This week, our analysis focuses on Gary Vaynerchuk (@GaryVee). In case you don’t know, Gary is co-founder of Vayner Media and a self-trained wine and social media expert. Since launching his Twitter account five years ago, he has become a highly engaged, thought-leader in the Twittersphere.

Review the complete @GaryVee Twitter Analysis. –>

Averaging a daily growth rate of nearly 100 new followers, and sending over 60 Tweets per day, Gary’s Twitter presence continues to expand. Based on the data, here is why this is happening.

Being Responsive & Creating Conversations: Key Traits of a Good Influencer

Responding Often

On average, Gary replies to 8% of his over 2,700 mentions per week. By engaging like this, he builds the perception that he is involved with his community, not just talking at his followers.

Responding Quickly

Gary is also quick to engage with his followers. His response time is normally within 30 minutes of someone mentioning him. This reinforces the idea that he is not only listening to what the community says, but he also converses with those same people.

Responding at All Hours

The majority of the day, Gary is interacting on Twitter. His “business hours” appear to be from 5:00 AM to 10:00 PM Pacific Time. This level of accessibility strengthens the idea that he is there to support and be involved with his community.

Staying On Topic

Based on his most influential topics, listed to the right, we see that Gary “stays on message.” These directly reflect what he has built his image around. We can assume that this strategy helps retain followers as he continues to share content that is related to what originally motivated them to follow him.

Being Like Gary

Building a lasting Twitter presence with 900,000+ followers is a worthwhile goal. Based on Gary’s success, key elements of a long-term Twitter approach are: be responsive, accessible, and build a community, not just a following. Doing this will keep people interested in what you have to say and entice new followers to join in the conversation.

Curious to learn more about your own Twitter presence?
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Here is a brief overview of each chat based on data from this week.

1. #blogchat – Sundays at 9pm ET
Helping companies improve both corporate and personal blogs; themes range from SEO to building a team of bloggers.
Moderated by Mack Collier.
2,119 Tweets on 5/6/2012

2. #hcsm – Sundays at 9pm ET
Bringing together health care professionals to discuss the benefits of social media for health care communication strategies.
Moderated by @HealthSocMed.
1,619 Tweets on 5/6/2012

3. #pinchat – Wednesdays at 9pm ET
Discussing best practices, showcasing new uses, highlighting brand usage, and sharing a passion for Pinterest.
Moderated by Kelly Lieberman.
1,112 Tweets on 5/9/2012

4. #smmanners – Tuesdays at 10pm ET
“Bringing back civility and charm to online communications.” Topics range from building business relationships through social media, to the appropriate ways of requesting RTs or recommendations on LinkedIn.
Moderated by Dabney Porte.
1,071 Tweets on 5/8/2012

5. #brandchat – Wednesdays at 11am ET
Each week they focus on one of the following themes: big business brands & non-profit brands, small business brands, personal brands, all about brands, and occasionally they run “open chats” about brands.
Moderated by Maria Duron and David Sandusky.
1,024 Tweets on 5/9/2012

6. #linkedinchat – Tuesday at 8pm ET
Conversing about ways to use the LinkedIn platform, associated applications, and other social media platforms to improve results on LinkedIn.
Moderated by Viveka vonRosen.
707 Tweets on 5/8/2012

7. #mmchat – Mondays at 9pm ET
Featuring a special guest who discusses a relevant social media topic and answers questions from participants.
Moderated by Jeff Ashcroft.
654 Tweets on 5/7/2012

8. #socialchat – Mondays at 9pm ET
Taking a featured guest and “putting them on the hot seat.” Participants drive the conversation by asking questions and engaging with the guest.
Moderated by Alan Knecht and Michelle StinsonRoss.
553 Tweets on 5/7/2012

9. #smchat – Wednesdays at 1pm ET
During 2012, they are running 4 discrete “series” which take place on specific weeks each month. The weekly topics are focused on mobility, customer service, marketing, social change, and key social media trends.
Moderated by Chris Jones, as well as having a variety of weekly hosts.
516 Tweets on 5/9/2012

10. #wjchat – Wednesdays at 8pm ET
Talking about all things content, technology, ethics & business for journalism on the web.
Moderated by @wjchat.
470 Tweets on 5/9/2012

11. #pr20chat – Tuesdays at 8pm ET
Helping PR professionals understand how new media is shaping the public relations industry.
Moderated by Heather Whaling and Justin Goldsborough.
376 Tweets on 5/8/2012

12. #journchat – Mondays at 8pm ET
Facilitating conversations between journalists, bloggers, and public relations profressionals.
Moderated by Sarah Evans.
267 Tweets on 5/7/2012

13. #smbiz – Tuesdays at 8pm ET
Run as an open chat session, where small businesses can get answers from experts and other small business owners.
Moderated by John Sternal and Chrisanne Sternal.
107 Tweets on 5/8/2012

Google+ continues to gain market share and build consumer momentum. Since our month 3 update, two new brands from the Interbrand Top 100 list have activated pages. Overall activity is on the rise: average weekly circler engagement is up 112% and content engagement is up 65%. In this analysis we will revisit previous trends, call out new ones, and identify the strategies being adopted by top performers.

You can see the complete report here.

Google Brand Page Adoption

Diving In, But Not Head First

Since our February update, 2 new brands became active on Google+: Xerox and Nike. In that same time period, 22% of the brands now have circler counts over 100,000, up from 13%. This includes Nike, giving them an impressive 2 month growth rate. This level of overall growth demonstrates that brands are prioritizing Google+ and working to capitalize on the expanding base of Google+ participants.

Circle Size Continues to Balloon

Since the last report, the total number of circlers increased by 138%. The majority of which are spread across 22 different brands (up from 10 at month 3). It is also interesting to note that the gap is widening between the top 22 brands and the rest. Armani, #22, has 111,000 circlers and Adidas, #23, has only 26,000 circlers. As this gap widens, it is going to become even more challenging for other brands, especially those without a presence, to catch up.

Which Brands and Verticals Are Leading the Way?

Learnings From Top Brands

This quarter, the brands holding the top spots have changed, again. Ferrari has blown past the competition and is now in the top spot by number of circlers. They also have the second best engagement score (as a percent of circlers) amongst top 10 brands, with 7%. Their strategy of being an early brand adopters, frequently posting, and sharing a high volume of multimedia content is paying off. Brands would do well to track and emulate Ferrari’s strategies.

H&M has moved down one spot to number 2 in terms of circlers with 684,670, followed by GUCCI with 585,129. Unfortunately, both of these brands continue to lag behind Ferrari in terms of circler engagement.

Learnings From Top Verticals

Automotive continues to lead the way, based on total circler size. Of the industries with over 100,000 circlers, they are second in terms of fan engagement. If all the automotive brands adopt similar growth strategies to Ferrari, the industry will stand a good chance of being number one across the board on Google+.
Internet services comes in fourth in terms of circler size, but of the industries with over 100,000 circlers, they are number one in terms of circler engagement, with 15%. Again, the strategy of frequent posting, combined with a high volume of multimedia content, drives positive outcomes.

Google+ Engagement Trends

Circler Engagement is Movin’ On Up

Brands have reason to be enthusiastic and optimistic about Google+: average weekly circler engagement is up 112% since February. With engagement on the rise, early adopters are growing their audience and the general opportunity for brands is compelling. That being said, it is still early and the scale of brand activity on Google+ still pales in comparison to Facebook and Twitter.

Engagement is Growing, But What is the Driving Factor?

Content engagement is also on the rise: it increased 65% since our month 3 study. Multimedia content (photos and videos) continues to drive the vast majority of engagement. Any brand wanting to be a top player on Google+ must factor this in to their engagement strategy.

When Should You Google+?

The vast majority of Google+ activity takes place during the work day. As consumer adoption expands, it will be interesting to see if this shifts towards nonwork hours.

Conclusions

With six months of data all pointing “up and to the right,” it is safe to say that Google+ is here to stay, and is becoming a key player in the social media space. It continues to provide a captive audience that is eager to engage with their favorite brands. There are still opportunities, as no one brand has dominated the top spot each quarter.

More Resources

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The Competitors:

The Results:

Top Engager: Captain Morgan

Comparing engagement as a percent of total fans, Captain Morgan drives the most fan engagement. The Captain may be trailing the others in terms of total fan base, but the fans he does have are interacting with him quite heavily.

Most Prolific: The Aflac Duck

Analyzing the mascots’ outbound posts, the Aflac Duck is the most active at sharing and communicating with fans. It’s also interesting to note he is using all of the content types available, giving him the most diverse content mix.

Best Content: Flo the Progressive Girl

Measuring the virality and popularity of posts (likes, comments and shares per post), Flo has the best content. Kudos also to Captain Morgan; even though he came in second, he has quite the volume of shares.

Note: In this case we used engagement per post as the basis for comparison. An alternate approach for competitive analysis: analyze engagement per post, per fan or per increment of fans (such as 10K or 100K fans).

Miss Congeniality: Flo the Progressive Girl

Using share of fans as the comparison, Flo is the most liked mascot. She has amassed a total of 4,002,315 fans. This is a highly impressive number, especially given that insurance companies are not known for large social media followings.

Most ‘Gossiped’ About: The Geico Gecko

Comparing People Talking About This, as a percent of fans, the Geico Gecko is the most talked about mascot. This little green guy may have the smallest number of fans, but they are definitely creating stories about him.

Best In Show: Flo the Progressive Girl

No surprises here: Flo The Progressive Girl is the top performer! Congrats, you can accept your prize (a Simply Measured free trial), at any time.

Want to run your own social media showdown? Or perhaps a run a competitive analysis? Then try our Facebook Competitive Analysis.

Social listening is the practice of identifying engagement opportunities and monitoring brand perceptions.

Engagement is the way you interact with and respond to your audience.

Analytics and reporting are how you bring the data together from your engagement and listening activities to report on outcomes and tell a story.

Tying these elements together ensures you get a complete social media picture, and provides the necessary pieces to tell a cohesive story. This can be seen across the different social media use cases:

Social Media Marketing:

By listening to the social conversations around a campaign or program, you are able to see how consumers react, proactively respond to feedback, and make real-time campaign adjustments. Deeper analysis, based on campaign metrics, is necessary to evaluate and report on the overall success of a campaign. Putting context around the campaign allows you to compare it to others and extrapolate learnings for future iterations.

Customer Service:

Listening and understanding what customers are saying, and quickly responding to their feedback, presents the opportunity to improve negative situations and capitalize on positive ones. Reporting customer satisfaction trends over time and tracking how reality stacks up against goals, will provide a complete picture.

Brand Management:

Monitoring how your brand is perceived can identify opportunities to engage with consumers and better understand their attitude towards your brand. Utilizing analytics can help measure changes over time and identify success metrics that drive you towards the perception your brand is aiming for.

Market Insights:

Listening to how consumers see your brand compared to how they view the competition, can identify both successes and opportunities. Analyzing how your social programs perform against others in your market, gives tangible data points for establishing industry benchmarks and setting competitive goals.

How Does Simply Measured Fit In?

Simply Measured provides the analytics you need to round out your social media reporting on your engagement and your listening. To get started, either sign up for a free trial or try one of our free social media tools.

JetBlue Baseline

JetBlue is one brand that has effectively incorporated FITB into their content strategy. Over the past six weeks, they have included FITB in a post approximately every 7 to 10 days.

Fill In The Blank Drives _______:

We analyzed JetBlue’s Facebook content performance over the 6 week period mentioned above. From this sample, we compared JetBlue’s Fill in the Blank posts against all other types of content posted on their Facebook Fan Page. Our analysis showed the following results:

We can see that Fill in the Blank has been quite successful at driving comments for JetBlue. It should also be noted that while FITB drives likes and shares, it is not at the same level as comments. In terms of driving these other engagement types, posts with Links are the top performers for JetBlue.

What Does it Mean to You?

Fill in the Blank can be effective at driving engagement. JetBlue is a great example of a brand that is seeing positive results from incorporating this tactic into their overall strategy. However, not all audiences are going to react the same. As you experiment, content analysis and comparison amongst post types can help determine if this is a smart option for your page. You can also use this type of analysis to track the type of content your competitors post and see what is driving engagement with their audience.

Using Social Media Metrics as a Rally Call

AOL created excitement around a social media metric – reach – asking consumers to help distribute the #withoutshoes messages to over 1,000,000 people before April 10th. By reporting reach each day of the campaign, AOL set a collective goal and communicated the impact to participants.

At Simply Measured, we tend to think about social media programs like a megaphone. You put content in and when things work well, your messages get amplified. In this instance, AOL aligned their campaign goals around this amplification in a way that compelled consumers. This same type of approach could also be used to align internal stakeholders with your programs and campaigns.

AOL’s Impact on #WithoutShoes

We already know that AOL’s promotion of #withoutshoes had a potential reach of more than 1M people. What was the broader impact of this effort to build momentum? Tracking AOL’s mentions within the overall conversation gives us this data in context. In the following chart, we can see that AOL was a significant and consistent driver of activity, accounting for an impressive 15% of all #withoutshoes tweets.

The Big Day: How It Played Out on April 10th

We already saw AOL’s impact in building momentum, but we also wanted to know how this campaign played out on the big day. When we look at the hashtag activity (and amplification) we get an overview of the results and the bigger picture view of campaign performance.

Specifically when we breakdown the data hour by hour on 4/10, we see the support building throughout the day and then sustaining with a large spike in to the evening.

Drilling down, we can also see how the campaign drew in major celebrities, media, and influencers along with international support.

Looking at specific content, we can quickly see the most ReTweeted messages. This gives us a sense for which conversations were the most popular and which participants had the biggest impact, amplifying the campaign. By the looks of it, TOMS and AOL will want to engage Miley Cyrus in this campaign again next year!

Conclusion

AOL’s efforts for One Day Without Shoes provides a good example of how analytics can be leveraged to support and communicate successful social media campaigns. Not only was measurement important to show the impact of this campaign, but it had a unique role in driving consumer participation. Through this effort AOL exceeded their goals, drove momentum for a relevant cause, and clearly communicated results to stakeholders at the conclusion.

Why AOL Chose Simply Measured?

In the words of AOL’s Social Media Director, Matthew Knell:

“For the first time, AOL was able to measure the real-time potential audience for our social campaign activity using Simply Measured. Their easy to understand reporting allowed us to understand how our message was being spread and to optimize our tactics to ensure we reached (and ultimately succeed) our goal of 1,000,000 people. The data Simply Measured provided was simply impossible for us to know otherwise, and allowed us to stay true to our original goal of sharing the TOMS One Day Without Shoes message.”

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People Talking About This: The 20,000 Foot View

This relatively new metric is defined as the number of unique users who “create a story about you.” PTAT is useful for a high-level view of your Facebook engagement. However, it is also an opaque metric that doesn’t provide details into the underlying components of engagement. If you want to dig into the details, PTAT can leave you asking for more. And as someone responsible for explaining the cause and effect of engagement, it can really leave you wanting to know more.

The Devil May Be in the Details, But It’s a Necessary Evil

While PTAT gives you one side of the story, it doesn’t let you tell the whole thing. You need to be able to answer, in detail the question ‘why.’ To do that, you have to go beyond summary metrics and dig deep into the data. With access to Daily Comments & Likes, plus all the other actions a user can take on your page, you have much greater insight into what works and doesn’t on your Facebook Page. Evaluating your presence in this way allows you to unpack all the components of what happens on Facebook. Making it easy to report on what matters to your brand. To elaborate on this, here are the reasons why we believe you need this level of data analysis!

1. Know Exactly What is Happening

…All the way down to the specific posts (regardless of content type). You can take the different pieces of data that make up interactions on Facebook and determine what succeeds and what fails, no matter how you define success. You may be optimizing your status updates for Likes, but your videos for Shares. Without access to the components that make up engagement, you will not be able to distinguish and measure between these types of actions.

2. Create a Personalized Index Score

Your brand may give different weights to different actions. But since PTAT is a generic engagement metric, you need to create your own index score or engagement metric that allows you to personalize KPIs and benchmarks. By accessing the underlying users actions such as likes, comments, and shares, you can start to build this personalize score to use across reports. For example, with cross-channel comparisons where you compare Facebook against Twitter, you may highly value comments on Facebook posts, but see Retweets and Google+ Shares as less significant. Your Index Score will allow you to apply the appropriate weights and show the data in a way that aligns with your goals and reporting needs. You can use this score for competitive benchmarking, as well. By running the same analysis on your competitors’ fan pages (since this data is publicly available) and applying the same weights, you can determine how you stack up against each other. You could even share that data publicly, particularly if your brand is shed in a positive light!

3. Understand What User Actions Drive Different Engagement Types

There are many different ways a Fan or Follower can interact with your brand, and it goes far beyond just “talking about it.” Furthermore, with the launch of Facebook Timeline for Brand Pages, the dynamics of how Fans are engaging is continually evolving, fast. To fully comprehend the ramifications of these types of changes you need to distinguish between what people are sharing, liking, and anything else they may do on your page. The only way to accomplish this is with access to these components of engagement.

4. Set Goals and Optimize Your Content

Once you have the comprehensive understanding of what is happening, you can set both realistic and stretch goals at the Page level, but also at the specific content type and engagement level. With access to the underlying data, you will have the details and insight to set, track, and report on your goals, from the 20,000 foot view, all the way down to what happened with a particular post, at a certain time.

What Do You Do Next?

All of these metrics are valuable and serve important purposes. Just be sure you don’t lose sign of one to focus on the other. If you still need access to that deeper level of data, then sign up for a free trial of Simply Measured — our Facebook reports have you covered!