Hillsong sings on social while big brands suffer in April
Social media engagement is down for April, primarily due to the impact on a few "power players" and the broader decline in publishing, retail, sports & recreation and travel & leisure, according to social data platform Shareablee. Those most impacted have been the NRL and Cricket Australia.
What you need to know:
- Social media engagement across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter was down for April, according to Shareablee
- Major national brands including Woolies, Coles, Maccas, NAB, KFC and CBA all saw sharp declines in their social media engagement
- The NRL also dropped out of Shareablee's top 10 most socially engaged brands list, while evangelist church Hillsong entered for the first time in April
- Engagement in publishing is down 17% and accounts for 30% of the market, while sports and recreation is down 38% and is 14% of the market
- Conversely engagement in consumer goods is up 25% but is only 1% of the market, government is up 12% but is only 1.6% of the market
- The NRL and Cricket Australia suffered the worst declines in social media actions (likes, shares, video views), with a year-on-year decline of 84% and 57%, respectively.
Hillsong wins out in social media scrum
"April was a remarkable month, to say the least and the fact that the NRL failed to make the top 10 and Hillsong did feels strangely appropriate," says Shareablee Managing director Michael McKeon.
"You know things are grim when an evangelical church is more engaging than rugby league in April. Or perhaps the NRL just dropped the ball? I'm thinking the latter."
According to the social media data platform, the NRL ranked #51 for the month of April in the top 10 most socially engaged with publishers.
However, the AFL and Cricket managed to maintain their presence, with McKeon labelling the NRL's decline "a missed opportunity".
The OP Gaming returned to the top 10 for the 2nd time this year which McKeon says "feels right" considering the additional free time a lot of people are experiencing.
Overall social engagement for the month of April was down 17% on March and 31% on the year prior.
The continued presence of ABC and Nine News reflects the trend observed in March. Engagement for broadcast news pages is up 20% year on year as people are turning to their social pages for regular updates on the pandemic.
Big brands become anti-social
Here's the top trends in year-on-year category growth and decline for total user actions across Facebook, Twitter & Instagram:
- Consumer Goods is up 25% but is only 1% of the market
- Government is up 12% but is only 1.6% of the market
- Media & Entertainment is up 16% and is 30% of the market
- Public Services is up 23% but is only 2% of the market
- Publishing is down 17% and is 30% of the market
- Retail is down 11% and is 14% of the market
- Sports and Recreation is down 38% and is 14% of the market
- Travel & Leisure is down 35% and is 5% of the market
Key national brands which also experienced social media declines include:
- Woolworths is down 36%
- Coles is down 65%
- McDonald's is down 68%
- KFC is down 81%
- NAB is down 8%
- CBA is down 75%
- Westpac is down 3%
- ANZ is up 51%
NRL climbing back up the ladder?
Last week, Nielsen Sports released the following insights where NRL social media engagement took off as the game became the first national sport and one of the first internationally to return to live broadcast games.
Key points are:
- NRL social interactions for 28 May was the highest it's been since the completion of Round 2.
- Last night's winners the Parramatta Eels were the most engaged of all teams across all codes yesterday and accounted for 22% of the 370,000 NRL interactions recorded.
“Fans rejoice as footy returns, the NRL recorded its highest social interactions in a single day since the completion of round 2 with 370,000 social interactions and over 500,000 video views," Nielsen’s Managing Director of Media and Sports, Monique Perry says.
"The closed-door event hasn't stopped fans from engaging with their favourite teams, athletes and leagues on social media."
