ABS Capital Has Embraced Social Media - Have You?

ABS Capital is a growth equity investment firm with more than $2 billion in capital under management. Unlike many venture capital and private equity firms, it has fully embraced social media and is currently working on a new web site to make it even easier for Internet users to connect with the firm and its portfolio companies.

Stephanie Carter, head of marketing and communications for the firm, spoke today at the PEI Investor Relations and Communications Forum.

Carter said most of her social media efforts have occurred during the past year, after she brought in a 25-year-old intern who worked her way into a full-time job and who is "reverse-mentoring" Carter.

The firm has a Facebook page and encourages its partners to have their own pages. In recognition of the fact that some people research the firm on LinkedIn, Carter has worked with partners to update their LinkedIn profiles even if they themselves don't use the service.

ABS uses Google Analytics to track traffic on its web site, and one of the key discoveries was that most visitors spent only three minutes on their site looking for information about the partners or portfolio companies. So the ABS web site is being redesigned to make it easier to find that information, with less emphasis on developing written content about the firm that few visitors were reading.

ABS is focused on later-stage investing, so it is constantly interested in connecting with company CEOs, senior executives and board members. By being active in social media, Carter said that ABS is telling these people, "wherever you want to meet us, fine."

What's perhaps most remarkable about this case study is that ABS Capital is not using social media because it has a particular interest in Internet companies or social media as an investment. It is using social media because it recognizes that it's a valuable business tool to help it achieve its objectives.