QUICK NUMBERS:
Cruz: Total Followers-2,601,303/Total Engagement: .15%
Rubio: Total Followers-2,786,963/Total Engagement .04%
Sanders: Total Followers: 4428200/Total Engagement .14%
Clinton:Total Followers: 7,474,837/ Total Engagement: .08%
Trump: Total Followers: 10,905,948/ Total Engagement .28%
SO what candidate has the strongest social media presence. Who is getting the most people to engage with them? The answer may surprise you, it surprised me. How did I get interested in this? What would possess me to compile this information and cross it? I have this odd habit of becoming fascinated by, um..interesting people. For instance Mike Tyson. I'm obsessed. I watch his cartoon, any YouTube videos that pop up..basically anything Mike Tyson related.....I find him fascinating. Like wise I find Trump fascinating and that's how this all started. I began following him just to see what he would post. I noticed his social media engagement (as he has lots of it) and wondered..how did the other top candidates compare and I decided to do a basic cross study comparing Trump, Clinton, Sanders, Rubio and Cruz across Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Let me explain just a few things to those who are't quite as savvy on social media basics. First Facebook is still the most important platform. People are basically on Facebook..all of the time. Everyone is on Facebook 18-60..everyone uses Facebook. The demographics are good too. The average age of Facebook users is 40. I bet you didn't expect that did you? Also 75% of people use Facebook. These are the people who vote, so when you see the information I'm going to give you, consider that. . Next is Twitter. The average age of a Twitter user is 37 and about 25% of people use Twitter. Lastly is Instagram. This is primarily a tool for young people. The age range is primarily 18-29. While one may say this isn't the age group that votes, I would say if someone in that age bracket interacts with you on Instagram, they are probably very interested in what you have to say and probably the type of person more likely to vote.
*DISCLAIMER:
First, this was no scientific study, obviously. I compared followers, likes, shares, re-tweets and positive vs negative posts. I used Facebook posts from Dec. 14th to Dec 17th, the last twenty-five Twitter posts, and the last ten Instagram posts. Then I averaged the numbers to get an engagement score for each candidate because it's fine and dandy to get followers, but its another thing entirely if they are engaged in your campaigning. Re-tweets and shares weigh double as this widens the candidates reach to new voters and causes discussion. I did not consider things such as comments because those could be people expressing dislike in the candidates views. This is not in any way to give a complete take on social media engagement as many other things would have to be taken into account and since I'm not getting paid..I didn't go to deep with this. I'd also think a really good study would include YouTube. I am not endorsing any candidate. I will give my take on their social media campaign though. Math is not my strong point, so take my stats with a grain of salt or you know..do it yourself.
Formula is likes+shares+shares divided by followers =engagement number
Total engagement is all likes+all shares+all shares divided by the total number of followers.
*No the Facebook posts aren't the same amount..those candidates not posting enough have themselves to blame for not using free advertising. Of course there are those candidates who prefer to get much engagement on a well thought out post rather than just posting multiple times.
TED CRUZ
FACEBOOK: Followers-1,764,303 (Posts-35) Likes-273073 Shares-47756 Engagement: .02%
TWITTER: Followers-660000 (Posts 25) Likes-10082 Re-tweets-6857 Engagement:.03%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-177000 (Posts 10) Likes 27303 Engagement:1.5
Total Followers-2,601,303 Likes-310458 Shares/Re-tweets-109226 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT: .15%
Notes:From What I looked at Cruz was running a mostly positive campaign. He takes his social media campaign seriously and I believe he has purchased likes and possibly followers on Facebook. (many of his posts had no engagement on them, which is odd) He didn't seem to know what to post on Instagram though, however he had the highest engagement on Instagram. His feed seemed to be full of endorsements, places he can be seen, and things he wants to do in office. Cruze is trying hard, but maybe he should follow Trump or Sanders for idea on how to do social media correctly.
MARCO RUBIO
FACEBOOK: Followers-1,167963 (Posts 18) Likes-42881 Shares-4069 Engagement:.04%
TWITTER: Followers-1,020,000 (Posts 25) Likes-13855 Re-tweets-6746 Engagement: .02%
INSTAGRAM; Followers 599000 (Posts 10) Likes 24358 Engagement:.40%
Total Followers-2,786,963 Likes 81094 Share/Re-tweets-21630 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT .04%
Notes: Rubio's social media is focused on things he wants to change, such as repealing Obamacare and other things he dislikes about the current administration. While not exactly positive, he isn't cutting down other politicians running so I would say he is running a positive campaign that is clearly focused on the message he wants to get out. His Twitter the day I viewed it however, was mostly re-tweets of other people's messages. At first I didn't think he even had an Instagram account he was using because @marcorubio has 3 posts and 600 followers. I decided that just couldn't be correct and found the account he is using, it's under @marcorubiofla or .marcorubio16. It is confusing. I was however able to get a clear view of the things he wants to tackle in office. It is important to remember though, that isn't all your social media should be about.
Bernie Sanders
FACEBOOK: Followers-2,655200 (Posts 26) Likes-758641 Shares-292901 Engagement: .50%
TWITTER: Followers-1,300,000 (Posts 25) Likes 35,483 Re-tweets-20336 Engagement: .05%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-473000 (Posts 10) Likes 305000 Engagement: .64%
Total Followers: 4428200 Likes-1099124 Shares/Re-tweets-626474 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT: .14%
Notes: Sanders is running a positive campaign. While yes, he remarks on the GOP, he is mostly focused on things he wants to change and not running other politicians down. His social media game is on point. It is handled very well. Although I would say he is posting on Facebook through two accounts. To get enough posts in the specific time I had to use posts from each page. I am not sure if this is a social media technique or not..but I feel he should focus on one main page for his campaign. He has great Instagram pictures, an informative Facebook and a fun Twitter feed. I give his social media game a B+.
Hillary Clinton
FACEBOOK: Followers- 1,989837 (Posts 29) Likes 314305 Shares-35879 Engagement:.19%
TWITTER: Followers- 4,910,000 (Posts 25) Likes 28184 Re-tweets-19781 Engagement; .01%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-575000 (Posts 10) Likes 191200 Engagement:.33%
Total Followers: 7,474,837 Likes 533689 Shares/Re-tweets:113320 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT: .08%
Notes: Hillary has the most negative campaign of all of the candidates. It is disappointingly negative. As I looked through her posts it really stood out and was the main thing I remember from her social media. So, Hilary..you don't like conservatives..got it. Quite a few of her posts had NO shares or re-tweets, this leaves me to believe..much as I thought about Cruz, that she is purchasing likes. I'm sorry but if you have that many followers and your engagement is THAT low..something is up. I didn't feel looking at her pages were at all encouraging.
Donald Trump
FACEBOOK: Followers-4,863,948 (Posts 29) Likes-2131419 Shares-222795 Engagement: .52%
TWITTER: Followers-5,320,000 Likes-111402 Re-tweet-71045 Engagement:..04%
INSTAGRAM: Followers-722000 Likes-235700 Engagement: .32%
Total Followers: 10,905,948 Likes-2478521 Shares/Re-tweets-587680 TOTAL ENGAGEMENT.28%
Notes: Trump has by far the highest number of followers and a decent engagement with them. His campaign is surprisingly positive. He is focusing on the fact he is ahead in the polls and places you can catch him. However I believe he could increase his engagement by focusing on exactly WHAT he plans on doing in office. According to these numbers though, I'd say if the campaign was between Hilary and Trump..I'd bet my money on Trump right now.
Follow up notes: I'm really curious as to how well social media and the engagement of people who follow politicians on social media will do so far as determining who people will vote for in the election. I'll do this again once we have our candidates selected and get closer to election day. Of course the reason these numbers aren't compiled by a paid professional with the time to do all of it correctly is we have no idea how social media will effect the election. There is a huge difference between social media usage now as what it was at our last election. The time the average person spends daily on social media is now almost TWO HOURS and 40 minutes of that time is Facebook. Its fairly obvious that Facebook is a great way to engage with voters, however my view is that people first like you and then engage with you on social media, so television is still a very important media.
