-Apr 1-May 1-Jun 1-Jul 1-Aug 1-Sep

1-Oct 1-Nov 1-Dec 1-Jan 1-Feb 1-Mar 1-Apr 1-May 1-Jun 1-Jul 1-Aug 1-Sep

18

RENTING 1ST APARTMENT SEASONAL SOCIAL ACTIVITY

P20-25 RENTING THEIR FIRST APARTMENT

Users share content about apartments more frequently at the end of the month and overall activity spikes in the late spring through the summer.

1-Oct 1-Nov 1-Dec 1-Jan 1-Feb 1-Mar 1-Apr 1-May 1-Jun 1-Jul 1-Aug 1-Sep

19

STUDENT LOANS SEASONAL SOCIAL ACTIVITY

P23-28 LOOKING TO PAY OFF STUDENTS LOANS

Social activity around student loans peaks when users apply for financial aid and again 6 months after graduation when they have to start making payments.

1-Oct 1-Nov 1-Dec 1-Jan 1-Feb 1-Mar 1-Apr 1-May 1-Jun 1-Jul 1-Aug 1-Sep

20

CAR & HOME BUYING SEASONAL SOCIAL ACTIVITY

P28 - 34 LOOKING TO BUY THEIR FIRST CAR AND HOME

In-market auto consumers share the most near national holidays and in the Winter and Summer when dealership sales events are more prevalent. Sharing activity around buying a home spikes noticeably in the spring and starts to slow down over the summer.

21

FINANCIAL PLANNING SEASONAL SOCIAL ACTIVITY

P30 - 39 LONG TERM FINANCIAL PLANNING

Sharing activity around estate planning, retirement planning, and portfolio management

remains fairly steady throughout the year, but peaks just before the new year.

1-Oct 1-Nov 1-Dec 1-Jan 1-Feb 1-Mar 1-Apr 1-May 1-Jun 1-Jul 1-Aug 1-Sep

SHARING CAN BE A KEY INDICATOR OF FINANCIAL INTEREST AND INTENT AND IS HUGELY DEPENDENT ON MARKET EVENTS AND LIFE STAGE

23

TAKEAWAYS & IMPLICATIONS

Finance is a social but nuanced topic, encompassing several dozen key conversations occurring across various channels and devices. Pay close attention to the social patterns of your consumers and

align your targeting strategies accordingly.

SOCIAL LANDSCAPE

Finance social activity displays noticeable seasonal trends around key economic trends. Monitor these trends and automate media

delivery to ensure your messaging reaches users at the peak engagement.

TRENDS & SEASONALITY

Millennials are a rapidly growing and highly engaged audience for finance. But its not enough to target their age group; align your

messaging strategies with their priorities and lifestages.

DEMOGRAPHICS & LIFESTAGE

Use social signals to determine where and when to spend media dollars

SOCIAL DATA IS A VALUABLE TOOL TO REACH FINANCE INTENDERS

Use social data to identify users who shared relevant finance content.

IDENTIFY

TARGET Align messaging with interests and lifestage and deliver media to

contextually relevant content.

OPTIMIZE

Heavy-up deployment around key events to drive conversion when

conversations are abuzz

Monitor sharing trends in real time and capitalize on user intent as quickly as

possible throughout the purchase funnel