The Dominance and Evolution of Sports Video Games: A Data-Driven Look
Sports video games have long been a cornerstone of the gaming industry, driving massive revenue, engagement, and social conversation across platforms. As the genre continues to evolve, recent data paints a clear picture of its unmatched impact on gamers, brands, and digital spaces worldwide. From record-breaking revenue numbers to surging social talkability, sports video games are not just a niche—they are a global cultural phenomenon.
Revenue Powerhouses: Sports Games Lead the Charts
According to Circana’s all-time best-selling sports video games list, franchises like NBA 2K and Madden NFL dominate the market. Titles such as NBA 2K21, NBA 2K23, and EA Sports College Football 25 consistently appear among the top sellers. Notably:
NBA 2K21 stands as the best-selling sports game of all time, showcasing the enduring popularity of basketball games.
EA Sports College Football 25 marks a triumphant return for college football games, solidifying its position at #2.
Wii Sports Resort, a cultural phenomenon from Nintendo, remains a unique outlier, proving the lasting impact of motion-controlled sports gaming.
These rankings underscore the financial success and staying power of sports franchises, which often release annual titles that draw millions of players year after year.
Market Growth Trends
The global Sports Games market is expected to grow at a robust CAGR (Compound annual growth rate) of 10.46% (2022-2027), reaching a projected revenue of US$13.8 billion by 2027. Key contributors to this growth include:
In-App Purchases (IAP): US$2.07 billion (2022).
Advertising Revenue: US$5.42 billion (2022).
Paid Game Sales: A smaller but still relevant US$0.03 billion.
With downloads projected to reach 5.17 billion in 2022 alone and an average revenue per download of US$1.45, the market shows no signs of slowing down.
Engagement and Social Talkability: A Modern Playing Field
Revenue alone doesn’t tell the full story. Engagement metrics and social talkability reveal how players interact with these games, sparking conversations, content creation, and community building.
Top Games Driving Engagement
From the ListenFirst data tracking engagements and social talkability (Jan-Dec 2024), sports franchises show impressive performance:
Title/Franchise
Total Engagements
Social Talkability
League of Legends
76.9M
7M
EA Sports FC 24
57.7M
2.4M
NBA 2K Franchise
28.8M
1.7M
While League of Legends isn’t technically a sports video game, we are counting it due to its sprawling esports ecosystem. It leads above the rest even though EA Sports FC 24 and NBA 2K franchises hold their own, demonstrating a consistent interest in sports simulations.
Top Sports Video Game Content of 2024
Recent data highlights the top-performing sports video game content across platforms, showcasing where fans are most active:
Game
Top Platform
Key Metric
EA Sports FC 24
TikTok
Viral User-Generated Content
NBA 2K Franchise
Instagram
Engagement Growth
Madden NFL 24
YouTube
Influencer Content Views
WWE 2K24
Twitter
Trending Discussions
MLB The Show 24
Facebook
Community Engagement
Top 5 Sports Game Content Posts by Engagement in 2024
Additional data from 2024 highlights the top-performing posts by engagements:
Rank
Game
Engagements
Platform
1
EA Sports FC 24
3,420,717
Instagram
2
EA Sports FC 24
3,160,316
Instagram
3
League of Legends
2,813,900
TikTok
4
League of Legends
1,983,949
YouTube
5
EA Sports FC 24
1,737,001
TikTok
The platforms of choice reveal emerging trends: TikTok’s rise as a hub for viral sports game content, Instagram’s role in showcasing highlights, and YouTube’s continued dominance for influencer-driven content.
Platform-Specific Trends
Instagram: EA Sports FC 24 drives the highest engagements here, with over 39M engagements.
TikTok: Surging in influence, League of Legends tallies 2.5M mentions, highlighting TikTok’s role in driving viral content.
YouTube & Twitter: While engagement fluctuates, both platforms remain vital for sports game communities, particularly for trailers, esports events, and influencer content.
The Correlation Between Engagement and Talkability
Interestingly, high-performing titles on the engagement charts also tend to dominate social talkability metrics. For instance:
EA Sports FC 24 combines 57.7M engagements with significant talkability, proving its role as a cultural conversation driver.
NBA 2K generates impressive platform-specific numbers but struggles with proportional talkability on TikTok and YouTube compared to competitors.
What Drives the Popularity of Sports Video Games?
1. Annual Releases and Fan Loyalty
Sports games thrive on loyal fan bases and consistent updates. Annual releases like Madden NFL and NBA 2K deliver updated rosters, improved mechanics, and fresh visuals, ensuring players return year after year.
2. Competitive Gameplay and Esports
The rise of esports has amplified the appeal of sports games. Titles like FIFA (now EA Sports FC) and NBA 2K have dedicated esports leagues, attracting both casual players and competitive gamers.
3. Realism and Immersion
Advancements in graphics and gameplay physics have elevated sports games to near-realistic experiences. From lifelike animations to strategic depth, these games offer a faithful replication of real-world sports.
4. Social Media and User-Generated Content
Platforms like TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram allow players to share highlights, tutorials, and funny moments. Social talkability fuels the growth of sports games, turning memorable in-game moments into viral content.
Looking Ahead: Opportunities and Challenges
Opportunities
Emerging Platforms: TikTok’s explosive growth in engagement and talkability offers new opportunities for sports game publishers to connect with younger audiences.
Mobile Gaming: With downloads projected to hit 5.17 billion, mobile sports games present a massive growth area, particularly in emerging markets.
Esports Expansion: Building more accessible and engaging esports ecosystems can drive further engagement and revenue.
Challenges
Market Saturation: Annual releases must continue innovating to avoid franchise fatigue.
Rising Development Costs: Delivering hyper-realistic experiences demands significant investment in technology and talent.
Balancing Monetization: While in-app purchases and ads drive revenue, publishers must balance profitability with player satisfaction.
Conclusion: The Future is Bright for Sports Video Games
Sports video games have proven their dominance in both revenue and engagement, with franchises like NBA 2K, Madden NFL, and EA Sports FC leading the charge. Coupled with rising social talkability on platforms like TikTok and Instagram, the genre’s growth shows no signs of slowing down.
As technology advances and new platforms emerge, sports games will continue to redefine the gaming experience, blending realism, competition, and community into one seamless package. Whether you’re a casual player or an esports champion, the world of sports gaming offers something for everyone—and its best days are still ahead.
Defying Gravity: How Wicked Mastered Social Media Marketing
The film adaptation of Wicked has captivated audiences far beyond the silver screen. Through an innovative and meticulously crafted social media campaign, Universal Pictures created more than just a movie premiere—it launched a cultural phenomenon. The campaign saw Universal partnering with over 400 brands, including Starbucks, Lego, H&M, and Beis, surpassing Mattel’s Barbie, which featured 100+ collaborations. Universal’s marketing chief, Michael Moses, summed up the approach as aiming to be “just short of obnoxious,” reflecting the need to adapt to the death of “monoculture.” As Moses explained, “We live in an environment where monoculture doesn’t happen as it used to. So, you have to be everywhere. If you’re chronically online, you probably saw everything. But there are so many people who aren’t, and we needed to be wherever they were in their consumer journeys.” Combining strategic partnerships, engaging storytelling, and data-driven insights, Wicked set a new benchmark for how films can leverage social media to connect with audiences. We dug into the campaign, explored what brands can learn from it, and spoke with Miranda McWeeney, CEO of ListenFirst, to get her thoughts on the magic it created.
Building Anticipation Across Platforms
To generate excitement, Universal Pictures activated a multi-platform strategy spanning Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and YouTube. Each channel delivered unique content tailored to fan engagement:
Countdowns and Q&As: Interactive posts on Instagram and TikTok encouraged fans to feel part of the journey to the premiere.
Teasers and Trailers: YouTube and Twitter hosted exclusive previews and behind-the-scenes clips, fueling intrigue.
Unified Visual Identity: Across all platforms, the campaign featured Wicked’s signature green-and-pink aesthetic and iconic music, making its content instantly recognizable.
This approach not only broadened the campaign’s reach but also deepened audience engagement, fostering excitement months before the release.
By the Numbers: The campaign attracted over 1 million new followers (+970%) in six months, boosting the total social audience to 1.63 million.
“Universal’s ability to tailor content to each platform while maintaining a cohesive brand identity highlights a fundamental truth: audiences engage differently across channels. Brands that invest in platform-specific strategies see higher engagement and better ROI.” – Miranda McWeeney
Short-Form Video: Capturing Hearts in Seconds
Short-form video was central to Wicked’s social media strategy, with platforms like TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts delivering bite-sized glimpses into the film’s world. From character moments to sneak peeks of musical performances, these videos captivated fans and kept them coming back for more.
Video Highlights:
“You can’t bring her down 💚🧹”: 15 million views and 2.8 million engagements.
“Becoming Elphaba 💚”: 12.7 million views, offering fans a behind-the-scenes look at the iconic transformation.
“Short-form video isn’t just about attention-grabbing content—it’s about creating an emotional connection in seconds. Wicked’s strategy of blending character moments and behind-the-scenes glimpses demonstrates how to captivate audiences and keep them coming back for more.” – Miranda McWeeney
Overall Impact: The campaign amassed an extraordinary 227 million public video views (+999%), demonstrating the immense power of visually engaging short-form content.
Strategic Brand Partnerships: Expanding the Universe
Wicked’s marketing went beyond traditional promotions by embedding itself into fans’ everyday lives through strategic partnerships:
R.E.M. Beauty: Ariana Grande’s cosmetics line launched a Wicked-themed collection, inspiring viral unboxing videos and tutorials.
Spotify: Fans enjoyed curated playlists, blending nostalgia with anticipation for the movie’s soundtrack.
Starbucks: Limited-edition Wicked-inspired drinks turned coffee shops into photo opportunities shared widely on social media.
These partnerships not only amplified the film’s reach but also created organic user-generated content that further spread Wicked’s magic.
What Worked: By aligning with culturally relevant brands, Wicked seamlessly integrated into lifestyle moments, keeping the film top-of-mind for its audience.
“Partnerships like those between Wicked and culturally relevant brands don’t just amplify reach—they embed the story into everyday life. This strategy creates moments of discovery for audiences, making the campaign feel personal and omnipresent.” – Miranda McWeeney
Cohesive Branding: A Magical Identity
One of the campaign’s greatest strengths was its consistent visual and thematic identity. From social media posts to merchandise packaging, Wicked maintained a cohesive aesthetic featuring its green-and-pink palette, whimsical bubbles, and beloved characters.
Key Metrics:
Engagements: 42.3 million (+529%) across platforms.
Top Post: “You can’t bring her down 💚🧹” with 2.8 million engagements and 115,700 shares, underscoring the power of visually stunning and emotionally resonant content.
Lesson for Brands: A strong, recognizable identity not only builds trust but also deepens emotional connections with your audience.
Top-Performing Social Media Posts
The campaign’s top five posts highlight key elements of its success:
“You can’t bring her down 💚🧹”: Empowering tagline paired with iconic visuals; 15 million views, 2.8 million engagements.
“The magical event of the year arrives November 22!”: Nostalgic messaging drove 1.8 million engagements and 14.6 million views.
“What is this feeling so sudden and new?”: Leveraged beloved music to engage fans emotionally; 12.1 million views.
“We know about popular. 🎵”: Humor and charm inspired 1.4 million engagements and 16.7 million views.
“Becoming Elphaba 💚”: Behind-the-scenes content showcasing the transformation process captivated fans; 12.7 million views.
Key Insights: These posts combined nostalgia, empowerment, and creativity to spark widespread engagement and shares.
Viral Moments: Amplifying Reach Organically
A pivotal moment in the campaign occurred during a press tour interview when journalist Tracey E. Gilchrist told stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande that fans were “holding space” for the empowering lyrics of “Defying Gravity.” The emotional and somewhat perplexed reactions from the stars led to a viral meme, with social media users humorously applying the phrase to various contexts.
This organic viral moment extended the campaign’s reach, engaging audiences beyond traditional marketing channels and showcasing the power of authentic, unscripted interactions.
Lesson for Brands: Embrace and leverage unexpected viral moments to humanize your brand and connect with audiences on a deeper level.
“Brands often overlook the power of organic moments, but these unscripted interactions can humanize a campaign and extend its reach exponentially. Wicked’s success here is a reminder to stay agile and lean into the unexpected.” – Miranda McWeeney
Data-Driven Success
The campaign’s impressive metrics within 6 months of the premiere underscore the effectiveness of its strategy:
Follower Growth: Over 1 million new followers across platforms (+970%).
Engagements: 42.3 million total interactions (+529%).
Public Impressions: 30.9 million impressions on Twitter alone (+230%).
Public Video Views: 227 million total views (+999%).
Despite a slight dip in response rate (45.18%, -29%), these numbers highlight the campaign’s ability to drive buzz and build community on an unprecedented scale.
Key Takeaways for Brands
The Wicked campaign provides a roadmap for creating impactful social media strategies:
Be Multi-Platform Savvy: Tailor content to different platforms while maintaining a cohesive identity.
Leverage Short-Form Video: Capture attention quickly with visually dynamic and emotionally resonant content.
Collaborate Strategically: Partner with brands to expand your audience and create cultural relevance.
Stay Consistent: A cohesive visual and thematic identity builds trust and recognition.
Embrace Viral Moments: Leverage unexpected viral content to humanize your brand and extend reach.
Track and Optimize: Use data to refine your approach and measure success in real time.
Final Thoughts
The Wicked social media campaign redefined what movie marketing can achieve, blending creativity, strategy, and data to create an immersive, unforgettable experience for fans. By embracing multi-platform engagement, leveraging short-form video, partnering with culturally relevant brands, and capitalizing on organic viral moments, Universal Pictures didn’t just promote a film—it built a movement.
The campaign’s success lies in its ability to make fans feel like active participants in the story. From nostalgic nods to the original musical to behind-the-scenes insights and interactive content, Wicked turned its audience into co-creators of its magic. And with staggering metrics like 227 million video views, 42.3 million engagements, and 30.9 million impressions, it’s clear the campaign resonated far and wide.
For brands, Wicked offers invaluable lessons: focus on emotional storytelling, maintain a cohesive brand identity, and embrace the unexpected. Whether you’re launching a product, building a campaign, or promoting an event, these strategies provide a roadmap for connecting with audiences and creating moments that truly resonate.
The Wicked campaign didn’t just defy gravity—it set a new standard for capturing and inspiring audiences in the digital age.
Redefining Fan Engagement: How Social Media is Transforming Sports Marketing
Social media has redefined the way we experience sports. For fans, it’s not just about scores and highlights anymore—it’s about connection. They want more than a recap; they want behind-the-scenes moments, real-time updates, and a personal look at their favorite teams and players.
This shift in expectations has put social media at the heart of sports marketing. Platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) have become the go-to channels for fan engagement. But succeeding in this space requires more than just showing up—it demands strategy, storytelling, and insights. That’s where ListenFirst’s Social Indexes for Sports comes in, offering the tools teams and leagues need to understand their fans and outpace the competition.
The Rise of the Modern Sports Fan
It wasn’t so long ago that being a sports fan meant reading game recaps in the paper or catching highlights on TV. Now, fans are part of the action as it unfolds. They’re following live commentary on X, watching behind-the-scenes moments on Instagram Stories, and connecting with athletes on TikTok.
This evolution has created a new kind of fan experience—one centered on real-time access and personal connection. Athletes, in particular, have become central to this dynamic. Players like Lionel Messi, Marcus Rashford, and Steph Curry have built massive social followings that often eclipse their teams. Messi’s transfer to Inter Miami CF alone brought the MLS nearly 12 million new followers in a single month.
For teams, this trend is a game-changer. It’s no longer just about brand loyalty to the team; it’s about building relationships through the personalities and stories of individual players.
Social Media: Where the Game is Played
Each social platform brings something unique to the table, and knowing how to leverage them is key to reaching today’s fans:
Instagram: Perfect for showcasing player personalities and team culture through Reels, Stories, and high-quality visuals.
TikTok: A playground for creativity, trends, and fan challenges, TikTok’s algorithm makes it ideal for reaching younger audiences.
X (formerly Twitter): The hub for real-time updates and fan conversations, especially during live events.
When used strategically, these platforms don’t just drive engagement—they build loyalty. For example, NBA fans are most active on Sundays, with engagement peaking in the early hours between 12-3 AM PT. Knowing these patterns allows teams to connect when it matters most.
Winning with Insights: ListenFirst’s Social Indexes for Sports
With fan expectations rising, teams can’t rely on guesswork. ListenFirst’s Social Indexes for Sports gives teams access to industry-wide data that takes the mystery out of social media strategy. Here’s how it’s helping redefine the game:
Fan Engagement Analysis: Find out what content resonates with fans, from game-day highlights to player stories.
Brand Rankings: Compare your team’s social presence to others across the league and globally.
Content Insights: Discover the types of posts driving the most engagement, like the Kansas City Chiefs’ 141% increase in engagement per post this year.
Competitor Deep Dives: Learn what’s working for rival teams, leagues, and even emerging disruptors like Formula 1.
Reputation Management: Stay ahead of trending conversations and protect your narrative, like the Oakland A’s did when announcing their move to Vegas.
These insights give teams a complete picture of the social landscape, ensuring they’re not just keeping up—they’re setting the pace.
Beyond the Competition: Why a Broader View Matters
Focusing solely on direct competitors can leave teams blind to industry trends. Emerging leagues like Formula 1 prove that a sport can rapidly capture global attention by embracing innovative engagement strategies. ListenFirst’s Social Indexes allows teams to look beyond their immediate rivals and spot these disruptors early.
The platform covers over 500 teams, leagues, and organizations, from top U.S. leagues like the NFL and NBA to international staples like La Liga and emerging sports like motorsports and combat sports. This breadth of coverage gives teams a competitive edge, whether they’re refining their own strategies or identifying potential opportunities.
Athletes as the Face of the Brand
Athletes are more than players—they’re influencers with immense reach. Collaborating with them to create authentic content can amplify a team’s message and build stronger fan connections. A player’s Instagram post about a community event or a TikTok showcasing their daily routine often resonates more with fans than traditional team updates.
For teams, this collaboration is an opportunity to show the human side of the sport. By embracing the personalities of their players, they’re not just growing their audience—they’re deepening their impact.
The Future of Fan Engagement
Social media isn’t just a tool for engagement—it’s the future of sports marketing. Fans want more than highlights; they want to feel like they’re part of the story. Meeting these expectations means combining authentic storytelling with data-driven strategy.
With tools like ListenFirst’s Social Indexes for Sports, teams and leagues have everything they need to stay ahead. From uncovering trends to measuring ROI, these tools ensure that every social post, campaign, and partnership delivers maximum impact.
It’s About More Than the Game
The way fans connect with sports has changed, and teams must evolve with it. It’s no longer just about winning games—it’s about building relationships through stories, personalities, and shared experiences. By using tools like ListenFirst’s Social Indexes, sports marketers can meet the moment and create fan engagement strategies that truly resonate.
The future belongs to those who go beyond the surface, embracing both innovation and the timeless power of connection. Ready to take your strategy to the next level?
Media & Entertainment Industry: Social Media Benchmarks
How does your brand compare to the industry’s social media benchmarks?
Is there more CPC value on Twitter? Are competitors having more success with video content on Facebook or Instagram? Is the loss of organic reach on Facebook more or less than what the rest of the industry is experiencing? How often is the audience Saving posts on Instagram?
The ListenFirst Industry Benchmarks Report for Media & Entertainment answers all these questions and more, arming your team with the competitive insights necessary to make sure your social media content is being seen by the widest, most relevant audience.
Using exclusive, anonymized and authorized data from the large network of Media and Entertainment Brands that partner with ListenFirst, the Industry Benchmarks Report is an invaluable cheat sheet.
How to Create a Social Media Marketing Strategy
Looking to get started with social media and wondering where to begin? Here is your guide.
Social media is no longer an ancillary marketing channel for brands to explore. In a world where content continues to reign king, an effectivesocial media marketing plan is critical to your brand’s success.
The rightsocial media marketing planserves as a guide to achieving your desired marketinggoals. By incorporating key audiences and personas, core tactics, assigned roles and responsibilities, and critical social media KPIs, you can identify and track your brand’s success.
The first step? Getting started.
That’s why ListenFirst created a simple guide to kickstart yoursocial media marketing strategy. Let’s dive in.
Social media marketingfocuses on creating relevant content for social media platforms that connects with your audiences, drives engagement, and increases brand awareness.
While there are infinite variations of this definition, the bottom line is social media marketing is about engaging customers in a relevant, authentic way to help them understand your business, connect with your brand, and ultimately drive leads and increase sales.
Today’s brands understand the increasingly indispensable role of social media marketing. According to our 2022 Social Media Trends Survey Report, more than 55% of brands surveyed increased their social media spend during the first two years of the pandemic. And just over half of brands planned to increase spending further during 2022.
What Are Your Goals?
Setting tangible, measurable social media goals is key to success.
Only 14% of marketers can always tie social media efforts to ROI. Being able to set clear goals around what signifies social media success and accurately measure performance is essential for an effective social media campaign.
Think big. Ensure yourplanaligns with overall business goals.
Do you want to grow awareness? Consider goals related to audience growth.
Are you set on increasing brand affinity and loyalty?
Set a target for engagement rates. Is brand love your focus? Aim for a positive social sentiment.
Incorporate short-term and long-term social media goals into the mix and plan to benchmark progress along the way.
As the infamous business strategist Tony Robbins put it, “Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.”
Who is your audience?
Identifying your audience and persona research.
While it may seem obvious, audience and persona research is a step that is often overlooked when developing asocial media marketing plan. To create impact, know your target audience so you can customize content to fit their specific needs and interests.
Here are some key elements to consider:
What platforms do they use?
When do they use these platforms? Why?
What content do they engage with?
What other brands and/or influencers are they following?
What inspires emotions?
The right social media analytics solution can provide the full picture of these insights for your brand – quickly and easily. This video explains how.
Creating Personas
Go one step deeper and develop research-based personas to bring your target audience to life. Classify your customers into specific groups based on their desires — and plan to tailor your content accordingly.
A persona can include your ideal customer’s role, their goal, and their segment:
Role
A customer’s job description, responsibilities, tasks, and external factors related to their interaction with your service. These factors typically relate to business, work and productivity.
Goal
What the customer is trying to achieve. Goals have a timelessness that roles do not, and should be differentiated from “tasks.” For example, for an online shoe shopper an easy registration process is not their goal, it is a task on the way to buying shoes.
Segment
Characteristics the customer shares with many other customers such as demographics, psychographics, attitudes, and/or behaviors.
Research-based persona categories may revolve on a single main descriptor, for example, a Gen Zer who regularly watches reality TV on Netflix. Or a main descriptor with multiple sub-elements, for example, a Gen Zer who regularly watches reality TV on Netflix, spends time gaming, and gets their news from Instagram.
There are many tools that can help you glean insight from your target audiences and create buyer personas.
It pays to use an in-depth social media analytics solution to easily view audience insights for each social media platform. A comprehensive dashboard, like the one shown below, can help you establish a baseline of competitive audience demographics, languages, geography, and brand affinities to craft the most high-impact, tailored social media marketing plan. Additionally, it can provide in-depth knowledge of current campaigns and what your audience is responding to and why.
The right social media analytics solution can also help you reach new audiences by identifying new trends in your industry to maximize the number of people you reach.
Discover which brands, people, events, and influencers your audience finds interesting, and use that to inform your messaging and creative. By doing so, you can form more targeted, successful partnerships. Plus, you’ll learn how to create engaging content to keep your customers interested.
What Social Media Content Will You Share?
Knowledge is power. Once you have a deeper understanding of your audience and buyer personas, you can develop shareable content that resonates.
But with social media trends ever-changing, what kind of content is the question? Here is some inspiration to help.
Humanize your brand
By now, you should have a specific “voice” for your brand. Be consistent in tone, and don’t be afraid to show the behind-the-scenes processes, the day-to-day work culture, and other aspects of your brand that make it truly unique.
For example, Ben & Jerry’s is a brand who sees politics and social justice as very central to their culture, with them donating 7.5% of their earnings to social causes. These values are also front and center in some of their most popular social media posts. Their top performing post in April 2022 was an Instagram Gallery about cannabis justice that got 191,916 engagements, while their top performing post in June 2022 with 105,541 engagements was an Instagram post outlining their disagreement with their parent company selling their ice cream in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.
User-generated content
We’ll talk later about how to get the entire company involved in sharing, but when it comes to user-generated content, think about some of your biggest brand advocates — your customers. Can they provide reviews, or use a specific hashtag to share experiences with your brand?
One of the most successful examples of brands using user generated content is the TikTok user Nathan Apodaca, who went viral on TikTok, for a video where he’s drinking Ocean Spray Cran-Raspberry juice and singing along to a Fleetwood Mac song while on a skateboard. Ocean Spray shared his video on their Instagram account where it got 102,013 engagements. Additionally, the top performing social media post of 2020 for Ocean Spray with 163,096 engagements was a follow up Instagram video where they gave Apodaca a new car.
As new forms of content continue to surface, it’s important to keep your finger on the industry’s pulse to uncover the latest trends. Right now, here are some forms of content your brand should consider.
Short-form video
With the advent of TikTok and Instagram Reels, it’s no secret that video should be top of mind. According to research, the average person will spend 100 minutes a day watching online video.
Short-form video content, in particular, is what social media consumers most resonate with — and research shows time and again that they get the highest conversion rates.
How dominant is short form video for brands at this point? Between January – July, 2022, 58% of the top 100 social media posts by episodic TV brands with the most engagement were published on TikTok. That includes the top performing post, a 12 second Tonight Show TikTok video featuring Noah Schnapp and Maya Hawke from Stranger Things that got 8,367,300 engagements.
It’s not just brands that are inherently video focused benefiting from sharing short form video through TikTok. The 5 social media posts that generated the most engagements for fashion brands between January and July 2022 were all TikTok videos.
Paid partnerships with influencers
According to Forbes, “influencer marketing is stronger than ever; brands are projected to spend $15 billion on influencer marketing during 2022.”
As social networks like Instagram and TikTok make the in-app shopping experience more seamless, this creates a wealth of opportunity for brand partnerships to thrive with shoppable products at their fingertips.
Images and Galleries
While video is here to stay, images are still an important and essential part of the social ecosystem. In fact, as Instagram continues to push video content, they are seeing a backlash from many users with a desire to bring back more images.
When thinking about your content flow, aim for galleries over a single static image. In a recent webinar, Top 5 Social Media Trends Driving Brand Engagement, we found that during August 2021, 33.5% of engagement on brand content was coming from gallery posts compared to only 18.9% of engagement happening on single image posts.
What Times Will You Post?
As the saying goes, “timing is everything.” Yet on the flip side, there is no one size fits all solution for the perfect time to post content on social media.
A social media analytics feature like our Instant Insights can help you determine the right times for your brand. It will give you the core elements, like the best time of day, day of the week, words, emojis, and hashtags that make up the best performing social media content.
For example, in a recent report focused on hospital brands, data showed that 56% of all industry Reels are posted between 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., resulting in some of the lowest average engagement on videos. As a result, we recommend hospital brands post their Reels between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.
By benchmarking performance against your brand’s historical performance and competitors’ performance, brands can get a clearer picture on what posting windows makes the most sense for them specifically.
How Will You Measure Success?
As management guru, Peter Drucker, said, “You can’t manage what you don’t measure.” Yet many brands still struggle with proving the value of their social media marketingcampaigns. The key to successful measurement hinges on leveraging social media analytics.
Set social media marketing KPIs that align with your business goals
When it comes to setting social media marketing KPIs that will have an impact, less is more. Start with your business goals. Ask yourself, how do those translate into social metrics or outcomes?
Identify metrics that matter
It’s critical to do industry research prior to determining the most logical social media marketing KPIsfor your brand.
Of course, you want to look at historical trends for your brand as well as for your competitors. But there’s also a lot to gain from reviewing other aspirational brands who’ve accomplished what you’re after. Even if the brand is not a player in your industry, understanding benchmarks across industries will give even more context on performance goals and best practices.
Then ask yourself, what’s a reasonable expectation for your brand based on the historical data and performance across other brands? Focus on metrics that speak to non-paid audience activity around your brand such as Interest Score, and look at metrics that normalize audience size, such as Response Rate, which shows engagement relative to the number of followers your brand has.
Social media KPIs are crucial to your brand’s success. A data-driven approach will help in measuring social media engagement as well as your goals, and continuously improving upon them.
Reporting is key to tracking your progress.
Reporting that allows you to see all of your cross-channel data in one view is essential. You’ll also want to set up reporting that will allow you to see the most important metrics, including your benchmarks and historical trends, at a glance.
Dashboards are a great way to communicate the story the data is telling to your key stakeholders. Configurable dashboards are an invaluable tool that allows users to build a series of dashboards to best match their team’s goals.
How Will You Optimize Your Strategy?
The social media landscape is ever-evolving. The TikTok “revolution” serves as a prime example of this. Brands that want to stay relevant to today’s consumer must constantly work to optimize their social media marketing strategy.
Tap into audience sentiment
A sentiment data analysis can help identify opportunities or trends impacting your brand. Once you understand how your audience is feeling and why, you can gain a better sense of what you need to do to change the course of your plan or campaign.
Refine your creative content
Once you’ve nailed down your audience, it is crucial to ensure you are continuously engaging them. Make changes if needed as you discover what inspires action.
By focusing on elements such as color, product, talent or layout that perform best, you can create more impactful campaigns.
Instant Insights from ListenFirst helps you optimize your visuals and messaging, so your content always delivers against your goals.
How To Get The Entire Company Sharing?
Employees should always be seen as a valuable asset. But when it comes to your social media marketing plan, did you know employees are one of your most powerful tools to achieving success?
According to The State of B2B Social Media Marketing Report, nearly 50% of CMOs said that employee advocacy was their best-performing social initiative. Their second highest-performing social initiative was social selling, coming in at 32% — another form of employee advocacy.
So how do you get your employees to walk the walk? Here are a few simple tricks.
Create a social culture
Ensure that your employees can access the appropriate and relevant social media channels at work – and that they feel comfortable doing so. This creates a more social media-friendly culture, where employees will be more apt to share your company content.
Share third-party content
Relevant and credible third-party content is a great way to build thought leadership and bring more attention to your social media feeds. Think about content related to your industry or community. Make sure you tag the appropriate organizations and/or thought leaders to extend your content to a larger network.
Connect employees to the vision
Your vision isn’t for management and management alone. Share your social media marketing goalsmore broadly, and explain how they tie into your brand’s overarching strategy. Employees will buy into these goals and be more motivated to work toward them as a team.
Notify your team
Many social media networks, like LinkedIn, now have features to notify your employees when you make a post. Take advantage of this feature to cast your message – and encourage more reach and engagement.
Recognize employee contributions
Are you employees making strides in social media sharing? Whether it’s a virtual high five or a company shout-out, be sure to let them know their efforts are seen and appreciated. Positive reinforcement will encourage your employees to continue to engage and spread your brand’s message.
In 2021 for example, the top performing Tyson Food content on social media was a Facebook post that got 67,493 engagements about Jeannie, a team member who secured 1.4 million meals for military families. Overall in 2021, the 43 posts Tyson Foods shared using the #TysonTogether hashtag promoting their employees averaged 2,501 compared to their 195 posts not using that hashtag averaging only 98 engagements.
Are You Ready for Prime Time?
Is your social media marketing plan ready for prime time?
Our premier social media analytics solution can help you unlock social insights, optimize social media marketing, and maximize social media ROI. To learn more about ListenFirst, you can request a free demo.
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.
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.
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.
BREAKING: Supreme Court OVERTURNS Roe v Wade
VICTORY!
We’re thankful for the bravery of SCOTUS to render this decision in a volatile political climate. We pray for their safety, and for our nation in the aftermath this decision will bring.https://t.co/Rtsr2kEpzg
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.
