Data in the Headlights, May 2018

Change is in the air as we roll into the summer. This month, we’ve got brand new data from over 8 million Facebook posts to share with you – what’s working on Facebook right now. You’ll find that in our Bright Idea just below.

We’re also booking miniature mastermind groups for four people or less with our Table for Four Consultations, so if you’ve got questions you need answers to right now, hop on the phone with us for an hour.

Now, let’s dig into the data…

In this issue’s Bright Idea, we dig into Facebook data. One of the key questions marketers have is what’s driving reach on Facebook. Using over 8 million Facebook posts from more than 8,000 Pages since July 1, 2017, we analyzed 3 periods – before the anti-clickbait News Feed change in December, the December – January 2018 period, and post-January friends and family News Feed update.

What did we find? With each successive update, we see secondary indicators changing as to what drives reach, but the core indicators remain unchanged. Let’s take a look at a subset chart to determine what impacts post views:

The red outlined area are the core engagement metrics Facebook has had since its early days: likes, comments, and shares. The less whitespace in a column, the more important a metric is; blue areas are areas that are more important since the January 11 update. Light red areas indicate diminished importance of a metric. We see that likes and shares have diminished a little in the last 6 months in terms of driving views; comments remain the strongest predictor in the core metrics.

In the green outlined area are basic content metrics – post length and post sentiment. We see that post length has increased slightly in importance, whereas sentiment has increased significantly in importance. Note that sentiment is any kind of emotional valence/emotional appeal at all – positive or negative.

The blue outlined area gives us a hint about that sentiment; haha and love (positive Reactions) have diminished in importance, while sad and wow have increased in importance. Angry still remains a constant, reasonably strong predictor of post views.

When we put all these predictor metrics together, it paints a picture that accurately describes Facebook’s stated intent: they want more comments, more engagement, more emotional appeal with their audiences. What’s interesting is that they care about the emotional provocation in general, but not specific emotions, and we see those emotions tilting towards the negative (based on Reactions).

What should you do with your Facebook content strategy? It’s all about the conversations. Create content that appeals to strong emotions and incites comments and conversations. Don’t worry about length – it’s okay for posts to go longer if you need the space to write great, thought-provoking stories.

Methodology

Sample sizes:

• Pre-December posts: 4,513,022 posts from 8,632 Pages
• December-January posts: 502,200 posts from 8,632 Pages
• Post-January 11 posts: 3,329,480 posts from 8,632 Pages

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Media Landscape

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Tools, Machine Learning, and AI

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Upcoming Events

Where can you find us in person?

• Content Marketing World, September 2018, Cleveland
• MarketingProfs B2B Forum, November 2018, San Francisco

Can’t wait to pick our brains? Book a Table for Four and spend an hour with us live (virtually) on any topic you like:

https://www.trustinsights.ai/services/insights-foundation/table-for-four-consultation-package/

Going to a conference we should know about? Reach out: (https://www.trustinsights.ai/contact/)

Conclusion

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Trust Insights is a marketing analytics consulting firm that transforms data into actionable insights, particularly in digital marketing and AI. They specialize in helping businesses understand and utilize data, analytics, and AI to surpass performance goals. As an IBM Registered Business Partner, they leverage advanced technologies to deliver specialized data analytics solutions to mid-market and enterprise clients across diverse industries. Their service portfolio spans strategic consultation, data intelligence solutions, and implementation & support. Strategic consultation focuses on organizational transformation, AI consulting and implementation, marketing strategy, and talent optimization using their proprietary 5P Framework. Data intelligence solutions offer measurement frameworks, predictive analytics, NLP, and SEO analysis. Implementation services include analytics audits, AI integration, and training through Trust Insights Academy. Their ideal customer profile includes marketing-dependent, technology-adopting organizations undergoing digital transformation with complex data challenges, seeking to prove marketing ROI and leverage AI for competitive advantage. Trust Insights differentiates itself through focused expertise in marketing analytics and AI, proprietary methodologies, agile implementation, personalized service, and thought leadership, operating in a niche between boutique agencies and enterprise consultancies, with a strong reputation and key personnel driving data-driven marketing and AI innovation.