Expion’s F.A.V.E. 50 Social Retail Report analysed the Facebook presence of 50 US retailers during the first half of 2013. Tiffany recorded more Facebook fans liking, sharing and commenting on posts than any other brand.
According to the study, the jewellery company, which has about 4.4 million fans on the social media platform, excelled in the category due to its “aspirational, high-quality, image-driven posts.” Among the retailers included in the report were Walmart, Coach and Victoria’s Secret.
A major finding from the study was that people valued quality content as opposed to quantity. Walmart, for example, published more posts and had more fans than any other retailer, however, it generated less engagement per post than both Tiffany and Victoria’s Secret. Tiffany posted an average of one post per day.
When looking at industry sectors, luxury brands created the most fan engagement, said to be the result of captivating product images, often tied to pop culture. Retail sectors such as pharmacies and supermarkets fell to the bottom of the list.
“Key findings showcase that compelling content is still king, and brands that organically are tied to style and pop culture, like luxury brands, tend to benefit from the strongest engagement with their fans,” Expion CEO Peter Heffring said.
The report also found that although video functionality across social media platforms like Instagram was popular, posts with images still dominated on Facebook. Images represented 80 per cent of the 16,047 posts published by retailers in the period, while video posts accounted for only 3 per cent.
More findings
According to the study, the first half of 2013 was the slowest growth period since 2011, with a decline in fan engagement and volume. This was despite an increase in the number of posts that were published.
The report also highlighted what times of the day and week generated the most and least amount of fan engagement – suggesting that businesses looking to increase engagement should reach fans in the morning.
The period between 11am and 2pm was found not only to be the most popular time for retailers to publish posts, but also had the highest number of top performing posts. Post performance was calculated by dividing the number of fan actions that each post generated by the total number of posts published during the six-month period.
However, the report noted that the time between 8am and 11am provided the most opportunity for retailers to engage with fans – 19 per cent of all posts, including 25 per cent of the top performing posts.
The afternoon period between 2pm and 5pm generated 25 per cent of all posts, but only 19 per cent of the top performing posts.
Furthermore, approximately 17 per cent of all posts were published on a Friday, but it was also found to be the most common day for poor performing posts.
Expion is a social software company with offices in the US, Canada, South America and the UK.