Tv Social Branded Content up 30%, Facebook Organic Reach down 40% for Media Industry

ListenFirst, the most comprehensive social analytics solution for the enterprise, recently released its State of Social TV report with key insights into Facebook’s organic reach, how consumers are engaging with TV properties on social media, audience make-up of consumers engaging with TV properties, and the rise of social branded content as a new advertising opportunity.

ListenFirst’s report reveals that in 2017 Instagram took over Facebook in
engagement for the first time, organic reach of media posts on Facebook declined 40%,
and social branded content outperformed all other TV posts by 42%.

“The growth of TV social audiences presented a new advertising opportunity in the form of branded content. So, naturally, Facebook’s recent announcement about changes to its News Feed has put a lot of media companies on edge. The unique insights in this report can help media companies better prepare for the Facebook changes to come, and also presents advertisers with a compelling reason for continuing to partner with media companies on social branded content,” says Jason Klein, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, ListenFirst.

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Which social platforms are TV networks using most?

Both Facebook and Instagram saw growth in posted content, with +9% and +4% more posts since 2016 respectively, while Twitter, YouTube, and Tumblr all saw declines in volume. Despite Twitter producing -16% less content year over year, the channel saw the highest volume of content in 2017 with 663K posts, contributing 40% of total posted content across all social platforms.

Where are TV audiences engaging?

In 2017, consumers engaged with TV content a total of 4.9B times — but on what channels? YouTube aside, Instagram and Facebook accounted for the largest share of engagement in 2017, with Instagram seeing the only positive engagement growth across social, up +62% from Q1 2016.

Reaching your fans organically on Facebook

On average, 5.8% of a TV network or program’s Facebook posts reached its fans organically in 2017. This represents a 40% decline in organic reach from Q1 to Q4. At the same time, the number of people who saw a TV post organically decreased by only 13%. Even though less fans (people who “like” a TV page) are seeing less content, the decline is less dramatic when examining reach overall.
The viral nature of the Facebook News Feed is the likely driver. A ‘story’ is created on a fan’s News Feed each time a fan likes a post, which in turn reaches the friends and family of that fan resulting in more people reached.

Social Branded Content: A New Ad Opportunity

The growth of social audiences presented a new advertising opportunity for the TV industry in 2017. Social branded content (i.e., content that is published by a media property and influenced by a sponsor in exchange of value) published by TV networks over the past year has grown steadily, with a 30% jump from Q4 2016 to Q4 2017. But, while the number of posts continues to rise, branded content is still in its infancy. Today, branded content for the TV industry represents only <1% (0.72%) of all posts.

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Key takeaways from the report include:

1. Decline in Facebook organic reach does not mean less people see content from media properties: While Facebook organic reach declined by 40% in 2017, the number of people who saw a TV post organically declined by only 13%, meaning TV posts reached audiences beyond a TV page’s fan base.
2. Instagram surpassed Facebook as the number one most engaging platform: Instagram grew 41% in engagement in 2017 while Facebook engagement declined by 25%.
3. Instagram TV audiences catches up to Twitter TV audiences: Instagram’s fan footprint across TV pages grew 11x from 2014 to 2017 topping 256M followers, nearing Twitter’s 283M followers.
4. Streaming networks outperform broadcast and cable in social engagement: Social engagement for streaming programs spiked 13x from 2016-2017, while Broadcast and Cable programs grew by 6x and 5x, respectively, during the same period.
5. TV social branded content is highly effective: Social branded content published by TV pages outperformed non-branded content by an average 42% in 2017, and generated 9x more engagement than what an advertiser generated on its own page.

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