Analysis of a Social Post

Today we'll be touching the surface of social media analytics. So for those of you that are new to social analytics, this post is for you!

I decided to analyze one of my favorite beer companies, Harpoon Brewery. They have fantastic beer and are employee owned! We're going to take a look at their Facebook page for the month of August and find some basic insights just by analyzing the surface of their page. Three things we will be looking for in their Facebook posts are: the time it was posted, content type, and interactions. Let's dive in!

The month of August, by the numbers:

• Total posts = 16

  • 1 pinned post

  • 5 events

  • 22 photos

  • 2 videos

  • Most likes on a post: 244

  • Most shares on a post: 71

  • Most comments on a post: 171

There is one obvious post that knocks all others out of the park this month, and it's a beer launch with Dunkin'.

Top post of August

It's not surprising that this post far surpasses their other Facebook posts in all categories–likes, shares, and comments. This post is partnering with another major brand and features a nice image. This social post also encourages fans to see their future events via the bit.ly link. Another thing worth mentioning here is the time posted; a Wednesday at 9:30 am! To make things more fair, let's analyze their top second and third post of August.

Second most popular post

Harpoon's second most popular post in August was yet another beer post! This post came in second with 183 likes, 25 comments, and 15 shares. The release of Allston X-Mas is a tongue-n-cheek post with a small giveaway to a nice hotel and gift card. This post promotes the use of the hashtag #allstonxmasgiveaway for this giveaway and was posted on a Monday at 2:00 pm.

And the bronze winner goes to: this dude!

Third most popular post

With 115 likes, 2 comments, and 13 shares, this is the third most popular post from the month of August. Now, I have no idea why Harpoon was looking for Dominic, I feel like we missed something! BUT, it seems as though he was found from NESN and connected to him through social media. Dominic is rewarded with a YEAR'S worth of beer! WOAH. I'm jealous. Time/date of this post cannot be determined.

Summary

Just for fun I looked at the lowest-performing post of the month, and it was a tie!

These two events were posted one day after each other and around the same time. They both received 6 likes and 1 comment. One theory is: Perhaps events don't receive much engagement on this page, but has more engagement on the event page.

Looking at Harpoon's posts overall, posts of events, videos, and promotional photos of barware were always beat out by can releases and partnerships or mentions of other brands. Harpoon doesn't typically use hashtags, but instead urges fans to check out their latest releases or events. Photos of their beer go a long way for this brand and giveaways help boost engagement for them. Timing in this analysis did not seem to make a difference.

What works for Harpoon may not work for you, and vice-versa. So take this analysis with a grain of salt! In my next post I will be diving deeper into social media analytics, so stay tuned!