The Key to Partnership & Influencer Success: Identifying The Metrics That Matter
Influencers, ad partners, and creators. Third party partners play an increasingly crucial role when it comes to introducing your brand to new audiences. Because these partnerships can be so impactful, finding the perfect match and identifying the appropriate KPI’s requires strategy.
If your brand is investing in marketing partnerships, watch ListenFirst experts Meghan Cahill, SVP of Client Experience, and Devin Carroll, Director of Revenue Strategy, for this on-demand webinar. Meghan and Devin will show you how to leverage the relevant data points and track meaningful metrics when marketing with third-party brands.
4 Insights You Need To Know About Video Length On Social Media
In theory, the answer to how long your brand’s video content should be on social media should always be the shorter, the better. For example, a 2015 Microsoft study found the average adult attention span is only 8 seconds, while TikTok has exploded in popularity, with 1 billion active global users, in large part because they placed tight limitations on how long videos can be.
However, digging into the data, it’s clear that optimal video length is far more situational than just making the blanket statement that less is more. Not every piece of video is just an “average” level of interest to the audience, and not all ideas can be best communicated in just 8 seconds. Here are the top 4 insights marketers need to know about video length on social media.
Insight #1: Optimal Video Length Varies By Social Platform
Each social media platform has its own culture, and it would be a mistake to assume that the right video length for brand content would be the same across multiple audiences. For instance, looking at the 10 best performing video posts for episodic TV shows between January – August 2021; their average video length was 47 seconds long on TikTok, 1:20 minutes on Twitter, 4:17 minutes on Facebook, and 4:11 minutes on YouTube.
Nickelodeon’s top performing video so far in 2021 has been a 16 second clip, where Charli D’Amelio got slimed. That video got nearly 9.4 million responses on TikTok. When that footage was shared on YouTube, it included more build up to the slimming and was expanded to 1:05 minutes, receiving an additional 22,545 responses. Since the audience goes on YouTube expecting longer videos compared to TikTok, the additional time made sense.
While the average length of top performing TikTok videos was 47 seconds for TV shows, between January – August 2021 the average length for the 10 best performing video posts for CPG Food on TikTok was 13 seconds long. The best performing CPG Food TikTok video was a Ben and Jerry’s clip about trying to scoop into frozen solid ice cream. The video clocked in at 9 seconds.
In the same time period, the top 10 CPG Food posts averaged 1:42 minutes on YouTube, 0:34 seconds on Facebook, and 0:29 seconds on Twitter.
That data just highlights how critical it is to benchmark your performance against brands in your own vertical to determine the most effective video length for your brand content. The audience’s attention span for a trailer of the latest Marvel movie and a video about heartburn medication is not going to be the same, and an apples to apples comparison is needed for length optimization.
Insight #3. Let Influencers Dictate Video Length In Partnership Posts
When working on paid partnerships, it’s important video length be at least in the ballpark of what the content creator normally posts on social, both because that’s what the influencer is most experienced at producing and because that’s what their audience expects of them.
For instance, almost all the TikToks videos by beauty influencer Christine Le are between 6-32 seconds. The most popular Sephora TikTok between January – August 2021 was 22 seconds long and had 4.5 million views, featuring Christine Le showing off claw-clip hairstyles. Additionally, a Christine Le TikTok sponsored by Sephora showing off all night setting spray which was 14 seconds long, received 14.8 million views. These partnerships posts worked in large part because they were in the exact same format of Christine Le non-sponsored posts.
Meanwhile, the comedy troop Dude Perfect tends to make videos that are slightly longer. For example, their best performing Instagram post so far this year generating 402,512 responses was about a baseball-basketball hybrid stunt and was 2:11 minutes long. Therefore, it makes sense that Dude Perfect’s sponsored content would be longer as well. Their top performing sponsored content video on Instagram with 103,685 responses was a 48 seconds long promotion for Nerf Curve Blasters, with their sponsored content posts being as long as 1:14 minutes.
Insight #4. Certain Types Of Content Require Longer Video Length
While generally the trend is shorter videos equal higher engagement, situationally there’s still types of content that are more effective at a longer length, such as makeup tutorials, unboxing videos, or other “how to” content. For example, the top performing YouTube video by Fenty Beauty between August 22, 2020 – August 21, 2021 with 748,030 views was a Tutorial Tuesday featuring Rihanna putting on powder foundation that clocked in at a little over two minutes.
Also videos from the entertainment industry such as film trailers or talk show clips often perform better when they’re longer. For example, so far in 2021, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon post that generated the most responses on TikTok was Vin Diesel talking as Groot in different languages which was 1:23 minutes long. Meanwhile, the top performing film content on Facebook between January – September 2021 was the second F9 trailer which got 1,910,366 responses and was 3:20 minutes long.
That’s not to suggest that in all instances, film videos should be over a minute long. Just look at the top 5 TikToks from films so far in 2021. They were all from F9 and between 6-22 seconds long. It’s important to analyze owned and competitor social media posts at scale to understand the exact circumstances where shorter is better.
6 Insights You Need To Know About Streaming Brands On Social Media
TikTok has become the social network generating the most engagement for streaming brands in 2021.
Streaming services may hold viewership numbers as a closely guarded secret, but when it comes to understanding performance on social media, ListenFirst has an objective view of which streaming brands are succeeding and why. From our internal study of Apple TV+, Disney+, HBO, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, Peacock, Amazon Prime Video, Showtime and Starz, here are the 6 insights you need to know about streaming brands and social media.
#1. Fan Growth in 2021 has slowed for streaming brands
Streaming Brand
New Fans Jan – Aug 2018
New Fans Jan – Aug 2019
New Fans Jan – Aug 2020
New Fans Jan – Aug 2021
Netflix
15,974,233
17,686,198
17,278,643
12,975,618
Disney+
–
945,066
2,986,721
2,606,911
Apple TV+
–
2,453
8,806
34,235
HBO
679,538
2,334,240
809,106
376,989
HBO Max
–
–
931,340
2,063,760
Hulu
552,231
559,670
511,737
509,917
Peacock
–
–
220,687
615,798
Amazon Prime Video
621,123
6,349,317
2,703,691
1,855,889
Showtime
236,788
141,654
131,181
173,465
Starz
223,373
143,645
215,953
173,009
Total
18,287,286
28,162,243
25,797,865
21,385,591
Looking at the streaming brands between January – August 2021, the number of new fans they generated on social media decreased by -17% compared to January – August 2020, and decreased by -24% compared to January – August 2019.
What’s happening is while streaming brands are still growing their audience on social media, the rate of growth, which peaked in 2019, has slowed as the streaming video space becomes more crowded. For example, while Netflix got nearly 13 million new fans on social media between January – August 2021, with newer services like Peacock and HBO Max now in the space, that’s still 4.7 million less new fans than Netflix got in the same time period in 2019.
Additionally, emerging social platforms such as TikTok and Depop are likely eating away at the traditional social channels, especially among younger users, likely contributing to the significant decrease in growth this year. Streaming brands have to experiment with establishing a presence on these newer platforms, to keep pace with shifting audience preferences.
#2. TikTok Has Become The Most Important Platform For Content Responses
Streaming brands got 59% of their content responses on TikTok between January – August 2021, with 33% of their responses coming from content they posted on Instagram. Meanwhile during those 8 months, 3% of responses for streaming brands came from Facebook, 3% from YouTube, and 2% from Twitter. For streaming services looking to lift their social engagement, treating TikTok as a focal point is an absolute must.
Is the popularity of TikTok leading to streamers getting less engagement on other social media platforms? Possibly, but not in the way you’d necessarily expect. Comparing January – August in 2021 to 2020, the number of responses for streaming brands increased by 27% on YouTube. However, during the same time streaming brands got -7% responses on Twitter, -5% responses on Facebook, and -2% responses on Instagram.
Even as audience preferences around social networks evolve over time, video-first platforms like YouTube will continue to be strategically important for streaming brands.
#3. The Audience Was Most Interested In Binging During The Beginning Of The Pandemic
When people were stuck at home quarantining with nothing else to do, it appeared that binging TV shows was never more popular. But was that level of interest sustainable?
Based on Twitter audience data, the answer is no. During Q1 2020 there were 1,190,036 Binge related Tweets which was a 24% increase compared to the previous quarter. In Q2 2020 that number even rose to 1,356,841 Binge related Tweets. However in the 4 subsequent quarters, there were on average -20% less Binge related Tweets compared to that Q2 2020 peak.
The long term trend remains that the social audience is talking more and more about streaming TV shows in binge mode. However, now that the majority of adults are vaccinated and have more options with what to do with their time, in the short term, the audience interest in binging has actually decreased.
#4. Shifting to releasing episodic programs weekly can help on social
Netflix has long been synonymous with the binge release model, which they first popularized in 2013 when they released the entire first season of House of Cards at once. However, even Netflix is now experimenting with different release models, for instance releasing reality shows like The Circle and Too Hot to Handle in batches.
The reason for the return to weekly episodes for streamers is largely to extend the social media conversation around their shows. For example, The Boys switched from a binge release in Season 1 to episodic weekly releases in Season 2, which helped the longevity of its social engagement and interest. Season 2 didn’t see peaks in engagement until the finale, while interest popped at both premiere and finale.
Meanwhile, The Mandalorian changed it’s release schedule to alternating between Wednesdays and Fridays to every Friday, leading to a higher conversation volume in Season 2 per episode despite overall interest remaining lower than Season 1.
How do you know when a streaming show is better off coming out at once or weekly? Content that lends itself to being dissected, such as reality competitions, or regularly recapped on entertainment websites, should be released on a weekly cadence. After all, audiences would have more to reflect on in social media.
#5. Frequently posting about large IP’s consistently drives engagement
For streaming brands, leaning into intellectual property that’s already familiar and has a pre-existing fanbase is a proven strategy for lifting social media engagement. For example, 4 out of the 5 most shared HBO Max posts so far in 2021 were about either the Friends reunion or Zack Snyder’s Justice League. Meanwhile, Amazon Prime Video’s two most shared posts between January – August 2021 were Facebook and TikTok videos promoting Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse, based on the novel set in Clancy’s Ryanverse.
#6. Foreign Language Content Now Among Most Popular Content For Streamers
Streaming brands now produce original programming for local regions across the world and a lot of those shows are clearly connecting with the English language audience on social media as well. For instance, Netflix’s top post in April 2020 with 1,917,159 responses was an Instagram post featuring Úrsula Corberó using a filter that matches her with a character on Money Heist. Additional foreign content shows such as Dark and Elite are also among the most buzzed programs for Netflix on social media.
For streaming brands with popular foreign language originals, give the English speaking audience the benefit of the doubt that they’ll also embrace those shows on social media.
Top 5 Social Media Trends Driving Brand Engagement
Get an inside view of what social media marketing strategies are paying off for brands across industries. ListenFirst analyzes the social media performance of hundreds of thousands of brands. From engagement metrics to competitive benchmarking, we see it all!
Hear from ListenFirst experts Meghan Cahill, SVP of Client Experience, and Devin Carroll, Director of Revenue Strategy. Meghan and Devin will break down the latest marketing trends that are driving engagement on social media.
Twitter Official Partner Program Welcomes 7 New Members
ListenFirst Named As Member Of The Twitter Official Partner Program
Entrance into the exclusive program confirms ListenFirst as one of the best tools for brands to get more value out of Twitter
NEW YORK, Sept. 21, 2021 /PRNewswire/ — ListenFirst, the premier enterprise social analytics solution, today announced it has been added to the Twitter Official Partner Program (TOPP). Partnership in the invite only TOPP program is reserved for companies that have a proven track record of customer success in using Twitter’s Developer Platform to provide brands with outstanding products.
For data partners, being awarded the corresponding Twitter Official Partner badge recognizes safe and responsible use of Twitter APIs, and signifies to brands that you’ll be working with the best of the best.
During the partner evaluation process, ListenFirst stood out around two specific competencies in serving brands that the TOPP program looks for: Consumer & Market Insights, meaning helping clients understand consumer trends and preferences and Brand Monitoring, or helping brands understand what’s being said about their organization.
ListenFirst’s suite of Twitter analytics includes owned, paid, and earned analysis, cross-platform tracking, real-time conversation analysis, audience data, affinity data, and sentiment analysis.
“Joining the prestigious TOPP program is the culmination of a long and in-depth relationship between Twitter and ListenFirst for almost a decade and I couldn’t be more excited to take our collaboration to the next level” explained Jonathan Farb Chief Product Officer, ListenFirst. “We work hand-in-hand with Twitter to make sure we’re providing our clients with the best social business intelligence strategies on the world’s largest focus group, and we look forward to the continued sharing of client success stories of using our analytics to optimize their Twitter based campaigns.”
“At ListenFirst, maximizing social media ROI with all the data and insights brands need is our core objective. Providing best-in-class Twitter analytics has always been a key pillar of how we deliver that value to clients,” said David DiGiacomo Chief Executive Officer, ListenFirst. “We’re honored to be included into the TOPP program, and their third-party recognition of our products, solutions, and client service is another great example of the superior experience we provide to our customers.”
