4 Effective Social Benchmarking Techniques

We all know that benchmarking is critical to measuring the performance of social media campaigns. However, understanding how to benchmark effectively is often the step marketers struggle with. With over 10 years of helping brands successfully analyze social performance, ListenFirst recommends four ways to benchmark your social media efforts. 

Following these proven measuring methods leads to more engaging content and improved social ROI.  

Method #1: Look at Interest Score

Understanding organic interest is a key goal of successful benchmarking because it speaks to what the audience is actually interested in, as opposed to engagement that’s directly bought. At ListenFirst, we combine search and conversations to measure organic interest, with a metric called Interest Score. 

What makes Interest Score an effective benchmark for organic interest is it combines third party mentions of a brand on Twitter, along with measuring the brand’s page views on Wikipedia. These are signals that the social media audience is talking about a brand or actively researching it. When that score spikes relative to pre-campaign activity or compared to previous campaigns that’s a direct indication that the current messaging is resonating.

For example, there was a scene in the Netflix film Red Notice that was product placement for Aviation Gin. That alone probably wouldn’t have been enough to lift activity around Aviation Gin on social media. However, Ryan Reynolds who both starred in the movie and is co-owner of Aviation Gin created a comedic version of that scene with even more blatant product placement and the brand shared it on social media. 

On the week that Aviation Gin released the doctored clip from Red Notice on social media their weekly performance more than doubled compared to the weekly average during the previous 4 months.  

Method #2: Track Audience Conversations About Brands

There are three basic ways consumers can amplify conversation around brands on social media. There’s an unprompted social post, for example someone Tweeting “Anyone wanna get bankrupt at the Lululemon in Chicago with me?” Consumers can also comment or reply on social content posts that brands themselves post. Or they can share the posts brands upload. 

By tracking all three of these social signals over time, brands can get more insight into the performance around specific campaigns. For instance, Liquid Death ran a regional ad around the Super Bowl, placing a hex so the Bengals would win the game. While the hex didn’t work, the campaign did. Liquid Death’s Social Talkability score was 225% higher during the week of the Super Bowl, compared to the weekly average during the previous 4 months. 

ListenFirst’s own Social Talkability metric is especially insightful in evaluating campaign performance because it measures so many signals; comments, replies and shares across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, Reddit, and TikTok. 

Method #3: Check Response Rate 

Understanding if the volume of engagement on brand content is good or bad is pretty much impossible without context. That’s why Response Rate, or looking at the percentage of people who respond to a post relative to how many followers a brand has is so critical. 

To that point, a Nike Instagram video post about Asisat Oshoala, the most decorated female African soccer player of all time had 80,604 engagements. While that might seem impressive, and no doubt it still is, the post only had a response rate of 0.04%, which was Nike’s worst performing Instagram post during the month of June 2022. In comparison, their best performing Instagram post of the month, a gallery of British tennis player Emma Raducanu got 336,545 engagements and had a response rate of 0.15%.  

It’s important to consider how big a following a brand already has on social media to understand how successful an individual post was.

Method #4: Look at Average Engagement Per Post 

In measuring social media performance, look for consistency as opposed to just focusing on engagement peaks.  

For example, the CPG Food brand with the most successful post in June 2022, was Florida Milk. The milk brand co-published an Instagram Reel with Food Network influencer Juan Duran about an Oreo Kinder Bueno shake. The post got 501,283 engagements. As impressive as the numbers are for that paid post, overall Florida Milk only averaged 8,920 engagements per post for the month overall. No other post they shared in June got more than 477 engagements. 

@slimjim

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♬ BOOMIN – Pretty Pape$

In contrast Slim Jim averaged 48,140 engagements per post in June 2022, with 35 of their posts getting at least 4,000 engagements.

Slim Jim was by far the CPG Food brand with the most successful June on social, but competitors would not have picked up on that just looking at the single post with the most impact. 

Conclusion 

On their own, data points such as how many Likes a post gets or the number of followers a brand has are just vanity metrics. However, when viewed within the right social media analytics solution they provide the context necessary for benchmarking. By focusing on a few key indicators such Interest Score, Social Talkability, Response Rate, and Average Engagement Per Post, brands can better understand the performance of both owned and competitor content. 

Optimization and improving social media ROI is significantly easier when you have the right benchmarking framework in place.  

Want even more insights about proper social media benchmarking? Download our Benchmarking 2.0 report, or Request A Demo Now! 

The Social Media Reaction To Roe v. Wade Getting Overturned

While getting consensus on anything involving abortion might seem impossible, people on both sides of the issue probably can agree the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade will likely end up being the most impactful Supreme Court ruling in decades. So what do brands need to know about the social media reaction to this court decision?  

Here’s how the social media audience is responding to Roe v. Wade being overturned, both in general and around brand messaging specifically. 

The Official Ruling Was Far More Impactful Than The Leak 

It was widely assumed Roe V. Wade was about to be overturned, as a month earlier a draft of the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling was leaked to the press. However, the leak didn’t mute the social media reaction to the decision becoming finalized. In fact, there were 7,235,816 Tweets mentioning either Abortion or Roe V. Wade on June 24, 2022, the day the case was overturned. That is 4.8X as many Tweets mentioning those terms as there were on May 2, 2022, the day Politico published a leaked draft of the decision.

Brands Coming Out On Social As Pro-Choice Aren’t Seeing Significant Negative Impact  

Dozens of major companies have pledged to cover their employees expenses if they need healthcare out of state, including abortion services.  However, brands have been hesitant to post about this on social media (and in some cases, publicly discuss those policies in general). 

For the brands discussing their new healthcare policies on social media, there didn’t appear to be any significant blowback. For example, DICK’S Sporting Goods got 170,259 engagements on Instagram (a 27.78% response rate) and 199,133 engagements on Twitter  (a 54.53% response rate) for a post announcing they would reimburse their employees up to $4,000 if they, their spouse, or dependant need to travel out of state to have an abortion. DICK’S had a net gain of 6,330 social media followers on the day. 

Similarly, GoPro shared an Instagram post saying “We support women.” and they’re enhancing family benefits for their employees to include abortion, adoption, and IVF treatment. That post got 28,965 engagements and had a 0.15% response rate, with GoPro adding 5,190 followers to their social media accounts on the day it was posted. Meanwhile, Live Nation Entertainment got 20,080 engagements and a 4.03% response rate for an Instagram post saying they stand with women, will pay for employees’ out of state healthcare expenses and are matching Lizzo’s donation to Planned Parenthood and Abortion Rights. Live Nation Entertainment gained 130 social media followers on the day. 

Also notewothy, Ben & Jerry shared 7 posts across Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook about fighting for abortion rights between June 24-25, 2020. Those posts got a total of 115,660 engagements and an average response rate of 0.53%. Most engaged of those posts was an Instagram gallery focusing on all the other existing rights Ben & Jerry felt the Supreme Court could potentially take away because they’re not explicitly mentioned in the Constitution. The brand gained 3,003 new followers over the two days. 

The Reaction Was More Mixed For Video Game Brands Being Pro-Choice 

Electronic Arts (EA) committed to expanding the benefits to their U.S. employees around their healthcare in a post that got a combined 13,865 engagements on Instagram and Twitter.  However, EA had a net loss of -7 followers on the day, and many of those engagements were negative. For example, the post on Instagram got a comment saying “”EA caring about politics more than of they games [ sic ]” that got 289 Likes and a comment that said “we dont care drop skate 4 [ sic ]” that got 239 Likes. It’s worth noting EA’s post didn’t directly mention either Abortion or Roe V. Wade. 

Ubisoft did gain 3,088 social media followers on the day they posted on Facebook that “reproductive rights are human rights” with the post getting 943 engagements. However, the top performing comment on the post with 81 thumbs up and 12 hearts read “Brand out of touch again? Imagine thinking it would be popular to publicly support the killing of babies.“

Brands With A Primarily Female Audience Were Most Likely To Speak Out On Social 

By far the most brands posting about Roe v. Wade being overturned were brands with a primarily female audience, especially around Fashion, Beauty, and Home Furnishing brands. The most popular of these was a Lululemon Instagram post that got 137,281 engagements and a 3.30% response rate  saying “reproductive rights are human rights” while announcing they’d be making a $500,000 contribution to the Center for Reproductive Rights. Other brands focusing on saying women’s rights are human rights or reproductive rights are human rights include PacSun, Francesca’s, and Parachute Home.  

Gucci got 81,348 engagements and a 0.17% response rate for a “My body, my choice” post on Instagram that also talked about their CHIME FOR CHANGE campaign which since 2013 has been fighting for gender equality. A number of other brands shared “Your Body, Your Choice” or “My Body, My Choice” focused messages, such as Rituel de Fille, Chloé, Tatcha, Madewell, and The Body Shop. 

Another slogan repeatedly used in brand posts was “Don’t Ban Equality” including in posts shared by J.Crew,  Glossier, Paula’s Choice, Versed Skincare, and ModCloth. 

Athleta got 36,292 engagements and a response rate of 4.50% on an Instagram post saying employees on GAP Inc. healthcare can travel to other states to get healthcare. Dove, Benefit Cosmetics, and Hanna Andersson were other brands talking about giving their employees out of state health care options. 

A number of other brands talked about who they were donating money to, or who they wanted you to donate money to. Companies that said they were donating to pro-choice organazations or other organazations focusing on women’s rights included Peach & Lily, Prose Hair and Dr. Dennis Gross Skincare. 

Brands sharing resources of where to get involved or donate money to included Trixie Mattel Cosmetics, Glow Recipe, EM Cosmetics, Youth To The People, and Tower 28 Beauty. 

In some cases, brands got more in the weeds discussing what the Supreme Court actually wrote. For example, Pacifica Beauty, shared a quote from Sotomayor, Kagan, and Breyer’s dissent while Boy Smells analyzed Clarence Thomas’s additional opinion to see what other protections might be at risk.

In other cases, CEOs just used brand channels to share personal feelings of frustration. Tory Burch wrote a note to her employees on Instagram expressing her outrage at Roe v. Wade being overturned which got 13,201 engagements, while Jeffree Star Cosmetics got 6,013 engagements on a Tweet where Jeffree said he’s in utter shock. 

Pro-Life Brands Were Silent On Social Media 

ListenFirst looked extensively for examples of brands commenting on social media about Roe v. Wade being overturned with Pro-Life messaging, and almost without exception those posts just didn’t existed (excluding politicians and news brands). That includes brands that had publicly discussed their religious rights in the context of the First Amendment in the past. The one place where Pro-Life brands did speak up on social was around very specific films. 

Unplanned, a drama about a Planned Parenthood employee who becomes an anti-abortion activist had 584 engagmeents on a Tweet thanking the Supreme Court of their bravery and praying for their safety in a volatile political climate. Meanwhile, the movie Persecuted, a 2014 Christian drama got 25 engagements on a Facebook post saying  “Glory to God!!” and “The lord cares for the unborn!!” linking to a news story about Roe v. Wade getting overturned.  

Given that polling shows 60% of US adults disapprove of overturning Roe v. Wade, combined with the verdict having already gone their way, brands with pro-life leadership likely didn’t see much to gain by posting about the decision on social media. 

‘We Will Adopt Your Baby’ Goes Viral 

Between June 26 – June 28, there were 285,797 Tweets using the exact phrase “We will adopt your baby”. The trend started because a Twitter user took a picture of an anti-abortion couple outside the Supreme Court, holding up a sign with the message. It turns out the couple aren’t U.S. citizens and can’t legally adopt children in America, but regardless, the image went viral in a cyberbullying context. 

People shared the “We will adopt your baby” text with various pictures of sinister looking couples. A second strain of the meme, focused on a picture of a different couple holding up a sign saying “Please don’t abort, we will adopt your baby!”. That photo it turns out was actually from a 2019 Facebook post, and not directly related to the current Supreme Court decision. 

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Conclusion

For a subject touching on people’s religious beliefs, their sense of autonomy about their own bodies, and existential questions on when life begins, it’s unlikely brands would or should have their messaging shaped by what others are saying on social media. That said, given most people in America get their healthcare through their employer, it is an issue companies are thinking about which has potentially long-term consequences. 

Brands have to factor in the personal beliefs of their leadership, the divided preferences of their own employees, and how transparent they are about their policies with consumers. In weighing all those factors, it’s important to review social media analytics from a brand marketing point of view. Understand how your audience is responding to these hot-topic conversations, before you post about the issue. A principled stand is a principled stand, but brands should not fly blind when joining the conversation in the very public arena of social media. 

Which Food And Beverage Brands Won July Fourth On Social

When a holiday’s biggest sporting event is literally a hot dog eating contest, that’s a pretty clear indication of how important food is to celebrating July Fourth. The National Retail Federation estimated $7.7 billion would be spent on food items around Independence Day this year. For CPG Food and Beverage brands, the holiday is an especially opportune time to connect with the social media audience. 

So which brands and tactics were most successful in their July Fourth related messaging? We looked at the social media analytics to identify the biggest winners around alcoholic beverages, non alcoholic beverages, and CPG Food.   

Non Alcoholic Beverage Winners 

Looking at the non-alcoholic beverage brands averaging the most engagements on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok for their posts mentioning either July Fourth or July 4th between June 28 – July 4, 2022. 

By The Numbers: Non alcoholic beverage brands averaged 475 engagements for the 90 Fourth of July related social media posts they shared between June 28- July 4, 2022. 

Preferred Format: Gallery posts stood out by averaging 1,959 engagements. Single Image posts by non alcoholic beverage brands with Fourth of July messaging averaged 494 engagements, while video posts averaged 129 engagements. 

Best Performing Channel: Instagram posts averaged 959 engagements. By comparison, Facebook posts averaged 323 engagements, TikTok posts averaged 90 engagements, and Twitter posts averaged 26 engagements. 

Timing Is Everything: July Fourth related post published by Non alcoholic beverages on July 1 performed the best, averaging 1,137 engagements. By comparison, their July Fourth related posts shared during the actual holiday only averaged 368 engagements. 

Most Noteworthy Post: Liquid Death got 11,289 engagements on an Instagram post sharing the Dehydration Detector 9000, essentially a picture of pee color for people to reference so they understand how dehydrated they are. This innovative approach, beat out an Instagram post by CELSIUS Energy Drink about sparklers, to become the most engaged Fourth of July related social post by a non alcoholic beverage brand.  

Alcoholic Beverage Winners 

Looking at the alcoholic beverage brands averaging the most engagements on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok for their posts mentioning either July Fourth or July 4th between June 28 – July 4, 2022. 

By The Numbers: Alcoholic beverage brands averaged 270 engagements for the 181 Fourth of July related social media posts they shared between June 28- July 4, 2022. 

Preferred Format: For Alcohol brands single images were most effective, with those July Fourth themed posts averaging 320 engagements. Gallery posts averaged 226 engagements with video posts averaging 131 engagements. Text posts averaged 292 engagements, with that primarily due to a Bug Light Facebook post about the sound of opening up the first beer. 

Best Performing Channel: Alcohol brands averaged 376 engagements on Facebook for their July Fourth related posts. That outperformed Instagram, where the brands averaged 223 engagements and Twitter where their holiday posts averaged 131 engagements. 

Timing Is Everything: Alcohol brands averaged 2,266 engagements for the July Fourth posts they share on June 29. The holiday themed posts they shared on July Fourth only averaged 131 engagements.  

Most Noteworthy Post: Evan Williams Bourbon had 14,581 engagements on a Facebook post promoting their American Made Heroes Foundation and wishing veterans a happy fourth of July. The American Made Heroes Foundation awards up to $75,000 in grant funding to qualified organizations that serve U.S. military veterans. This was the most popular Fourth of July post by an alcohol brand around the holiday this year.  

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CPG Food Winners 

Looking at the CPG Food brands averaging the most engagements on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok for their posts mentioning either July Fourth or July 4th between June 28 – July 4, 2022. 

By The Numbers: CPG Food brands averaged 425 engagements for the 425 Fourth of July related social media posts they shared between June 28- July 4, 2022 

Preferred Format: CPG Food brands averaged 643 engagements for their July Fourth related Gallery posts. In comparison, CPG Food brands averaged 314 engagements on their Video posts, averaged 189 engagements on their single image posts, and averaged 81 engagements on their Text posts. 

Best Performing Channel: TikTok was the most effective channel for CPG Food brands as they averaged 659 engagements for their July Fourth related posts there. The brands averaged 384 engagements on Instagram, 205 engagements on Facebook, 169 engagements on YouTube, and 48 engagements on Twitter. 

Timing Is Everything: For CPG Food brands, the most effective day to share their July Fourth related posts was July 1, when they averaged 518 engagements. The holiday posts they shared on July Fourth only averaged 174 engagements.  

Most Noteworthy Post: The top performing July Fourth related CPG Food post came from a product that’s not actually food. Dubble Bubble Bubble Gum got 20,329 engagements for a Facebook post where their patriotic eagle wished everyone a happy 4th. 

Conclusion 

When looking at the top performing Food and Beverage posts around July Fourth, a couple of different templates emerged. Top posts were either clever, such as Liquid Death’s Dehydration Detector 9000 concept or Oreo sharing a gallery of firework themed Oreo creations, or patriotic, such as  Evan Williams Bourbon saluting veterans or Double Bubble and their bald eagle.  Additionally, when it came to timing, July Fourth posts shared 3-5 days ahead of the actual holiday performed the best. 

Holiday campaigns are challenging for brands because there’s a very limited amount of time the messaging is relevant, making in window optimization near impossible. By using a social media analytics solution to understand what worked for holiday posts across an entire cohort of competitors, brands have a much clearer understanding of the proper approach to take around the next holiday.  

 Want more holiday related social media insights? Request a ListenFirst demo today! 

How to Go Viral: Best Practices From The Experts

When it comes to social media marketing, does the current shift to video-first strategies make you nervous? Or, have you been waiting for this moment since the day you bought your first camera phone?

Regardless of where you stand, the fact is social video content is effective. It’s what the data reveals over and over, across social platforms.

Hear from the panel of experts who dig into the data everyday. Understand what video trends are taking shape and what formulas tend to drive the most views and engagement.

Better Call Saul: Season Six; Carol Burnett to Guest Star in Final Episodes of AMC Series

Better Call Saul has landed a big name to guest star in its final episodes. Carol Burnett (above left, with Stephen Colbert) will appear on the series when it returns with the second half of season six on July 11th.

Starring Bob Odenkirk, Rhea Seehorn, Jonathan Banks, Giancarlo Esposito, Michael Mando, and Tony Dalton, the series follows attorney Jimmy McGill aka Saul Goodman (Odenkirk) before he becomes Walter White’s lawyer in Breaking Bad.

AMC revealed more about Burnett’s appearance on Better Call Saul in a press release.

“Six-time Emmy(R) Award-winner Carol Burnett will appear as a guest star in the sixth and final season of Better Call Saul, portraying a character named “Marion.” In addition to Burnett, as previously announced, Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, will appear reprising their Breaking Bad roles of “Walter White” and “Jesse Pinkman,” respectively, as the show draws to its conclusion. The series, produced by Sony Pictures Television, returns for its final six episodes beginning Monday, July 11 at 9:00 pm ET/PT on AMC and AMC+ with the series finale on August 15. The final episodes will conclude the complicated journey and transformation of its compromised hero, Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk), into criminal lawyer Saul Goodman.

Said Burnett: “I’m thrilled to be a part of my favorite show.”

Better Call Saul stars Bob Odenkirk, Jonathan Banks, Rhea Seehorn, Patrick Fabian, Michael Mando, Tony Dalton and Giancarlo Esposito and is executive produced by Peter Gould, Vince Gilligan, Mark Johnson, Melissa Bernstein, Thomas Schnauz, Gordon Smith, Alison Tatlock, Diane Mercer, and Michael Morris.

The series ended the first half of its current sixth and final season as the #1 acquisition driver in the history of the AMC+ streaming service and the #3 cable drama for the current broadcast season in key demos. The mid-season finale on May 23 delivered more than 2.2 million viewers in Nielsen live+3 ratings, as fans tuned in to see the conclusion of Kim (Seehorn) and Jimmy’s elaborate plot against Howard (Fabian) and experienced a pulse-racing surprise in the episode’s final moments.

Since its season premiere, Better Call Saul has generated more than 17 million engagements across social platforms, ranking as the #1 drama on broadcast and cable for conversation and organic search and the #1 cable drama in owned social engagement and content shares, according to data from ListenFirst.”

2022 BET Awards Social Report

The BET Awards are not only an awards show celebrating African-American excellence, it’s also become one of the most talked about annual events on social media.  


For official sponsors, advertisers, or just brand newsjacking the event, understanding how their BET Awards related messaging is performing on social media is a critical step in evaluating how effective their campaign was. What was the demographics of the people talking about the awards on social media? How much engagement was there around your campaign relative to other brands messaging about the BET Awards? What celebrity content connected the most with the audience? 


In the BET Awards Report, we answer all those questions and more!