Recently, we reported how social media was bringing the most profound changes to our living rooms via so-called Social TV. That was based on Yahoo!7’s Social TV Survey.
Now, we have independent validation of the survey – at least on what is happening on Facebook!
That comes from Online Circle, a Melbourne digital media agency that has found a way to measure Facebook impact for individual corporates and industries as a whole. In its report for February, television programmes rocketed to the top spot, measured by the number of fans. It’s a big leap from the agency’s 2012 mid-year report when Retail Fashion topped industry groups on Facebook impact. TV Programs had nearly 9.4 million Facebook fans, compared with 5.5 million for Retail Fashion, the No. 2.
FMCG – Snackfoods (4.9 million fans), FMCG — Beverages (3.9 million) and Quick Serve Restaurants (3.7 million) rounded off the top five performers on Facebook. Out of the top five are Department Stores and Automotive.
TV knows no slowdown
The high standing for TV programmes reflected in the individual rankings as well. Bananas in Pyjamas, the children’s television show, topped with 2 million fans. Also in the top five were Home and Away and Masterchef Australia, each with over one million fans. Others in the top five were: Bubble O’Bill Ice Creams (1.3 million) and Pringles Australia (1.3 million).
“In our last report we suspected that the traditionally quiet summer months for television could result in a slowdown in fan growth for the category but in actual fact, the industry grew a healthy 3.5%,” said Lucio Ribeiro, OnlineCircle’s lead strategist.
On another metric – engagement rate (the quotient of People Talking About average and the Fan Likes average) – the clear winner is FMCG—Beverages. It scores a high 36%, more than double the No. 2, Radio. There is something about the beverage industry and social media because also in the top five is the alcoholic beverages sector, with an engagement rate of 7.2%. Rounding off the top five are telecom (7.3%) and banks (7%).
Radio rocks
Ribeiro calls Radio, a new category the agency has added recently, the “best in class” when it comes to social media. Its “incredibly high engagement rate” of 15.6% for February is actually just down from 17.5% in December. TV progammes, in comparison, had a modest engagement rate of 6.9%.
“The secret for brands in this industry appears to be a solid Facebook advertising investment, hosting competitions and posting content much more regularly than brands from other industries (between 5-10 times a day),” said Ribeiro.
Online Circle is led by CEO Jeff Richardson, a 20-year marketing veteran who has worked for Telstra and consulted with companies such as McDonald’s, Qantas, United Energy, ANZ and Verisign.
