How The Swing States Are Feeling About The Election On Social Media

Every four years, the U.S. presidential election usually comes down to a few swing states that decide the winner. While social media can’t predict who the winner will be, analyzing consumer behavior on social media serves as a barometer for determining how people in those swing states are feeling. 

How are people feeling in Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada,  New Hampshire,  North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wisconsin? Here are the insights we found. 

Swing State Tweets Mentioning Voting, 3-4 Weeks Out From The Election  

Swing StateMentions of “Vote” 3-4 Weeks Out From the 2020 Election % Change Compared To 3-4 weeks Before the 2016 Election
Arizona342,914+527
Colorado241,048+562
Florida969,413+403
Georgia245,022+327
Iowa67,575+313
Michigan298,755+449
Minnesota185,646+560
Nevada159,395+365
New Hampshire45,041+461
North Carolina345,381+372
Ohio351,329+315
Pennsylvania422,071+389
Virginia296,232+365
Wisconsin136,859+388

Methodology: Looking at the volume of Tweets in Swing states using the word “Vote” or “Voting” 3-4 weeks out from election in 2020 compared to in 2016, meaning October 6-19, 2020 compared to October 5-18, 2016. 

Swing States Are Tweeting 402% More About Voting Than In 2016 

In the 3-4 weeks before the presidential election (Oct 6-19), Swing states are talking about voting 402% more than the same time period in 2016, and 111% more than during the 2018 midterm elections. With record early voting turnouts across the country, it’s no surprise more people are talking about getting out the vote.

Just Like In 2016, Swing States Are Talking More About Trump and Voting Than His Opponent 

3-4 weeks before the election in 2016, there were 563,180 Tweets in swing states talking about Donald Trump and Voting, compared to 132,337 Tweets talking about Hillary Clinton and Voting in those states. In 2020, with the added advantage of Donald Trump having the platform of the presidency to amplify his messaging, that gap against his Democratic opponent has only widened. This year, there were 2,477,512 Tweets talking about Voting and Trump compared to 543,809 Tweets talking about Voting and Joe Biden in Swing states in the 3-4 weeks before election day.

That’s not to say any Tweet talking about Donald Trump and Voting is inherently a positive for him, it often isn’t; but it’s more likely to be a Tweet supporting him than a comparable Tweet talking about Joe Biden. For instance in the critical swing state of Florida, sentiment in Tweets mentioning Trump and Voting between October 6 -19, 2020 were 41% Negative and 18% Positive. While that’s not exactly a ringing endorsement; during the same time period in Florida, Tweets mentioning Voting around Joe Biden were 47% Negative and only 11% Positive. 

There Are More Mentions in Swing States About Voting Blue Than Red 

Volume of Vote ‘Red’ Or ‘Blue’ Tweets In Swing States 

StateVote Red TweetsVote Blue Tweets
Arizona6,3795,837
Colorado2,9195,116
Florida18,07415,597
Georgia2,5093,291
Iowa7731,353
Michigan3,6214,564
Minnesota2,1643,122
Nevada3,6172,588
New Hampshire703738
North Carolina5,3745,255
Ohio4,8725,901
Pennsylvania5,7256,753
Virginia4,5474,727
Wisconsin1,5982,038

Methodology: Looking at the volume of Tweets in Swing states between October 6 -19, 2020 that mentioned both ‘Vote’ and either the word ‘Blue’ or ‘Red’.  

Between October 6 -19, 2020; there were 66,880 Tweets in Swing states about Voting Blue, which is 6% more Tweets than the 62,875 Tweets in Swing states talking about Voting Red. We’ve previously discussed how Donald Trump is far more successful than Joe Biden at growing his social media following, but that’s at a candidate level. This data suggests that Swing state voting could narrowly break for the Democrats and Joe Biden because of party affiliation, even if Swing state voters aren’t Joe Biden fans specifically.   

The Twitter Conversation Around Voter Fraud Is Growing 

Users in Swing states posted 294,375 Tweets about Voter Fraud between October 6-19, 2020, which was a 92% increase from the volume of Swing states Tweets about Voter Fraud 3-4 weeks out from the election in 2016, and a 79% increase from the amount of Swing state Tweets talking Voter Fraud 3-4 weeks before the 2018 Midterm elections. However, the elections break in Swing states on November 3, there’s a heightened level of concern that the other side isn’t going to accept the results.

Swing States Are Talking More About Early Voting 


The New York Times reports that in 5 states, including the swing states of Wisconsin and Minnesota, the number of ballots returned is already more than 20% of the entire 2016 turnout; and the level of social media discussion definitely supports the idea that Early Voting is taking on an added importance during the pandemic. Three to four weeks before the 2020 election, there have been 196,854 Tweets in Swing States talking about Early Voting; up 121% from the volume of Tweets in those states discussing Early Voting 3-4 weeks before the 2018 midterms with that also being 1,113% more Tweets than discussed Early Voting 3-4 weeks before the 2016 elections.

Want more social media insights around the elections and other upcoming cultural events? Request a ListenFirst demo today!

What Prime Day Can Teach Us About Holiday Shopping This Year

When Amazon moved Prime Day to October, it instantly became the biggest Pre-Black Friday indicator of what consumers would buy during the holidays. Using ListenFirst’s social media analytics platform, here are the top 5 takeaways based on the social media response to Prime Day and what it can tell marketers about the shift in audience priorities.

#1. Amazon Was Far Less Aggressive In Promoting Prime Day On Social This Year 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGV9AXfFr48/

Around Prime Day last year, Amazon.com shared 31 new posts on social media between July 15-16, 2019 while they generated 48,039 new fans on social media. In comparison during this year’s Prime Day event, they only shared 14 new posts and generated 16,379 new fans on social media between October 13-14, 2020. However, between October 13-14, 2020, there were 388,769 Tweets mentioning Prime Day, an increase of 2% from the volume of Tweets that mentioned Prime Day during July 15-16, 2019.

Amazon has become so much more central to consumers’ shopping habits during the pandemic, that they don’t need to be as aggressive in promoting Prime Day to generate the same level of conversation about the event on social media. 

#2. Amazon Products Were The Biggest Winners On Prime Day

https://twitter.com/juokaz/status/1316246692887396352

Amazon announced that third party vendors sold more than $3.5 billion dollars worth of product on Prime Day, but the individual products that were most talked about on Prime Day were all Amazon’s own. For example, there were 10,691 Tweets mentioning both the Kindle and Prime Day between October 13-14, 2020, an increase of 221% from the number of Tweets mentioning the Kindle and Prime Day between July 15-16, 2019. The Kindle Paperwhite was being sold at an all time low of $80 during Prime Day this year. 

Meanwhile, there were 9,993 Tweets mentioning both Prime Day and Echo this year, a 168% increase from the volume of such Tweets during Prime Day last year. The Echo Dot was being sold at $20 lower than it’s normal price. 

With people being stuck at home, it’s no surprise that a book reading device and smart speaker were the Amazon devices generating the most interest on social media. 

#3. Apple Is The Non-Amazon Company That Mattered Most Around Prime Day 

Between October 13-14,2020, there were 8,062 Tweets mentioning both Prime Day and Apple, with 2,784 Tweets mentioning both Prime Day and AirPods. The AirPods Pro was being offered for an all time low of $199.  During the same time period, there were 1,450 Tweets mentioning both Bose and Prime Day, as the Bose QC35 II wireless noise-cancelling headphones were 33% off. With family members stuck sharing the same home work space, noise canceling headphones will continue to be an in-demand item this holiday season. 

#4. TV Sales Are Becoming Even More Popular During the Pandemic 

https://twitter.com/imandyprice/status/1315990850820870145

Deals on televisions are always one of the main attractions around holiday shopping and with people spending more time at home, that’s even more true. There were 6,004 Tweets mentioning a TV around Prime Day between October 13-14, 2020 which was an increase of 29% from the volume of Tweets mentioning a TV around Prime Day last year. Expect a high level of interest around TVs this year on Black Friday. 

#5. Value Adding Gift Cards Could Be A Hot Item This Holiday Season 

There were 1,198 Tweets mentioning the phrase “Gift Card” and Prime Day between October 13-14, 2020, an increase of 18% compared to the number of Tweets sharing those two phrases last year during Prime Day. When you bought a $40 Gift Card on Prime Day, Amazon gave you a $10 promotional credit. With consumers’ budgets extra tight this year, gift cards that give money back could be a trend that takes off with the audience during the holiday shopping season. 

Conclusion

While the first socially distanced holiday season is obviously a net loss for humanity, it also means that there’s going to be more focus on online shopping than ever before. Understanding the social media conversation around holiday shopping will give retailer marketers a critical leg up in creating a winning end of year strategy. 

Want more retail related social media insights about the holiday season? Request a ListenFirst Demo today! 

6 Winning Social Strategies You Can Steal From Netflix

Between 1995 -1998, back when the audience still primarily watched TV live, the most effective way to get the audience to sample a new show was to air it Thursday night on NBC, sandwiched between new episodes of Friends and Seinfeld. Meanwhile in a world of streaming and time shifted viewership, the 2020 equivalent of the best way to raise awareness around a new TV show is probably Netflix posting about it on social media. 

It would be hard to overemphasize how dominant Netflix is on social media. They have 121 million fans or followers on social media, while between January – September 2020,  97 of the top 100 posts by TV Networks or Streamers that generated the most responses were posted by Netflix. 

In order to help other networks and streaming platforms learn from Netflix’s success, here are the top 6 takeaways ListenFirst found analyzing Netflix’s social media strategy. 

1. Netflix Teaches Us Your Platform/Network Is The Brand That Needs To Be Promoted 

On social media, Netflix takes a monolithic approach, focusing on promoting their main social media accounts and not trying to appeal to every different audience segment separately. In fact in most cases, Netflix doesn’t even create social media profiles for their individual new shows and movies. 

For instance, the Netflix movie Enola Holmes doesn’t have its own social media accounts, but awareness of the project grew through Netflix’s main social media accounts, with the official trailer to Enola Holmes generated 388,619 responses, and a video of the film’s stars trying to decipher Victorian slang received 148,209 responses.  

New projects to promote will come and go, but if networks and streaming platforms focus on building their own brand loyalty on social media, as opposed to around a specific show or film, there will be a larger audience to market all your content to.  

2. Don’t Be Too Thirsty. Leave A Little Mystery To Your Posts 

The default assumption when a network or streamer promotes a show on social media is you need to explain what’s the name of the show you’re promoting. However Netflix has repeatedly proven that incorrect, as some of their most successful posts in the past year fall squarely into the “you either get it or you don’t” category. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDZuCwfH1a_/

For instance, in an Instagram gallery that generated 1,162,865 responses Netflix asked which love interest fans preferred, such as showing a picture of both Noah or Marco from The Kissing Booth 2 but with no text identifying the show.  Or how Netflix shared an Instagram gallery that received 1,169,871 responses showing the Stranger Things cast at the SAG Awards without the show being identified. 

If the audience is cool enough to understand the reference, they’re more likely to leave a Like or Comment as a wink; and if they don’t understand, curiosity will lead to further research.   

3. Embrace Foreign Content Audio 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-sff28HgSR/

Netflix is currently available in 35 languages and some of Netflix’s best performing posts on their main English language channels have actually emphasized foreign language content.  For example, the Netflix post that generated the most responses between January – September was a video on Instagram that received 1,917,159 responses, highlighting a character’s unique laugh from the Spanish language hit  Money Heist. Meanwhile, a YouTube video showing what Stranger Things sounds like dubbed in other languages received 119,851 responses. 

If you find clever ways to highlight foreign language content, it’s still going to connect with an English speaking audience. 

4. Don’t Be Afraid To Clap Back On Twitter 

Between January through September 2020, Netflix’s second most popular Tweet with 798,166 responses was a reply to a user sharing a meme insinuating that Netflix put too many gay characters on their shows. Netflix responded, “sorry you have yet to realize that every gay person is very necessary.” The social media audience is extremely supportive of brands that take a stand against bigotry.  

5. The Audience Likes Themed Posts That Are Stupid Fun 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CD1rkflny24/

An Instagram gallery showing Netflix characters in overalls generated 588,032 responses. Meanwhile an Instagram gallery of photos of Netflix actors with their cats, having no caption other than “meow“, did even better, generating 851,311 responses. The key to making successful Instagram galleries is finding a simple, fun idea and not complicating it.     

6. Stick After-Show Type Content On YouTube For Free 

Popularized by AMC’s Talking The Dead which started in 2011 as a companion show to The Walking Dead, the after-show concept has taken off in recent years. Netflix has its own version and a big part of what sets I Like to Watch with drag queens Trixie Mattel and Katya Zamolodchikova apart is instead of being hidden behind a paywall, the show is posted directly on YouTube. This distribution model has been extremely successful, for instance their episode talking about the Netflix show Sex, Explained generated 76,189 responses on YouTube and 75,684 responses for the episode about Netflix’s Spinning Out. 

Considering after-shows are inherently promotional tools, there’s only upside in posting them for free on social media.  

Want to learn more secrets behind how Netflix and other industry leaders are dominating on social media? Request a ListenFirst demo today!

Guide: Everything You Need to Know About Social Video

Which social video platforms should you be investing in?

Since people started social distancing, certain social media platforms are being used more for watching video while others are being relied upon less.

If video is part of your content mix, then this definitive guide to social video will give you the tools you need.

What The Movie Industry Can Learn From TV About Social During The Coronavirus

Since the pandemic started, it’s been a period of unprecedented challenges for the film industry, with theaters either shut down or opening at a reduced capacity. While the television industry has faced the exact same setbacks in terms of filming new content, because of the at home distribution model, television has been releasing more content during the pandemic and has gotten a lot more reps at identifying social media best practices during the age of the coronavirus. Based on those efforts, the ListenFirst social media social listening platform has identified the following best practices that movie marketers can adapt in their own social media outreach. 

Virtual Table Reads 

One big social media trend on the television side since the pandemic began has been doing virtual table reads of classic TV shows, for instance The Nanny revisiting their pilot and the Lizzie McGuire reading their Bra Episode, with these original casts usually reuniting in support of a charity. During the pandemic, there have also been movies virtual table reads, though with a couple of key differences. For one they’re longer; while most TV table reads being shared on social media are only reading a script for 30 minutes tops, movie table reads streamed on social media should be maximum an hour in length, which is still shorter than an actual movie.   

The other key difference is unlike with TV projects, film virtual table reads don’t have to feature the original cast, for instance the Fast Times at Ridgemont High virtual table read featured Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, and Matthew McConaughey; and even while Sean Penn took part, he was playing a different role than the one that made him famous. The event was a huge success, raising $135,000 for COVID-19 related charities.

There is one way that movie studios can improve on these virtual reads. The Scott Pilgrim vs. The World table read and Princess Bride Reunion were both done as fundraisers, and that’s great. However, considering studios are hesitant to release new films during the pandemic and are instead rereleasing old favorites into theaters, there should be more synergy around the movies chosen for virtual table reads. For instance if Jurassic Park and Dirty Dancing are returning to theaters, staging a virtual table read for those films could serve both as a fundraiser and a promotion for the rerelease. 

Watch Parties 

TV brands have been pretty active during the pandemic in using watch parties on social media to promote previously released content. For example, as ListenFirst previously discussed, Amazon Prime launched a #MaiselMonday weekly watch party for season 3 of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which generated 10,381 Tweets between May 11 – August 11, 2020. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CC8v7iHA8vK/

As films are standalone content, movies need to find watch party angles that work as one time events. For instance, The Kissing Booth 2 generated 106,935 responses to an Instagram challenge asking fans to rewatch TKB1 and ask the cast questions; while The Hunger Games promoted watching the movie series on Tubi by creating a bingo card to fill out whenever a moment happens on screen, which generated 20,104 responses on Instagram. 

Meanwhile the movie Irresistible generated 1,955 responses on Twitter to an announcement that writer/director Jon Stewart would host a watch party around the film and that fans should Tweet him questions.

If your film has previously promoted a watch party with the cast on social media, a fresh angle is to work with an influencer and have them host the watch party, using either Twitter or Twitch to lead the real-time conversation around the screening. 

Memes 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDeVFwMguEk/

Reese Witherspoon is credited with starting the January – September meme, showing how her mood has deteriorated during the pandemic and the joke was picked up, both by TV shows and films. For example, Stranger Things generated 852,372 responses on Instagram to their version of the meme. Meanwhile on the film side, Deadpool shared their version of the January – September challenge which received 54,516 responses on Instagram with the Little Woman take generating 28,313 responses on Instagram.  In another meme, James Bond showed the before and after images of a work from home desk set up in week 1 vs. week 30 of the pandemic, which received  8,346 responses on Twitter.

Memes have become far more popular during the pandemic, for example there were 92,191,880 Tweets mentioning the word Meme between March – August 2020, which was a 55% increase from the volume of Tweets using the word in March – August 2019. Memes have become a huge part about how the social media audience is coping with “2020” and movie pages should be using them in their social outreach. 

Remix Old Content 

Comedy Central generated 140,523 responses for 15 minute YouTube video sharing all of Chappelle’s Show best movie parodies and film has also scored social media wins around collections of content framed around a specific theme. For example, Yash Raj Films shared a video on Facebook of their Top Comedy Scenes which generated 90,190 responses and James Bond posted a montage of Daniel Craig as James Bond beating up on bad guys, with the video getting 18,289 responses on Instagram. The New Mutants even saw success around a more self-effacing theme, as they generated 19,676 responses on Instagram around a photo gallery of posters with all of their different, pandemic changed release dates. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CEHt04YHZ4P/

This might all be content the audience has seen before, but they’ll reengage if it’s framed in a fresh context.  

DVD Extras Now Social Media Content 

Back in the day, extra content would make its way to the DVD release, but in 2020 likely even more people are seeing this content when it’s shared on social media. That’s been the case for TV Pages, for instance Star Trek shared a Next Generation blooper reel on Instagram that generated 15,186 Responses and that’s proven equally true for Movie Pages. For example, Frozen 2 generated 18,690 responses for Instagram post sharing concept art; Terminator 2 got 17,889 responses on Facebook for sharing behind the scenes video of the cast getting their makeup put on; and Halloween shared a behind the scenes photo from 1981’s Halloween II that generated 464 responses on Twitter. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE59kPlblPI

This type of additional content doesn’t even have to be archival in nature; for example Universal uploaded the original cast of the Pitch Perfect performing a new cover of Beyonce’s Love On Top, which doubled as a UNICEF fundraiser and received 523,367 responses on YouTube. 

Especially around film franchises, any content that gives fans a chance to see more of their favorite characters or the actors who portray them will be embraced by the social media audience.    


Want more ListenFirst tips for how movie pages can pivot and  optimize their social media channels during the age of the coronavirus? Request a demo today!

What Short Form Video Platform Should Your Brand Be Using?

Without delving too deeply into the still unclear fate of TikTok, whether the platform is going to be banned in the United States or spun off into a seperate company; the short form video platform faces competition. In August 2020, Instagram launched its own mobile phone short video solution Reels, while YouTube is currently beta testing its own TikTok competitor Shorts in India. Other short form video competitors include Triller, Byte, and Dubsmash.

For marketers, trying to navigate the rapidly changing short form video ecosystem can feel daunting, so with that in mind we put together this quick overview of everything you need to know about short form mobile videos on social media. Download the full cheat sheet here.

What Marketers Need To Know About Instagram Reels

Launched in August 2020, Instagram Reels was released in the same week President Trump was threatening to ban TikTok in the United States, and while the timing to release a TikTok clone was perfect, the reviews generally weren’t positive. For instance, one New York Times writer labeled Reels “the worst feature I’ve ever used”, citing how complicated it is to find within the Instagram app, how there were too many restrictions around music, inferior editing functions, and the lack of duets. Instagram has since improved the editing functionality as well as extended video length from 15 seconds to 30 seconds, but at this point Reels is most valuable to brands as a channel to repost their TikTok videos. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/CDuMMQfDOB7/

For example, a video promoting DC FanDome featuring Margot Robbie got 57.6K Likes on TikTok while when the same video was shared on Instagram Reels, complete with a TikTok watermark in places, it generated 251K Likes. 

Regardless if Reels specifically works as an application, reposting content to Instagram is always going to be an effective way to increase engagement. 

What Marketers Need To Know About TikTok 

For tactical advice on posting on TikTok, ListenFirst has previously shared a best practices guide for brands, but the big picture point for marketers to keep in mind is that TikTok has 100 million active users in the United States each month. For brands worried that TikTok might get banned in the U.S. or radically change under new ownership, TikTok has too big of an audience to ignore. 

If you’re interested in reaching the audience of short form video and worried about what comes next, your best bet is expanding the amount of social platforms you’re leveraging, as opposed to abandoning TikTok. 

@charlidamelio

Join the #MoreHappyDenimDance and #hcocontest to win a virtual meet & greet with me and Dixie!! hcopartner. Official rules: https://bit.ly/37ZFQih

♬ More Happy – The Hollister Jean Lab

Hollister Co. is a great example of this strategy. They have been working with Charli D’Amelio, a 16-year-old dancer and social media influencer who has 88.8 million followers on TikTok, on a jeans campaign. A sponsored TikTok video showing D’Amelio sharing her #MoreHappyDenimDance generated 59.8 million views and generated numerous response videos. Meanwhile Hollister Co. experimented with posting an Instagram Reel featuring D’Amelio promoting their Tiny Jeans campaign that received 757K views. While the campaign didn’t extend to Triller, it certainly could have, as D’Amelio has 3.4 followers on Triller.

   

TikTok may be the biggest player around short form video, but there’s enough volume around other platforms that TikTok-based campaigns can be expanded to other short form video apps. 

What Marketers Need To Know About YouTube Shorts

YouTube Shorts is expected to arrive in America some time in the near future. Similar to Instagram Reels, it’s essentially a new feature to shoot and edit short videos directly from a preexisting mobile app, with YouTube capping the video run time at 15 seconds. It’s too soon to know to what extent Shorts will take off, but it does have a couple of key advantages over other TikTok clones. Being able to sample popular songs for audio clips is a huge part of how users create short form video and YouTube already has licensing agreements in place with major record companies, meaning there should be a large library of songs to use in Shorts videos. 

YouTube also has the advantage of being YouTube, meaning creators are already making original content there, and getting influencers to create 15-second content on YouTube should be an easier ask than asking them to create content for a brand new mobile app. 

What Marketers Need To Know About Triller

If TikTok was actually going to get banned in America, Triller is the short form video app that would be in the best position today to replace it. Created in 2015, it actually predates TikTok; Triller has 27 million active daily users and actually overtook TikTok in terms of App Store downloads in August around fears TikTok will disappear. Triller has two major categories of content, “Music” and “Social”, but Music is really its bread and butter. The app, which has signed deals with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group and Sony Music, allows users to create music videos through their unique auto-editing algorithm, matching self-filmed cell phone video with snippets of popular songs, usually in the rap genre. 

That formula has become a significant marketing tool for the music industry, for instance a snippet of Money Mouf by Tyga, Saweetie, and YG has received 15.6 million views on Triller with Unbelievable by Tiger Schroff getting 7.2 millions views. Regardless of what happens with TikTok, Triller has emerged as a powerful marketing tool for the music industry. 

What Marketers Need To Know About Byte

Created by Vine co-founder Dom Hoffman, Byte is essentially Vine 2.0; bringing back the 6-second long looping video format (which they’re currently experimenting with extending to 8 seconds). Launched in January 2020, pretty much everything is in flux with the app; for instance some features are on iOS but not Android; you can’t create sounds from popular music yet, and there’s no full screen video yet. Byte needs to be a little bit more built out for marketers to be able to evaluate it. 

What Marketers Need To Know About Dubsmash

Created way back in 2014, initially peaking in popularity in 2015 and seeing a resurgence in 2020; Dubsmash allows users to lip sync over audio clips including sections of songs, movies, and famous quotes. Focusing more on building community, inclusion of people underrepresented on social media and improving retention rate; Dubsmash is having the most success around dance challenge videos and comedy videos. For example, the hashtag #DubSmashChallenge has received 4.7 million views on Dubsmash, while the hashtag #Comedy received 9 million views. 

However, the largest reason Dubsmash’s profile is being raised is fears of TikTok disappearing. Sensor Tower reported that during the last week of June, Dubsmash worldwide weekly downloads increased by 235% to 511,000 compared to the previous week.  

Want more social media insights around video platforms? Request a demo with ListenFirst today!