TRENDS Association Social Media Report: Facebook most popular medium
Earlier this year, Association TRENDS, in partnership with Qrisp Digital Analytics, Research and Strategy, released the Association Social Media Report 2012. This groundbreaking report measures and ranks the social media adoption and activity levels of more than 334 national and regional associations through the three leading social media channels – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. By doing this, the report allows association decision makers to benchmark their own efforts against their competing and peer institutions.
Methodology
The 334 associations chosen to participate in this study were selected from more than 7,800 associations in the National Trade and Professional Associations Directory, and more than 8,800 associations included in the State and Regional Associations Directory. [Editor’s note: Both directories are published by Columbia Books and Information Services, parent company of Association TRENDS.] Then each of the associations was given a social media ranking unique to each of the three social media networks.
Facebook measures included:
- if the association has an account
- number of “likes” the account had
- how many people are discussing it using “talking about” feature
- how many users have used the “were here” feature.
Twitter measures included:
- if the association has an account
- number of Tweets
- number of followers
- number people they are “following”
- number of users have them “listed.”
YouTube measures included:
- if the association has an account
- number of channel views
- number of uploads
- number of subscribers.
Breaking down the report
After determining the benchmarking factors and gathering the data from participants, the information in the report was quite revealing. Among those surveyed:
• 83% have adopted Facebook
• 78% have adopted Twitter
• 70% have adopted YouTube.
In every case except National Associations of more than 100 members, an association was more likely to have a Facebook page than any other social media site. While it is common to have any of the three social media platforms, smaller associations greatly lag behind larger ones, both regionally and nationally.
Top performers
After the data was collected and analyzed, it became clear that three organizations – National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences – were overwhelmingly active, and their points fell well outside of the curve. These “extreme social media activity” organizations were factored out of the study’s rankings. Beyond those, the site identified the following as the top-10 associations overall:
1. American Diabetes Association
2. Professional Association of Diving Instructors
3. American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations
4. U.S. Chamber
5. National Multiple Sclerosis Society
6. National Collegiate Athletic Association
7. U.S. Tennis Association
8. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
9. Project Management Institute
10. American Quarter Horse Association
The top performers in each of the different social media outlets are:
• Facebook – American Quarter Horse Association
• Twitter – American Medical Association
• YouTube – Advertising Council
Among National Associations with less than 100 staff, the top-three performers were:
1. U.S. Lacrosse
2. Ladies Professional Golf Association
3. Professional Bowlers Association.
Lessons
While primarily a benchmarking survey, the Association Social Media Report teaches many practical lessons that associations can immediately use and apply to their own social media campaign. First, even if you are using the same social media that your members are, don’t automatically assume that you know where your members and their focus are. Send out member surveys to find the social media channels they are most comfortable or most frequently using. Second, focus your efforts. Don’t try to start Facebook, Twitter and YouTube outreach campaigns all at the same time. Build success in one channel and then expand.
One of the most important lessons to take away from the report is that social media campaigns should be focused on creating member engagement. Too many organizations see the number of “follows” as the end goal itself, rather than a means to an end. A successful social media outreach effort has many members that are constantly interacting with each other, discussing their experiences and problems rather than just watching the occasional video or Tweeting something they like. A great way to increase your social media effectiveness is to measure how much communication those members do with each other.
