A social media analysis shows no correlation between post frequency and engagement. Image credit: HubSpot
Don’t expect that posting more frequently will increase social media engagement. More posts do not equal more engagement. That’s a key finding from HubSpot’s 2015 Social Media Benchmark report that analyzed how over 7,000 businesses use social media.
An examination of posting and engagement rates by industries and organization size shows no correlation between the number of posts and the number of likes, shares or retweets. If anything, the analysis indicates a slight negative correlation.
The HubSpot study also indicates that images don’t improve engagement, a counterintuitive assertion in social media marketing circles. In some instances, interactions per post decrease as the number of posts with images increases.
Two industries that post the least — consumer goods/retail/ecommerce and manufacturing – have high rates of interactions per post on average. The nonprofit/education sector boasts the highest engagement rate by far yet has a middling posting rate.
The Impact of the Number of Followers
The study does show that organizations with more followers tend to have more interactions. That’s a simple numbers game that makes sense, says HubSpot content strategist Erik Devaney, the report’s author. Nonprofit and education organizations have the most social followers on average and the most interactions per post.
The relationship doesn’t always hold. The marketing services industry has the third largest number of followers but the third worst average number of interactions per post. Plus, companies with 1-10 employees have a larger average following than the 11-50 group, but have few interactions per post.
The number of followers can be misleading, Devaney cautions. Some followers don’t see your posts. For instance, your public posts on Facebook are only sent to some of your followers. Some followers are inactive, and others are likely bots or fraudsters.
Comparing the Retail and Real Estate Industries
The consumer goods/retail/ecommerce industry has an average social following of 370,321 across all social media networks and posts 6.02 times per week on average, and has the second highest engagement rate. The real estate industry has an average social following of 103,229 across all networks and posts 19.21 times a week. Real estate, the sector that posts the most, has the lowest engagement: Over 10 posts a week produced an average of one interaction.
Interactions per post in the real estate industry indicate that frequent posting does not equal higher engagement. Image credit: HubSpot
That could be because the industry has saturated the market with posts. A well-timed, well-crafted post every week or two may be more likely to rise above the clutter than two or more posts a day, he theorizes.
However, different audiences respond differently. What works for one industry or company size might not work for another. Different industries favor different social media platforms. Real estate companies love Facebook, posting there over 14 times a week on average. Marketing services prefer Twitter, tweeting 8.68 times a week.
While social media marketers strive to improve engagement rates, some marketing gurus stress the importance of tying engagement to concrete business objectives. Savvy marketers use engagement as a tool to drive social media users to their company websites, develop sales leads and increase ROI. Social media experts say engagement can help gauge the effectiveness of social media content, boost search engine results, web site traffic and sales leads, and indirectly increase sales.
Bottom Line: HubSpot’s new social media benchmarks report provides a wealth of data and insights on posting and engagement rates by industry and company size. Most interesting, its analysis shows a lack of correlation between the posting frequency and engagement.
William J. Comcowich founded and served as CEO of CyberAlert LLC, the predecessor of Glean.info. He is currently serving as Interim CEO and member of the Board of Directors. Glean.info provides customized media monitoring, media measurement and analytics solutions across all types of traditional and social media.
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