the smart social report v6 - linkedin marketing strategy, marketing on medium.com, government social...

The Smart Social Report: Volume Six 1

Report: Volume Six

The


Throughout the summer, our Research & Insights team has continued to look for new trends across the social media industry. We see this space continue to mature every day at Spredfast, but we know the evolution isn’t anywhere near complete. This report confirms this intuition—and as we continue to check in on the state of social, our excitement only continues to grow.

In our sixth Smart Social report, we’ve tracked second-quarter performance of the 50 major brands that make up our State of Social Study. We took a comprehensive look at how government agencies leverage social to get their messages out, used popular hashtag #NowPlaying to get a glimpse of how music fans express their loyalties, checked in with Medium to see what brands are doing best on their platform, and reviewed the performance of our State of Social brands on LinkedIn.

At Spredfast, we connect every company with the people they care about most. Our smart social software takes you to the intersection of decision-making and data. It’s our hope that this report helps you pave your own roads and make your own rules—if only so that you can veer from and break them.

"As we continue to check in on the state of social, our excitement only continues to grow."

| Jim Rudden | CMO, Spredfast


What's Inside:

Brands & Consumers

What Marketers Need to Know About Medium

24

45

Building Relevance

The Data Behind LinkedIn Best Practices

33Fan Activation

#NowPlaying on Twitter

14Content & Community

Government on Social

The State of Social

A Survey of 50 Brands Across 10 Verticals

04


The State of Social is our quarterly check-in with 50 of

the top brands in the world and their sophistication

across the major social properties. We dive into posting

patterns, audience size, response to each brand’s

messaging, and complexity of content to find industry-

leading brands that all marketers can learn from.

This quarter we saw media, sports, and retail all

maintain their positions as leading industries. What

did they do the keep their top spots and where did they

outperform their peers?

Let’s dive into the data.


Audience size: followers, likes, etc.

Consistency of response: time to respond to inbound communication

Post frequency

Use of rich media: images, GIFs, video

Audience engagement: comments, likes, shares, favorites on posted comments

Methodology

We looked at 50 leading brands in 10 different industries to gauge their maturity across eight of the leading social networks. Brands were measured at the end of June 2016, and will continue to be measured on a quarterly basis to chart growth and sophistication over time.

To evaluate social sophistication, we use a combination of the following metrics, depending on which metrics are available publicly for individual networks:

50Leading Brands

10Different Verticals

8Social

Networks

1: Sports, media, and retail continue to be the top three verticals pushing the envelope on social media across a diverse set of channels.

2: LinkedIn was the channel that saw the highest bump in social sophistication, with brands like Gap increasing their average engagement per post by 20% over last quarter.

3: Brands are sharing more content than ever on social, with our panel creating 22% more posts on Facebook and 26% more Tweets in Q2 2016 vs. Q1 2016.

Key Takeaways

The State of Social


BBC

The BBC owed much of its social increase to Tumblr efforts, where its BBC Radio 1 microblog earned a top-three spot for engagement across all brands in our study.

Sony

Sony improved its performance over last quarter largely due to increased engagement on Instagram. Their stylish product photo catalog had 45% more engagement than the average brand we tracked.

Across all 50 of the brands we researched, a few stood out for growth in different areas of social.

Top-Moving Social Brands

7The State of Social


NBA

The NBA earned the highest score on Twitter in our study with a huge audience, aggressive posting patterns, and plenty of images and video to keep their fans engaged.

Victoria's Secret

A mix of a huge number of Facebook page likes—combined with industry-leading video engagement and a large number of posts—helped boost Victoria’s Secret to a top spot this quarter.

8The State of Social


• When looking at a vertical-to-vertical comparison, sports had the highest maturity scores on Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.

• Many of the sports leagues in our study also won individual honors across social channels. The NBA was the top account on Twitter, MLB was the top Instagram account, and the NFL scored second-highest on Pinterest.

While sports saw a lower overall maturity score versus its own performance last quarter, it still remained in the top spot in our study with a dominant showing across a variety of social channels and measures. Sports also scored highest in our last study (Q1 2016) and kept that spot secure with a number of big wins:

Based on data from Q2 2016, sports, media, and retail had the most sophistication across all channels. Which individual brands in each vertical improved most and what strategies can we learn from them?

Top Verticals for Social Maturity

1. Sports

Q2

The State of Social


In the 2nd quarter of 2016 the media brands we track mirrored their strong performance from the 1st quarter. This consistency maintained their second-place position as group of vanguard brands. Highlights from the quarter include:

• Media was the best-performing vertical on Tumblr with Netflix, the BBC, and MTV all tying for the top score on the microblogging platform.

• Three of the top ten brands in our study came from the media vertical: Netflix, MTV, and the BBC.

• Media was the second-most mature vertical on Twitter, where the vertical's aggregate followers make up 35% of total followers in our study, and on Facebook, where its aggregate page Likes make up 23% of all Likes in the study.


2. Media

Q2

The State of Social


• Three of the top six Pinterest scores in our study belonged to retail brands: Target, Victoria’s Secret, and Tesco.

• Retail saw the biggest improvement on LinkedIn over the past three months, taking over sport's title from last quarter.

• Overall, the retail vertical saw the second-highest improvement over last quarter, with Victoria’s Secret and Target bumping up average performance across each network.

Retail continued to show its leadership in social: it was the third-highest vertical in our study for the third consecutive quarter. A number of factors helped push its score higher:


3. Retail

Q2

The State of Social


5

6

7

8

9

10

1

3

2

4

Vertical

Social Maturity by Vertical

* FULL BRAND LIST: BofA, Progressive, Citibank, State Farm, Barclays, Pepsi, Crest, Nescafé, Dove, Cadbury, Target, Coach, Victoria's Secret, Gap, Tesco, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, VW, Audi, Hilton, Hyatt, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, British Airways, MTV, ESPN, ABC, Netflix, BBC, NFL, MLB, NBA, Premier League, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, EA, IBM, GE, VMWare, Siemens, Accenture, Verizon, AT&T, BT, Orange, T-Mobile

Q2

The State of Social


1. British Airways was the most-improved brand on Facebook this quarter. They posted 42% more frequently and their video content had 81% more engagement than the average for our study.

2. On LinkedIn, Verizon made the largest gains of any brand, improving their engagement rate by 20% and increasing their total audience by 5%.

3. Samsung added over 58 million views to their YouTube channel—a 21% increase. This helped them improve the most of any brand on the network.

4. Brand sophistication improved on Facebook more than any other network this quarter.

5. Of the B2B brands we tracked, IBM was the most advanced on social. This achievement was powered by high engagement rates on Tumblr, Twitter and Pinterest.

6. Volkswagen improved the most on Instagram of any automotive brand tracked. They were able to increase their follower base by 7% during the quarter.

7. CPG, driven by Dove, had the largest improvement on YouTube of any vertical. Dove was able to increase their views per day by 47,000% with their #MyBeautyMySay campaign.

8. Bank of America was on top of the financial services/insurance category this quarter. They beat out the others in their vertical with best-in-industry performance on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

State of Social Takeaways


Content & Community:



Your tax dollars on social

Over the past few years, social media has managed to work

its way into just about every aspect of our lives. Whether

we're saying hi to a friend or to a brand we love, social has

opened avenues of communication that prior generations

never imagined. Even government agencies can speak to the

citizens across the globe who depend on and work with

them every day.

All over the planet, governments use social channels to power

one-to-many communication, respond quickly to questions

from citizens, and add utility to our daily lives. What are

some of the brightest stars in the sky of government social

media accounts? How can marketers glean insight from what

works for state-run accounts—from different corners of the

world—and then turn that insight into action?


The Data

Number of Government Social Accounts by CountryWe looked at a combination of posts across a few major social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Youtube, Pinterest) and government accounts from a number of countries (USA, Germany, France, UK, Canada, Australia) to find over-performing government accounts that all marketers can learn from. Overall, we looked at close to 1 million posts from over 10,000 different government accounts to surface the leaders.

The United States has more social accounts for its different government entities than any other country by a wide margin.

With a diverse set of social properties—from the National Park Service to the IRS to an account for every US embassy abroad—the United States government creates more social content than any other country in our study.

0

400

800

1200

1600

Canada Germany UK USAFrance

US Government Accounts by Social Channel:

Facebook Pinterest

Twitter LinkedIn

YouTube GithubInstagram Other

Flickr TumblrGoogle+



How Do Governments Communicate on Social?

Top Brands vs. Government Facebook Posting

Government accounts are far more likely to post text-only messaging (by a margin of 527%), while brands hardly ever let a social post go live without some form of media attached. Not surprisingly, brands use a good amount more video to showcase their messaging (government accounts post 67% less rich media than our brand list), but government accounts are more likely to post photos and links.

0

20%

10%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Photo Link Video Text-Only Event

Brand

Government


How do government social media accounts compare to some of the top brands in the world? When we compare government social usage patterns to the brands in our State of Social analysis, we can see some similarities and some stark differences.


GERMANY: Germany’s Latin America Page

UK: The Met Office (Weather & Climate)

USA: The White House

USA: NASA

UK: The British Monarchy

Canada: The Canadian Space Agency

Posting content that feels more consumer-facing than public sector invites positive engagement from the audience.

Showcasing extreme weather events and news gets the audience reacting.

Tying content back to current events to add a new lens to the discussion.

Highlighting content that is sure to thrill the audience.

A collection of behind-the-scenes photos that transport the viewer into daily life, both inside and outside the Beltway.

Photos of life inside the Royal Family gives a unique platform to showcase the human side of growing up under the spotlight.

Top Government Accounts: Facebook

Loves: On Facebook, the Love Reaction gives users a way to express their extreme agreement with or passion for a subject matter. A few government social properties are feeling the largest amount of Love.

Facebook Reactions allow users to chime in with a bit more emotion than the typical Like. In past reports, we’ve seen different patterns for Reactions with sports teams, comedians, and brands. Which government accounts from across the globe are getting a Reaction out of their audience?

Wows: Jaw-dropping content doesn’t just come from brands. Here are some government agencies leveraging science and tech to amaze their audience.



FRANCE: Central Government Page

USA: The Turkish Voice of America Channel

USA: Know the Real Cost (Tobacco Awareness)

GERMANY: The German Cabinet Page

CANADA: Royal Canadian Mounted Police

UK: 10 Downing Street

Hahas: People tend to use the Haha Reaction less with government accounts, but here are three Facebook pages driving the most laughs from their audiences.

Angrys: Government policies and decisions can elicit passionate responses from audiences, both foreign and domestic.


HaHas don’t just always appear for funny topics, they can also be seen as a positive reaction to good news.

By bringing amusing content to a serious issue.

Humanizing their organization through outreach and humor.

Why are these posts driving Angry Reactions?: Highlighting controversial issues may reflect the truth on the ground, but could divide the crowd. Politics will always bring a collection of different responses, but Reactions allow citizens to voice their opinions and be heard.


Top Government Accounts: Instagram

Instagram has been gaining steam as a top destination for government agencies to showcase the visual side of their worlds. We mined some of the top government accounts based on followers, content creation volume, and audience engagement to find must-follow government accounts you may have never heard of.

The TSA: With close to half a million followers, the TSA has grown into a cult social media favorite, posting pictures of seized items (everything from throwing stars to hidden weapons to loaded pistols), K9 members of their team, and answers to questions from travelers.

State of Israel: Israel’s official Instagram channel gets better engagement than most brands (over 6% of their audience will comment or like a typical post) by sharing content that includes profiles of local heroes, vacation information, and national culture.

Australia: Tourism Australia has one of the most frequent posting patterns of any government agency, and the content sees an impressive engagement rate. Photos mainly focused on local tourist destinations and scenic landscapes are some of the top-performing pieces of content and not only draw more followers than top accounts like Ford and the Green Bay Packers, but also higher average engagement.



Top Government Accounts: TwitterThere are many government agencies taking advantage of the real-time nature of Twitter in some very creative and distinct ways. The content created is as diverse as the countries it comes from:

• In the US, most Twitter content comes from transportation and communication groups (Amtrak, Voice of America, and the Smithsonian).

• In Australia, human services and state-owned media companies do a lot of the Tweeting.

• In the UK, there’s a large amount of content created by college admission services, answering questions from prospective students.

• In Canada, they are all about bots. Bots regularly Tweet out border wait times to commuters and travelers.


Government accounts don’t just create one-to-many content; they also respond one-to-one to answer direct questions on social media. In fact, government accounts act remarkably like brands in terms of response volumes.

In a past Smart Social Report, we reported that 93% of Twitter content created by major brands takes the form of replies; for government agencies, that number is 89%.

How do different countries approach 1:1?

• US Embassies use Twitter to quickly answer questions from locals and travelers alike.

• French and German government agencies did not respond at anywhere close to the volume seen in other countries, with the top French account at just 49% responses, and the top German account (the German Embassy in Cambodia) at 28%.

20%0

AUS Electoral

US Embassy VE

Amtrack

UK Driver Vehicle

FAFSA

UK_CAA

YosemiteNPS

AUS Border Patrol

PassportCAN

Centrelink

USinUKCGcorner

40% 60% 100%80%

Top Government Social Accounts for Twitter Replies



Not only are governments active on social channels, in some cases they are actually beating brands at engaging their audience. What can smart social marketers do to leverage the best of government social accounts?

What can social teams learn from government successes?


Explore Various Use Cases for the Value of Social Social media can be used for a wide array of purposes by a variety of organizations. The engagement that many government accounts enjoy shows that brands need not confine themselves to just one or two limited use cases. Make sure you’re leveraging social channels in many different ways to get all you can out of the platforms, including brand awareness, one-to-one communication, real-time information availability, and even Wowing your audience from time to time.

Give Your Audience an Outlet

While it’s a given that angry reactions to posts aren’t normally what social teams are looking for, they do allow the audience to vent frustrations and voice their issues—and sometimes even have them answered. Don’t be afraid of giving your audience a way to point out what could be better.

Look Everywhere for Inspiration Sometimes, marketers can find hidden gems that give them an advantage. Whether it’s a new way of looking at a problem or a fresh perspective on content, we should always be seeking new sources of input and digging for creative uses of platforms from all over the world. Never stop being open to the inspiration of possibility.

1.

2.

3.


Brands & Consumers:



Getting the maximum out of Medium

Medium, the blogging platform founded by Evan Williams in

2012, was created to share quality writing from new sources and

connect content with people all over the globe. In four years,

Medium’s popularity has grown with dedicated audiences, and

its evolution has made it more relevant than ever.

However, four years in, brands are still mostly absent from the

content-sharing platform.

Is now the time to jump in? And if so, how can data provide

brands with a good starting point from which to build out their

Medium strategy?


We collected over 2 million Tweets sharing Medium content from the past year, and explored the data behind the most-shared content. We pulled topics, accounts, language, and engagement for the top content across the platform to find patterns that marketers can learn from.

More People are Sharing Medium Content Every Day

Let’s start by taking a look at the numbers behind Medium to show why marketers should be paying attention as the network matures.

The Data

The Momentum of Medium

Medium Content Shared on Twitter

0

1.2

1.4

.6

.4

.2

1.6

1.8

.8

1

Tw

eet

Volu

me

(Mil

lion

s)

Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Q1 2016 Q2 2016

By mining Tweets that include links back to Medium, we can see that the sharing of Medium content has been steadily rising over the past year. Not only are the number of links growing, but the unique users sharing Medium content are rising as well.

Users

Posts



New technologies and social destinations tend to take fire with certain demographics, and then grow into a more diverse set of users. Medium, which began as a platform dominated by young men, is already showing the early stages of growing into a more diverse network.

Each quarter over the past year, more and more women shared links from the network, with the percentage of Medium content shared by women up by 50% in the past year (growing from 20% to 30% of the total share).

In addition to gender shifts, the dominant age group (18-24) also shifted each quarter. Younger demographics have grown on Medium, with content creators aged 13-17—Generation Z—almost doubling their share of link sharing in the past year. Older age groups are also growing, with content from 25-34 year-olds up almost 50% in the past year. These moves give the network a better balance with the general population.

A More Diverse Audience is Sharing Medium Content

0%

0%

Q3 2015

Q3 2015

Q4 2015

Q4 2015

Q1 2016

Q1 2016

Q2 2016

Q2 2016

60%

60%

20%

20%

80%

80%

40%

40%

100%

100%

Medium Link Sharing on Twitter by Gender

Medium Link Sharing on Twitter by Age

Male

55+

25-34

13-17

Female

35-34

18-24



During the time of this study, the most-shared content from Medium was about politics, the startup world, design, and lessons on leading a rich, full life. The site’s content has its roots in technology, but gives enough range for brands to potentially create content around many different topics. Politics is a relatively new topic, showing that the network is still morphing alongside its content categories.

5000

Life/Life Lessons

Politics

Startup

Design

None

Education

Social Media

User Experience

Java Script

Music

Tech/Technology

Entrepreneurship

1000 1500 2000 2500

A key differentiator for Medium is its embrace of tagging. Users tag their own posts, but then Medium takes the categorization a step further by finding additional tags via proprietary algorithms. This allows the network to more effectively recommend associated tags, placing a wider distribution of content before the right audience.

The Big Medium Topics Include Politics, Tech, and Lifestyle

Medium Link Sharing on Twitter by Tag


Tech news and opinion

Photos and stories

Space

General topics

Top Medium stories

Self-help

Life, tech, and business

Sports satire

Startup news

Music

The race for dominance on Medium is still in its early days. No single creator on the channel is responsible for more than 1% of content shared, which underscores the huge opportunity for new entrants (both authors and categories) in the space.

Top Topics and Channels on Medium



While the majority of writing on Medium is created by individuals, a few brands have begun to embrace the platform. Some of the best executions blend together a corporate agenda with sharable, inspiring content.

Learn From the Best: Top Brands on Medium

Get Inspirational

General Electric’s most popular Medium posts inspire their audience. Stories that performed well for the brand included write-ups by young scientists trying to cure cancer, GE employees pushing the envelope of innovation, and examples of the brand working in nontraditional ways.

Every Medium article includes a unique piece of data: how long the content takes to read. After mining the most-shared 25 thousand posts, we can see that most of the content being shared is longer than a typical social media post, but on the shorter side in Medium’s world. Top content comes in at an average of 5.8 minutes of reading time, and 75% of the top content shared across Twitter was under eight minutes in length.

The Medium Audience Shares Content that is Easy to Digest



Be True to Your Brand

REI inspires their audience by flying their cultural flag on Medium and regularly providing context on where the brand is heading. This was perhaps best exemplified by their Opt Outside campaign, where they used Medium to explain why they were closing their doors on the nation’s biggest retail day, to encourage their audience to explore the world around them.

Face the Issues Head On

Many of the most shared posts from Starbucks don’t focus on their products, but instead on what they believe as a business. Posts on racial diversity and other social issues help set Starbucks apart, sparking important conversations around complex issues that would be impossible to cover on shorter-form channels.



Time and time again, marketers have been burned by jumping too quickly onto the next big thing, only to watch it fade away. But what we’re seeing with Medium’s growth and differentiation makes the network a viable candidate for increased attention from marketers. So what’s the best way for a brand to jump in on Medium?

Finding Your Medium


Pick Your BattlesContent on Medium tends to skew towards technology, entertainment, and sports. Find the right stories to tell on the platform and then over-deliver with polish—as we’ve seen, Medium users expect quality content. In addition, Medium’s algorithms reward content that has been engaged with, and share it out more frequently to people following those topic areas.

Mix Organic and Paid to Find the Right FitMedium now offers a mix of paid options, including paid ad placement at the end of stories and longer-term campaigns for display ads. Test targeting your messages with certain crowds before diving into a full organic strategy to make sure your brand is a fit with the current landscape.

Educate, Don’t SellThe form and function of Medium content should be thought of as a natural platform for brand building, not transaction-provoking. Make sure your content is designed to educate the audience on brand promises and future innovation, not to ask for a sale in the short term.

1.

2.

3.


Fan Activation:



How to Leverage an Endless Playlist

Most data sources come in waves: a new report on consumer

behavior, weekly polls for an upcoming election, or a batch

of survey results fresh off the press. But social media data

is different—it’s available as a constant stream of opinion,

an always-on source from millions and millions of data

points. With this level of volume and real-time access, social

data provides views of our world not available anywhere

else, especially for the topics being discussed at any given

minute, every day.

A great example of this is music sharing on Twitter. Music is

a huge topic of conversation on the social network, and not

only are fans talking about the newest release and tweeting

at their idols in hopes of a response, they’re also keeping

others updated with their listening habits, song by song.

What can we learn when we mine the music sharing patterns

on Twitter? What insights are hiding underneath the massive

wave of sharing that’s sweeping social?


Volume of #NowPlaying vs. #NP Tweets

0Aug.

15Oct.

15Dec.

15Feb.

16Jun.

16Sep.

15Nov.

15Jan.

16May.

16Jul. 16

Apr. 16

Mar. 16

2

4

6

8

10

We mined the Twitter firehose over the past twelve months to find all mentions of streaming music from all different sources. We focused on two of the biggest hashtags used for sharing, #NowPlaying and #NP, ending up with over 150 million pieces of content to analyze.

Both #NowPlaying and #NP show a steady stream of conversation over the past year, and in huge numbers, with #NowPlaying beginning to edge up in the past six months. Combined, the two hashtags see more mentions than many social media favorites, including dogs/puppies (13% higher), cats/kittens (53% higher), and Justin Bieber himself (10% higher.)

Twee

t Vo

lum

e (M

illi

ons)

#NowPlaying

#NP


Social Reveals Artist Popularity and Music Trends

Social Music Sharing for Top Billboard Artists

0

2

1

3

4

5

6

7

By checking a list of some of the top artists in the world, we can see how sharing habits for their music ebb and flow over time.

Spikes occur when new albums are dropped (like Beyonce’s Lemonade), and when popular remixes appear (like a SoundCloud remix for Drake’s “4PM in Calabasas”, which was later removed.)

Twee

t Vo

lum

e (T

hous

ands

)

Jun. 16May. 16Apr. 16

AdeleLemonade

4PM in Calabasa Remix

Kendrick Lamar

Rihanna

Drake

2Chainz

Hamilton Soundtrack

Beyonce



Social Music Sharing Trends by Genre

0%

0.4%

0.2%

0.6%

0.8%

1.0%

1.2%

In addition to individual artists, hashtags in social music sharing (like #indie and #hiphop) can also show music genres that are getting hot, and others that are starting to fade from popularity. While less than 2% of #NowPlaying and #NP Tweets include these classifications, the raw number (over 250 thousand per month) still provides a good view into music trends. What genres are getting the most digital spins (aka shares)?

We can see that over the past twelve months, a number of music categories (#rock, #dance, #edm, #pop, and #80s) have been on the rise, while #indie and #hiphop music have seen a sharp decline in sharing. Who, exactly, has stopped sharing #hiphop music?

When we look at the year-over-year demographics for #hiphop usage on Twitter, we can see that certain age groups may have moved on to different music. While men 13-17 shared more tracks from the genre, both men and women 18-24 saw reduced #NowPlaying chatter around #hiphop.

Aug. 15 Oct. 15 Dec. 15 Feb. 16 Jun. 16Apr. 16

#80's

#pop

#dance

#indie

#rock

#hiphop

#edm



To dive deeper into the social music scene, let’s take a look at a few of the platforms that are helping to generate this content. We’ll focus on the two biggest sources: Spotify and SoundCloud.

Both applications have a few things in common when it comes to social sharing:

ON DECK: What can social data tell us about how Spotify and SoundCloud each approach the marketplace?

1. Each allow users to easily share music tastes directly from their interfaces.

2. Each uses different, non-branded hashtags (Spotify uses #NowPlaying, SoundCloud uses #NP) in the default sharing text.

Who’s following both Spotify and SoundCloud on Twitter? By mining Twitter profiles at the intersection between the two groups, we can quickly see that the main audience following both (over 100 thousand Twitter users) isn’t just consuming music: they’re also creating it.

Different Music Platforms, Different Approaches

Spotify Followers

SoundCloud Followers

Top Profile Terms:1. singer songwriter2. #music3. record label4. recording artist5. #edm


Spotify

Spotify embeds the #NowPlaying hashtag by default. Mining the Spotify data for top artists shared therefore yields a list of mainstream artists dominating the top ranks.


Not only are the popular artists on Spotify made up of household names, the top artists also command a large portion of the overall shares. The top artist (B-Brave) saw over 6% of social shares during the time of our analysis.

SoundCloud’s top artists show two main differences from Spotify: first, the artists are less likely to be known by the average music fan and second, the diverse collection of artists gives SoundCloud a much longer tail of top results. The top artist on SoundCloud (@YungswaggHB) saw only 0.27% of social shares, which wouldn’t even make the Spotify top ten list.

Top Spotify Artists: Percent of Social Shares

Top SoundCloud Artists: Percent of Social Shares

0%

0%

Fifth Harmony

DMargs G.

Ariana Grande

B.C.

Drake

Mosart Records

Dulce Marla

BTS

B-Brave

@Yung-swaggHB

One Direction

Abeeran Gukarja

Lali

B6Pushaz-InkBrow

Radiohead

Mack Benton

Coldplay

Mike Luch

Rihanna

Beau'Red

2%

0.08%

4%

0.15%

6%

0.23%

0.30%

8%

However, there’s a very different story over on the SoundCloud side.



SoundCloud

SoundCloud includes #NP as its default “now playing” Twitter hashtag. The abbreviation may not make as much sense as Spotify’s approach to common Twitter users, but it saves more space for artist information and user commentary.

ON DECK: How are the two hashtag strategies playing out for each application?

41#NowPlaying on Twitter


Share of #NowPlaying Conversation

Share of #NP Conversation

0

0

4%

8%

10%

20%

12%

30%

40%

16%

50%

20%

60%

While Spotify’s #NowPlaying default gets more than 2X the monthly mentions vs. #NP, Spotify is seeing a much smaller share of the conversation, at 16%.

SoundCloud’s use of #NP gives them over half of the conversation for the hashtag (52%), resulting in more overall chatter than Spotify.

#sound-cloud

#anghami#music#radioSpotify

SoundCloud #music #radio #listen Spotify

#listenlive #listen



Non-Branded vs. Branded Social Sharing

0

40

20

30

10

50

60

70

80

90

Volu

me

(Tho

usna

ds)

Jun. 16May. 16Apr. 16

Average Shares per Active User

When comparing Spotify and SoundCloud's non-branded hashtags to other top social music sharing platforms (Pandora, iHeartRadio, and Slacker) and their branded social calls-to-action (#Pandora, or “I’m listening on @IHeartRadio”), Spotify and SoundCloud rise above.

Of course, all music services have a different sized customer base, but when we look at the rates of social sharing per user (Tweets over 90 days from April - June 2016), the unbranded hashtags and calls to action still come in as the winners, by far.

.000

.020

.010

.015

.005

.025

.030

.035

.040

.045

Twee

ts/U

ser

SlackerPandora iHeartRadioSpotify SoundCloud

Spotify SoundCloud Pandora iHeartRadio Slacker



Unbranded Hashtags can Help your Brand’s Reach:Both Spotify and SoundCloud use hashtags without branding to help their users share their service. This practice trades increased impressions and control over brand messaging for the chance to increase the sharing of content. Find the right balance for your brand.

High-Level Views can Give Us Unique Insight:The amount of social data at the fingertips of marketers has never been greater. Make sure your teams are experimenting with what they can learn by searching for signals inside the noise and looking at trends not just for individual brands, but for entire industries. Multiple Ecosystems and Business Models can Work on Social:Spotify and SoundCloud both take very different approaches to their business models. The data has shown that while Spotify concentrates on well-known artists, SoundCloud has found a niche with a collection of lesser-known artists that still keep audiences tapping their toes and clicking “share.” Social helps both models to spread their message.

Scrolling through your social feed gives you a great, intimate view—small slices of the goings-on of friends, teams, and brands that help make up part of your daily life. The power of social media data in our daily lives allows the simple sharing of a song to turn into global insights for the music industry at scale. Here are a few ways you can learn from what Spotify and SoundCloud are doing on social:

Here Comes the Drop


1.

2.

3.


Brand Relevance:



Your Audience at Work

LinkedIn has been an essential business go-to for

years—evolving from a networking hub to a dominant

social powerhouse for professionals. More than just

a digital resume or a place to search for jobs and post

qualifications, the channel is also where professionals

can catch the latest industry news, get a view into

corporate culture, and read opinion pieces on every

industry thriving today.

Posting content to LinkedIn is a great way to stay

connected with a brand’s professional audience. We

thought we’d examine our State of Social brands—and

their LinkedIn activity—to find which industries are leading

the pack and what the rest of us can learn from them.

We looked at brands from verticals including automotive,

CPG, media, sports, retail, electronics/software, B2B, travel,

telecom, and financial services across the past three

Smart Social Reports since we started tracking LinkedIn.


0

Auto Retail SportsTelecom Travel/ Hospitality

B2B CPG Electronics/Tech

FinServe Media

1.5

3

4.5

6

Average Followers by Industry

When we look at the industry with the largest audience on LinkedIn, B2B has had a consistent edge over the past nine months.

Top Follower Base: B2B(M

illi

ons)

The average number of followers for our five B2B brands is far ahead of the already impressive numbers put up by CPG and Electronics/Technology brands, which boast many accounts with more than 1 million followers.



B2B LinkedIn Like-Boosters

GE shares innovative posts that position the company as one pointed at the future.

The average B2B company has a bigger reach on LinkedIn than on any other channel. Here’s what is working for B2B companies to drive above-average engagement:

7,658%

12,829%

7,658%

More Likes/Followers than average



Siemens shares whitepapers that spread high-level knowledge about their industry.

B2B Driving LinkedIn Conversation

Accenture’s vision for their employee development program saw a great comment-to-follower ratio.

IBM saw a lot of conversation on acquisition news posted on their channel.

VMWare posts technical specs, getting deep into the details with their customer base.

The Data Behind LinkedIn Best PracticesThe Smart Social Report: Volume Six 48


Celebrate Your Corporate History

Brands like Mercedes-Benz and Coach celebrate their rich corpo-rate history through LinkedIn posts, inviting followers to celebrate along with them. The posts saw a great Like-to-follower ratio, and were some of the top-performing in the study.

Breaking News

American Airlines an-nounced a new route from LAX to Haneda, Japan and generated a good amount of pos-itive buzz with their frequent-flier followers.

Shareable Stories

A post about a robot that helps park cars received the highest Like-to-follower ratio in our study, and showed that cool new tech helps make branded content shareable.

But even given the size of their audiences, B2B isn't leading the charge with engagement. When we looked at the top verticals for LinkedIn engagement, a few other verticals rose to the top, including automotive, sports, and hospitality brands. What can we learn from their successes, and what ideas might B2B brands look to leverage to boost their own engagement?

Top LinkedIn Like-Boosters



Top LinkedIn Drivers

Proctor & Gamble Sends Out a Call for New Hires

Everyone knows that LinkedIn is a go-to resource for finding a new job, and when P&G posted about the career opportunities available, their crowd responded.

Ford Shows Momentum, and Their Followers Chime In

Ford posted a slick video of the new plans for their Dearborn campus, and received over 70 comments back congratulating them on their next chapter.

British Airways Asks for Input from the Crowd

When British Airways asked their followers to share their insider tips for visiting Los Angeles their followers were more than happy to comment.



Unilever, the parent company for Dove, has one of the largest LinkedIn followings of the brands in our study. In addition to building out pages about their culture, jobs, and innovation, they also post content from employees across the company using LinkedIn's Pulse capabilities.

Taking Your LinkedIn Brand Presence to the Next Level

These posts received a great response from their audience, with some receiving more comments than 93% of the LinkedIn content across our State of Social Brands.

The Data Behind LinkedIn Best PracticesThe Smart Social Report: Volume Six 51


0%

Auto RetailSports Telecom Travel/ Hospitality

B2BCPG Electronics/Tech

FinServeMedia

4%

8%

12%

16%

LinkedIn Follower Growth, Past 6 Months

Of any vertical in our study, sports leagues are seeing the fastest growth on LinkedIn over the past six months.

LinkedIn Standout: Sports

While followers are flocking to sports brands on LinkedIn, there is still a huge opportunity for the vertical to create additional content, as the leagues are on the lower end of the list for volume of posts. But when they do post, we’ve seen a great response from their audience. The MLB, for example, has seen high scores in past Smart Social Reports by highlighting off-the-field content.



LinkedIn has grown into an essential network for any modern professional. Brands that use the platform well—by leveraging not only job postings, but also content opportunities—can grow their following and impact brand perception before and beyond the interview stage. To take your brand’s LinkedIn strategy to the next tier, use these data-proven strategies:

Move Up the Corporate Ladder


Drive Engagement, but Also ConversationUsing a data-driven approach to get more Likes is a great way to make sure your brand’s content is hitting the mark with your audience. But content designed to start a conversation can build your brand’s perception in different ways, generating deeper engagement from your community.

Use All the Tools AvailableBrands that push the envelope on LinkedIn—and on any other social network—put themselves in the best position to take advantage of everything the channel has to offer. Make sure your community manager is staying on top of the latest breaking features and beta functionality from different social platforms, and adopt early when it makes sense for you.

Learn from Your Industry, but Look to Others as WellUnderstanding what works for your brand is good. Understanding what’s working across your industry is even better. Learning from successes across every vertical —and seeking out top brands, no matter what they do or sell—is how you can ensure your social efforts are ground-breaking.

1.

2.

3.


Spredfast’s smart social software enables companies to build lasting relationships with today’s digitally connected consumer. Part of that is using social data to make smarter marketing decisions when you plan, execute, and analyze your social efforts.

Spredfast Intelligence provides a searchable lens to historical and real-time insights to better understand your audience, relevant conversations, and your brand’s social performance.

Spredfast is transforming the way companies connect with consumers.

See the brands we work with: