The Smart Social Report V6 - LinkedIn Marketing Strategy, Marketing on Medium.com, Government Social Media Engagement, and Hashtag Marketing Insights from Music Streaming Mentions.

The Smart Social Report: Volume Six 1
Report: Volume Six
The

Throughout the summer, our Research & Insights team has continued to look for new trends
across the social media industry. We see this space continue to mature every day at Spredfast,
but we know the evolution isn’t anywhere near complete. This report confirms this intuition—
and as we continue to check in on the state of social, our excitement only continues to grow.
In our sixth Smart Social report, we’ve tracked
second-quarter performance of the 50 major
brands that make up our State of Social Study. We
took a comprehensive look at how government
agencies leverage social to get their messages out,
used popular hashtag #NowPlaying to get a glimpse
of how music fans express their loyalties, checked in with Medium to see what brands are doing
best on their platform, and reviewed the performance of our State of Social brands on LinkedIn.
At Spredfast, we connect every company with the people they care about most. Our smart
social software takes you to the intersection of decision-making and
data. It’s our hope that this report helps you pave your own roads and
make your own rules—if only so that you can veer from and break them.
"As we continue to check
in on the state of social,
our excitement only
continues to grow."
| Jim Rudden | CMO, Spredfast

What's Inside:
Brands & Consumers
What Marketers Need
to Know About Medium
24
45
Building Relevance
The Data Behind
LinkedIn Best
Practices
33
Fan Activation
#NowPlaying
on Twitter
14
Content & Community
Government
on Social
The State of Social
A Survey of 50
Brands Across 10
Verticals
04

The State of Social is our quarterly check-in with 50 of
the top brands in the world and their sophistication
across the major social properties. We dive into posting
patterns, audience size, response to each brand’s
messaging, and complexity of content to find industry-
leading brands that all marketers can learn from.
This quarter we saw media, sports, and retail all
maintain their positions as leading industries. What
did they do the keep their top spots and where did they
outperform their peers?
Let’s dive into the data.

Audience size: followers, likes, etc.
Consistency of response: time to respond
to inbound communication
Post frequency
Use of rich media: images, GIFs, video
Audience engagement: comments, likes,
shares, favorites on posted comments
Methodology
We looked at 50 leading brands
in 10 different industries to gauge
their maturity across eight of the
leading social networks. Brands were
measured at the end of June 2016,
and will continue to be measured on
a quarterly basis to chart growth and
sophistication over time.
To evaluate social sophistication, we use
a combination of the following metrics,
depending on which metrics are available
publicly for individual networks:
50Leading
Brands
10Different
Verticals
8Social
Networks
1: Sports, media, and retail continue to be the top three verticals
pushing the envelope on social media across a diverse set of
channels.
2: LinkedIn was the channel that saw the highest bump in social
sophistication, with brands like Gap increasing their average
engagement per post by 20% over last quarter.
3: Brands are sharing more content than ever on social, with our
panel creating 22% more posts on Facebook and 26% more
Tweets in Q2 2016 vs. Q1 2016.
Key Takeaways
The State of Social

BBC
The BBC owed much of its social increase to Tumblr efforts,
where its BBC Radio 1 microblog earned a top-three spot for
engagement across all brands in our study.
Sony
Sony improved its
performance over last
quarter largely due to
increased engagement
on Instagram. Their
stylish product photo
catalog had 45% more
engagement than the
average brand we
tracked.
Across all 50 of the brands we researched, a few stood out for growth in different areas of social.
Top-Moving Social Brands
7The State of Social

NBA
The NBA earned the highest score on Twitter
in our study with a huge audience, aggressive
posting patterns, and plenty of images and
video to keep their fans engaged.
Victoria's Secret
A mix of a huge number of Facebook page likes—
combined with industry-leading video engagement
and a large number of posts—helped boost
Victoria’s Secret to a top spot this quarter.
8The State of Social

• When looking at a vertical-to-vertical comparison, sports had the highest maturity scores on
Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
• Many of the sports leagues in our study also won individual honors across social channels. The NBA
was the top account on Twitter, MLB was the top Instagram account, and the NFL scored second-
highest on Pinterest.
While sports saw a lower overall maturity score versus its own performance last quarter, it still remained in
the top spot in our study with a dominant showing across a variety of social channels and measures. Sports
also scored highest in our last study (Q1 2016) and kept that spot secure with a number of big wins:
Based on data from Q2 2016, sports, media, and retail had the most sophistication across all channels.
Which individual brands in each vertical improved most and what strategies can we learn from them?
Top Verticals for Social Maturity
1. Sports
Q2
The State of Social

In the 2nd quarter of 2016 the media brands we track mirrored their strong performance from the 1st
quarter. This consistency maintained their second-place position as group of vanguard brands. Highlights
from the quarter include:
• Media was the best-performing vertical on Tumblr with Netflix, the BBC, and MTV all tying for the
top score on the microblogging platform.
• Three of the top ten brands in our study came from the media vertical: Netflix, MTV, and the BBC.
• Media was the second-most mature vertical on Twitter, where the vertical's aggregate followers
make up 35% of total followers in our study, and on Facebook, where its aggregate page Likes make
up 23% of all Likes in the study.
2. Media
Q2
The State of Social

• Three of the top six Pinterest scores in our study belonged to retail brands: Target, Victoria’s Secret,
and Tesco.
• Retail saw the biggest improvement on LinkedIn over the past three months, taking over sport's
title from last quarter.
• Overall, the retail vertical saw the second-highest improvement over last quarter, with Victoria’s
Secret and Target bumping up average performance across each network.
Retail continued to show its leadership in social: it was the third-highest vertical in our study for the
third consecutive quarter. A number of factors helped push its score higher:
3. Retail
Q2
The State of Social

5
6
7
8
9
10
1
3
2
4
Vertical
Social Maturity by Vertical
* FULL BRAND LIST: BofA, Progressive, Citibank, State Farm, Barclays, Pepsi, Crest, Nescafé, Dove, Cadbury, Target, Coach, Victoria's Secret, Gap, Tesco,
Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, VW, Audi, Hilton, Hyatt, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, British Airways, MTV, ESPN, ABC, Netflix, BBC, NFL, MLB, NBA,
Premier League, Apple, Microsoft, Samsung, Sony, EA, IBM, GE, VMWare, Siemens, Accenture, Verizon, AT&T, BT, Orange, T-Mobile
Q2
The State of Social

1. British Airways was the most-improved brand on
Facebook this quarter. They posted 42% more
frequently and their video content had 81% more
engagement than the average for our study.
2. On LinkedIn, Verizon made the largest gains of any
brand, improving their engagement rate by 20% and
increasing their total audience by 5%.
3. Samsung added over 58 million views to their
YouTube channel—a 21% increase. This helped them
improve the most of any brand on the network.
4. Brand sophistication improved on Facebook more
than any other network this quarter.
5. Of the B2B brands we tracked, IBM was the most
advanced on social. This achievement was powered
by high engagement rates on Tumblr, Twitter and
Pinterest.
6. Volkswagen improved the most on Instagram of any
automotive brand tracked. They were able to increase
their follower base by 7% during the quarter.
7. CPG, driven by Dove, had the largest improvement
on YouTube of any vertical. Dove was able to
increase their views per day by 47,000% with their
#MyBeautyMySay campaign.
8. Bank of America was on top of the financial services/
insurance category this quarter. They beat out
the others in their vertical with best-in-industry
performance on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.
State of Social Takeaways

Content & Community:
Government on Social

Your tax dollars
on social
Over the past few years, social media has managed to work
its way into just about every aspect of our lives. Whether
we're saying hi to a friend or to a brand we love, social has
opened avenues of communication that prior generations
never imagined. Even government agencies can speak to the
citizens across the globe who depend on and work with
them every day.
All over the planet, governments use social channels to power
one-to-many communication, respond quickly to questions
from citizens, and add utility to our daily lives. What are
some of the brightest stars in the sky of government social
media accounts? How can marketers glean insight from what
works for state-run accounts—from different corners of the
world—and then turn that insight into action?

The Data
Number of Government Social Accounts by CountryWe looked at a combination
of posts across a few major
social networks (Facebook,
Twitter, Instagram, Youtube,
Pinterest) and government
accounts from a number of
countries (USA, Germany,
France, UK, Canada, Australia)
to find over-performing
government accounts that
all marketers can learn from.
Overall, we looked at close to 1
million posts from over 10,000
different government accounts
to surface the leaders.
The United States has more social accounts for its different government
entities than any other country by a wide margin.
With a diverse set of social
properties—from the National
Park Service to the IRS to an
account for every US embassy
abroad—the United States
government creates more
social content than any other
country in our study.
0
400
800
1200
1600
Canada Germany UK USAFrance
US Government Accounts by Social Channel:
Facebook Pinterest
Twitter LinkedIn
YouTube GithubInstagram Other
Flickr TumblrGoogle+

How Do Governments Communicate on Social?
Top Brands vs. Government Facebook Posting
Government accounts are far more likely to post text-only messaging (by a margin of 527%), while brands hardly
ever let a social post go live without some form of media attached. Not surprisingly, brands use a good amount
more video to showcase their messaging (government accounts post 67% less rich media than our brand list), but
government accounts are more likely to post photos and links.
0
20%
10%
30%
40%
50%
60%
Photo Link Video Text-Only Event
Brand
Government
How do government social media accounts compare to some of the top brands in the world? When
we compare government social usage patterns to the brands in our State of Social analysis, we can
see some similarities and some stark differences.

GERMANY:
Germany’s Latin
America Page
UK: The
Met Office
(Weather & Climate)
USA: The
White House
USA: NASA
UK: The British
Monarchy
Canada: The
Canadian
Space Agency
Posting content
that feels more
consumer-facing
than public sector
invites positive
engagement from
the audience.
Showcasing
extreme
weather
events and
news gets
the audience
reacting.
Tying content
back to
current
events to
add a new
lens to the
discussion.
Highlighting
content that
is sure to
thrill the
audience.
A collection of
behind-the-
scenes photos
that transport the
viewer into daily
life, both inside
and outside the
Beltway.
Photos of life
inside the Royal
Family gives a
unique platform
to showcase the
human side of
growing up under
the spotlight.
Top Government Accounts: Facebook
Loves: On Facebook, the Love Reaction gives users a way to express their extreme agreement with or
passion for a subject matter. A few government social properties are feeling the largest amount of Love.
Facebook Reactions allow users to chime in with a bit more emotion than the typical Like. In past
reports, we’ve seen different patterns for Reactions with sports teams, comedians, and brands. Which
government accounts from across the globe are getting a Reaction out of their audience?
Wows: Jaw-dropping content doesn’t just come from brands. Here are some government agencies
leveraging science and tech to amaze their audience.

FRANCE: Central
Government Page
USA: The
Turkish Voice
of America
Channel
USA: Know
the Real Cost
(Tobacco Awareness)
GERMANY:
The German
Cabinet Page
CANADA: Royal
Canadian
Mounted Police
UK: 10
Downing
Street
Hahas: People tend to use the Haha Reaction less with government accounts, but here are
three Facebook pages driving the most laughs from their audiences.
Angrys: Government policies and decisions can elicit passionate responses from audiences,
both foreign and domestic.
HaHas don’t just
always appear
for funny topics,
they can also
be seen as a
positive reaction
to good news.
By bringing
amusing
content to a
serious issue.
Humanizing their
organization
through outreach
and humor.
Why are these posts driving Angry Reactions?: Highlighting controversial issues may reflect the truth on the ground, but
could divide the crowd. Politics will always bring a collection of different responses, but Reactions allow citizens to voice their
opinions and be heard.

Top Government Accounts: Instagram
Instagram has been gaining steam as a top destination for government agencies to showcase the visual side of
their worlds. We mined some of the top government accounts based on followers, content creation volume, and
audience engagement to find must-follow government accounts you may have never heard of.
The TSA: With close to half
a million followers, the TSA
has grown into a cult social
media favorite, posting
pictures of seized items
(everything from throwing
stars to hidden weapons to
loaded pistols), K9 members
of their team, and answers to
questions from travelers.
State of Israel: Israel’s official
Instagram channel gets better
engagement than most brands
(over 6% of their audience will
comment or like a typical post)
by sharing content that includes
profiles of local heroes, vacation
information, and national culture.
Australia: Tourism Australia
has one of the most frequent
posting patterns of any
government agency, and the
content sees an impressive
engagement rate. Photos
mainly focused on local
tourist destinations and
scenic landscapes are some
of the top-performing pieces
of content and not only draw
more followers than top
accounts like Ford and the
Green Bay Packers, but also
higher average engagement.

Top Government
Accounts: Twitter
There are many government agencies
taking advantage of the real-time nature
of Twitter in some very creative and
distinct ways. The content created is as
diverse as the countries it comes from:
• In the US, most Twitter content comes
from transportation and communication
groups (Amtrak, Voice of America, and the
Smithsonian).
• In Australia, human services and state-owned
media companies do a lot of the Tweeting.
• In the UK, there’s a large amount of content
created by college admission services,
answering questions from prospective students.
• In Canada, they are all about bots. Bots
regularly Tweet out border wait times to
commuters and travelers.

Government accounts don’t just create one-to-
many content; they also respond one-to-one
to answer direct questions on social media. In
fact, government accounts act remarkably like
brands in terms of response volumes.
In a past Smart Social Report, we reported
that 93% of Twitter content created by
major brands takes the form of replies; for
government agencies, that number is 89%.
How do different countries approach 1:1?
• US Embassies use Twitter to quickly answer
questions from locals and travelers alike.
• French and German government agencies
did not respond at anywhere close to the
volume seen in other countries, with the
top French account at just 49% responses,
and the top German account (the German
Embassy in Cambodia) at 28%.
20%0
AUS Electoral
US Embassy VE
Amtrack
UK Driver Vehicle
FAFSA
UK_CAA
YosemiteNPS
AUS Border Patrol
PassportCAN
Centrelink
USinUKCGcorner
40% 60% 100%80%
Top Government Social Accounts for Twitter Replies

Not only are governments active on social channels, in some cases they are actually beating
brands at engaging their audience. What can smart social marketers do to leverage the best
of government social accounts?
What can social teams learn from government successes?
Explore Various Use Cases for the Value of Social
Social media can be used for a wide array of purposes by a variety of organizations. The
engagement that many government accounts enjoy shows that brands need not confine
themselves to just one or two limited use cases. Make sure you’re leveraging social channels in
many different ways to get all you can out of the platforms, including brand awareness, one-to-
one communication, real-time information availability, and even Wowing your audience from
time to time.
Give Your Audience an Outlet
While it’s a given that angry reactions to posts aren’t normally what social teams are looking for,
they do allow the audience to vent frustrations and voice their issues—and sometimes even have
them answered. Don’t be afraid of giving your audience a way to point out what could be better.
Look Everywhere for Inspiration
Sometimes, marketers can find hidden gems that give them an advantage. Whether it’s a new
way of looking at a problem or a fresh perspective on content, we should always be seeking new
sources of input and digging for creative uses of platforms from all over the world. Never stop
being open to the inspiration of possibility.
1.
2.
3.

Brands & Consumers:
What Marketers Need to
Know About Medium

Getting the
maximum out
of Medium
Medium, the blogging platform founded by Evan Williams in
2012, was created to share quality writing from new sources and
connect content with people all over the globe. In four years,
Medium’s popularity has grown with dedicated audiences, and
its evolution has made it more relevant than ever.
However, four years in, brands are still mostly absent from the
content-sharing platform.
Is now the time to jump in? And if so, how can data provide
brands with a good starting point from which to build out their
Medium strategy?

We collected over 2 million Tweets sharing Medium content from the past year, and explored the data behind
the most-shared content. We pulled topics, accounts, language, and engagement for the top content across
the platform to find patterns that marketers can learn from.
More People are Sharing Medium Content Every Day
Let’s start by taking a look at the numbers behind Medium to show why marketers should be paying attention
as the network matures.
The Data
The Momentum of Medium
Medium Content Shared on Twitter
0
1.2
1.4
.6
.4
.2
1.6
1.8
.8
1
TweetVolume(Millions)
Q3 2015 Q4 2015 Q1 2016 Q2 2016
By mining Tweets that include links back to Medium, we can see that the sharing of Medium content has been
steadily rising over the past year. Not only are the number of links growing, but the unique users sharing
Medium content are rising as well.
Users
Posts
What Marketers Need to Know About Medium

New technologies and social destinations tend to take fire with certain demographics, and then grow into a
more diverse set of users. Medium, which began as a platform dominated by young men, is already showing the
early stages of growing into a more diverse network.
Each quarter over the past year,
more and more women shared
links from the network, with the
percentage of Medium content
shared by women up by 50% in the
past year (growing from 20% to
30% of the total share).
In addition to gender shifts, the
dominant age group (18-24) also
shifted each quarter. Younger
demographics have grown on
Medium, with content creators
aged 13-17—Generation Z—almost
doubling their share of link sharing
in the past year. Older age groups
are also growing, with content from
25-34 year-olds up almost 50% in
the past year. These moves give the
network a better balance with the
general population.
A More Diverse Audience is Sharing Medium Content
0%
0%
Q3 2015
Q3 2015
Q4 2015
Q4 2015
Q1 2016
Q1 2016
Q2 2016
Q2 2016
60%
60%
20%
20%
80%
80%
40%
40%
100%
100%
Medium Link Sharing on Twitter by Gender
Medium Link Sharing on Twitter by Age
Male
55+
25-34
13-17
Female
35-34
18-24

During the time of this study, the
most-shared content from Medium
was about politics, the startup
world, design, and lessons on
leading a rich, full life. The site’s
content has its roots in technology,
but gives enough range for brands
to potentially create content
around many different topics.
Politics is a relatively new topic,
showing that the network is still
morphing alongside its content
categories.
5000
Life/Life Lessons
Politics
Startup
Design
None
Education
Social Media
User Experience
Java Script
Music
Tech/Technology
Entrepreneurship
1000 1500 2000 2500
A key differentiator for Medium is its embrace of tagging. Users tag their own posts, but then Medium takes the
categorization a step further by finding additional tags via proprietary algorithms. This allows the network to more
effectively recommend associated tags, placing a wider distribution of content before the right audience.
The Big Medium Topics Include Politics, Tech, and Lifestyle
Medium Link Sharing on Twitter by Tag

Tech news and opinion
Photos and stories
Space
General topics
Top Medium stories
Self-help
Life, tech, and business
Sports satire
Startup news
Music
The race for dominance on
Medium is still in its early
days. No single creator on
the channel is responsible
for more than 1% of content
shared, which underscores
the huge opportunity for
new entrants (both authors
and categories) in the space.
Top Topics and Channels on Medium

While the majority of writing on Medium is created by individuals, a few brands have begun to
embrace the platform. Some of the best executions blend together a corporate agenda with
sharable, inspiring content.
Learn From the Best: Top Brands on Medium
Get Inspirational
General Electric’s most popular Medium posts inspire their
audience. Stories that performed well for the brand included
write-ups by young scientists trying to cure cancer, GE employees
pushing the envelope of innovation, and examples of the brand
working in nontraditional ways.
Every Medium article includes a unique piece of data: how long the content takes to read. After mining the most-
shared 25 thousand posts, we can see that most of the content being shared is longer than a typical social media
post, but on the shorter side in Medium’s world. Top content comes in at an average of 5.8 minutes of reading time,
and 75% of the top content shared across Twitter was under eight minutes in length.
The Medium Audience Shares Content that is Easy to Digest

Be True to Your Brand
REI inspires their audience by flying their cultural flag on
Medium and regularly providing context on where the
brand is heading. This was perhaps best exemplified by
their Opt Outside campaign, where they used Medium to
explain why they were closing their doors on the nation’s
biggest retail day, to encourage their audience to explore
the world around them.
Face the Issues Head On
Many of the most shared posts from Starbucks don’t focus on their
products, but instead on what they believe as a business. Posts on
racial diversity and other social issues help set Starbucks apart,
sparking important conversations around complex issues that would
be impossible to cover on shorter-form channels.

Time and time again, marketers have been burned by jumping too quickly onto the next
big thing, only to watch it fade away. But what we’re seeing with Medium’s growth and
differentiation makes the network a viable candidate for increased attention from marketers.
So what’s the best way for a brand to jump in on Medium?
Finding Your Medium
Pick Your Battles
Content on Medium tends to skew towards technology, entertainment, and sports. Find the right
stories to tell on the platform and then over-deliver with polish—as we’ve seen, Medium users
expect quality content. In addition, Medium’s algorithms reward content that has been engaged
with, and share it out more frequently to people following those topic areas.
Mix Organic and Paid to Find the Right Fit
Medium now offers a mix of paid options, including paid ad placement at the end of stories and
longer-term campaigns for display ads. Test targeting your messages with certain crowds before
diving into a full organic strategy to make sure your brand is a fit with the current landscape.
Educate, Don’t Sell
The form and function of Medium content should be thought of as a natural platform for brand
building, not transaction-provoking. Make sure your content is designed to educate the audience
on brand promises and future innovation, not to ask for a sale in the short term.
1.
2.
3.

Fan Activation:
#NowPlaying
on Twitter

How to
Leverage an
Endless Playlist
Most data sources come in waves: a new report on consumer
behavior, weekly polls for an upcoming election, or a batch
of survey results fresh off the press. But social media data
is different—it’s available as a constant stream of opinion,
an always-on source from millions and millions of data
points. With this level of volume and real-time access, social
data provides views of our world not available anywhere
else, especially for the topics being discussed at any given
minute, every day.
A great example of this is music sharing on Twitter. Music is
a huge topic of conversation on the social network, and not
only are fans talking about the newest release and tweeting
at their idols in hopes of a response, they’re also keeping
others updated with their listening habits, song by song.
What can we learn when we mine the music sharing patterns
on Twitter? What insights are hiding underneath the massive
wave of sharing that’s sweeping social?

Volume of #NowPlaying vs. #NP Tweets
0
Aug.
15
Oct.
15
Dec.
15
Feb.
16
Jun.
16
Sep.
15
Nov.
15
Jan.
16
May.
16
Jul.
16
Apr.
16
Mar.
16
2
4
6
8
10
We mined the Twitter firehose over the past twelve months to find all mentions
of streaming music from all different sources. We focused on two of the biggest
hashtags used for sharing, #NowPlaying and #NP, ending up with over 150
million pieces of content to analyze.
Both #NowPlaying and #NP
show a steady stream of
conversation over the past
year, and in huge numbers,
with #NowPlaying beginning to
edge up in the past six months.
Combined, the two hashtags
see more mentions than many
social media favorites, including
dogs/puppies (13% higher), cats/
kittens (53% higher), and Justin
Bieber himself (10% higher.)
TweetVolume(Millions)
#NowPlaying
#NP

Social Reveals Artist Popularity and Music Trends
Social Music Sharing for Top Billboard Artists
0
2
1
3
4
5
6
7
By checking a list of some of the top artists in the world, we can see how sharing habits for their
music ebb and flow over time.
Spikes occur when new albums are dropped (like Beyonce’s Lemonade), and when popular remixes appear
(like a SoundCloud remix for Drake’s “4PM in Calabasas”, which was later removed.)
TweetVolume(Thousands)
Jun. 16May. 16Apr. 16
AdeleLemonade
4PM in Calabasa Remix
Kendrick Lamar
Rihanna
Drake
2Chainz
Hamilton Soundtrack
Beyonce
#NowPlaying on Twitter

Social Music Sharing Trends by Genre
0%
0.4%
0.2%
0.6%
0.8%
1.0%
1.2%
In addition to individual artists, hashtags in social music sharing (like #indie and #hiphop)
can also show music genres that are getting hot, and others that are starting to fade from
popularity. While less than 2% of #NowPlaying and #NP Tweets include these classifications,
the raw number (over 250 thousand per month) still provides a good view into music trends.
What genres are getting the most digital spins (aka shares)?
We can see that over the past twelve months, a number of music categories (#rock, #dance, #edm,
#pop, and #80s) have been on the rise, while #indie and #hiphop music have seen a sharp decline
in sharing. Who, exactly, has stopped sharing #hiphop music?
When we look at the year-over-year demographics for #hiphop usage on Twitter, we can see that
certain age groups may have moved on to different music. While men 13-17 shared more tracks
from the genre, both men and women 18-24 saw reduced #NowPlaying chatter around #hiphop.
Aug. 15 Oct. 15 Dec. 15 Feb. 16 Jun. 16Apr. 16
#80's
#pop
#dance
#indie
#rock
#hiphop
#edm

To dive deeper into the social music scene,
let’s take a look at a few of the platforms
that are helping to generate this content.
We’ll focus on the two biggest sources: Spotify
and SoundCloud.
Both applications have a few things in
common when it comes to social sharing:
ON DECK: What can social data tell us
about how Spotify and SoundCloud each
approach the marketplace?
1. Each allow users to easily share music
tastes directly from their interfaces.
2. Each uses different, non-branded
hashtags (Spotify uses #NowPlaying,
SoundCloud uses #NP) in the default
sharing text.
Who’s following both Spotify and SoundCloud
on Twitter? By mining Twitter profiles at the
intersection between the two groups, we can
quickly see that the main audience following
both (over 100 thousand Twitter users) isn’t just
consuming music: they’re also creating it.
Different Music Platforms, Different Approaches
Spotify Followers
SoundCloud Followers
Top Profile Terms:
1. singer songwriter
2. #music
3. record label
4. recording artist
5. #edm

Spotify
Spotify embeds the #NowPlaying hashtag by default. Mining the Spotify data for top artists shared
therefore yields a list of mainstream artists dominating the top ranks.

Not only are the popular artists on Spotify made up of household names, the top artists also command a large
portion of the overall shares. The top artist (B-Brave) saw over 6% of social shares during the time of our analysis.
SoundCloud’s top artists show two main differences from Spotify: first, the artists are less likely to be known by the
average music fan and second, the diverse collection of artists gives SoundCloud a much longer tail of top results. The top
artist on SoundCloud (@YungswaggHB) saw only 0.27% of social shares, which wouldn’t even make the Spotify top ten list.
Top Spotify Artists: Percent of Social Shares
Top SoundCloud Artists: Percent of Social Shares
0%
0%
Fifth
Harmony
DMargs G.
Ariana
Grande
B.C.
Drake
Mosart
Records
Dulce
Marla
BTS
B-Brave
@Yung-
swaggHB
One
Direction
Abeeran
Gukarja
Lali
B6Pushaz-
InkBrow
Radiohead
Mack
Benton
Coldplay
Mike
Luch
Rihanna
Beau'Red
2%
0.08%
4%
0.15%
6%
0.23%
0.30%
8%
However, there’s a very different story over on the SoundCloud side.

SoundCloud
SoundCloud includes #NP as its default “now playing” Twitter hashtag. The abbreviation may not
make as much sense as Spotify’s approach to common Twitter users, but it saves more space for artist
information and user commentary.
ON DECK: How are the two hashtag
strategies playing out for each application?
41#NowPlaying on Twitter

Share of #NowPlaying Conversation
Share of #NP Conversation
0
0
4%
8%
10%
20%
12%
30%
40%
16%
50%
20%
60%
While Spotify’s #NowPlaying
default gets more than 2X the
monthly mentions vs. #NP, Spotify
is seeing a much smaller share of
the conversation, at 16%.
SoundCloud’s use of #NP
gives them over half of the
conversation for the hashtag
(52%), resulting in more overall
chatter than Spotify.
#sound-
cloud
#anghami#music#radioSpotify
SoundCloud #music #radio #listen Spotify
#listenlive #listen

Non-Branded vs. Branded Social Sharing
0
40
20
30
10
50
60
70
80
90
Volume(Thousnads)
Jun. 16May. 16Apr. 16
Average Shares per Active User
When comparing Spotify and
SoundCloud's non-branded
hashtags to other top social music
sharing platforms (Pandora,
iHeartRadio, and Slacker) and
their branded social calls-to-action
(#Pandora, or “I’m listening on
@IHeartRadio”), Spotify and
SoundCloud rise above.
Of course, all music services have
a different sized customer base,
but when we look at the rates of
social sharing per user (Tweets
over 90 days from April - June
2016), the unbranded hashtags
and calls to action still come in as
the winners, by far.
.000
.020
.010
.015
.005
.025
.030
.035
.040
.045
Tweets/User
SlackerPandora iHeartRadioSpotify SoundCloud
Spotify SoundCloud Pandora iHeartRadio Slacker

Unbranded Hashtags can Help your Brand’s Reach:
Both Spotify and SoundCloud use hashtags without branding to help their users share their service.
This practice trades increased impressions and control over brand messaging for the chance to
increase the sharing of content. Find the right balance for your brand.
High-Level Views can Give Us Unique Insight:
The amount of social data at the fingertips of marketers has never been greater. Make sure your teams
are experimenting with what they can learn by searching for signals inside the noise and looking at
trends not just for individual brands, but for entire industries.
Multiple Ecosystems and Business Models can Work on Social:
Spotify and SoundCloud both take very different approaches to their business models. The data has
shown that while Spotify concentrates on well-known artists, SoundCloud has found a niche with a
collection of lesser-known artists that still keep audiences tapping their toes and clicking “share.”
Social helps both models to spread their message.
Scrolling through your social feed gives you a great, intimate view—small slices of the goings-on of friends,
teams, and brands that help make up part of your daily life. The power of social media data in our daily lives
allows the simple sharing of a song to turn into global insights for the music industry at scale. Here are a few
ways you can learn from what Spotify and SoundCloud are doing on social:
Here Comes the Drop
1.
2.
3.

Brand Relevance:
The Data Behind
LinkedIn Best Practices

Your Audience
at Work
LinkedIn has been an essential business go-to for
years—evolving from a networking hub to a dominant
social powerhouse for professionals. More than just
a digital resume or a place to search for jobs and post
qualifications, the channel is also where professionals
can catch the latest industry news, get a view into
corporate culture, and read opinion pieces on every
industry thriving today.
Posting content to LinkedIn is a great way to stay
connected with a brand’s professional audience. We
thought we’d examine our State of Social brands—and
their LinkedIn activity—to find which industries are leading
the pack and what the rest of us can learn from them.
We looked at brands from verticals including automotive,
CPG, media, sports, retail, electronics/software, B2B, travel,
telecom, and financial services across the past three
Smart Social Reports since we started tracking LinkedIn.

0
Auto Retail SportsTelecom Travel/
Hospitality
B2B CPG Electronics/
Tech
FinServe Media
1.5
3
4.5
6
Average Followers by Industry
When we look at the industry with the largest audience on LinkedIn, B2B has had a consistent edge
over the past nine months.
Top Follower Base: B2B(Millions)
The average number of followers for our five B2B brands is far ahead of the already impressive numbers put up
by CPG and Electronics/Technology brands, which boast many accounts with more than 1 million followers.
The Data Behind LinkedIn Best Practices

B2B LinkedIn Like-Boosters
GE shares innovative
posts that position the
company as one pointed
at the future.
The average B2B company has a bigger reach on LinkedIn than on any other channel. Here’s what is
working for B2B companies to drive above-average engagement:
7,658%
12,829%
7,658%
More Likes/Followers
than average
than average
than average
Siemens shares
whitepapers that spread
high-level knowledge
about their industry.
B2B Driving LinkedIn Conversation
Accenture’s vision for their employee development
program saw a great comment-to-follower ratio.
IBM saw a lot of conversation on
acquisition news posted on their channel.
VMWare posts technical
specs, getting deep into
the details with their
customer base.
The Data Behind LinkedIn Best PracticesThe Smart Social Report: Volume Six 48

Celebrate Your Corporate History
Brands like Mercedes-Benz and
Coach celebrate their rich corpo-
rate history through LinkedIn posts,
inviting followers to celebrate along
with them. The posts saw a great
Like-to-follower ratio, and were some
of the top-performing in the study.
Breaking News
American Airlines an-
nounced a new route
from LAX to Haneda,
Japan and generated a
good amount of pos-
itive buzz with their
frequent-flier followers.
Shareable Stories
A post about a robot that helps park cars received the highest
Like-to-follower ratio in our study, and showed that cool new tech
helps make branded content shareable.
But even given the size of their audiences, B2B isn't leading the charge with engagement. When we
looked at the top verticals for LinkedIn engagement, a few other verticals rose to the top, including
automotive, sports, and hospitality brands. What can we learn from their successes, and what ideas
might B2B brands look to leverage to boost their own engagement?
Top LinkedIn Like-Boosters

Top LinkedIn Drivers
Proctor & Gamble Sends Out
a Call for New Hires
Everyone knows that LinkedIn is a
go-to resource for finding a new job,
and when P&G posted about the
career opportunities available, their
crowd responded.
Ford Shows Momentum, and Their Followers Chime In
Ford posted a slick video of the new plans for their Dearborn campus, and received
over 70 comments back congratulating them on their next chapter.
British Airways
Asks for Input
from the Crowd
When British
Airways asked
their followers
to share their
insider tips
for visiting
Los Angeles
their followers
were more
than happy to
comment.

Unilever, the parent company for Dove, has one of the largest LinkedIn followings of the brands
in our study. In addition to building out pages about their culture, jobs, and innovation, they
also post content from employees across the company using LinkedIn's Pulse capabilities.
Taking Your LinkedIn Brand Presence to the Next Level
These posts received
a great response
from their audience,
with some receiving
more comments than
93% of the LinkedIn
content across our
State of Social Brands.
The Data Behind LinkedIn Best PracticesThe Smart Social Report: Volume Six 51

0%
Auto RetailSports Telecom Travel/
Hospitality
B2BCPG Electronics/
Tech
FinServeMedia
4%
8%
12%
16%
LinkedIn Follower Growth, Past 6 Months
Of any vertical in our study, sports leagues are seeing the fastest growth on LinkedIn
over the past six months.
LinkedIn Standout: Sports
While followers are flocking to sports brands on LinkedIn, there is still a huge opportunity for the vertical to create
additional content, as the leagues are on the lower end of the list for volume of posts. But when they do post, we’ve
seen a great response from their audience. The MLB, for example, has seen high scores in past Smart Social Reports
by highlighting off-the-field content.

LinkedIn has grown into an essential network for any modern professional. Brands that use
the platform well—by leveraging not only job postings, but also content opportunities—can
grow their following and impact brand perception before and beyond the interview stage. To
take your brand’s LinkedIn strategy to the next tier, use these data-proven strategies:
Move Up the Corporate Ladder
Drive Engagement, but Also Conversation
Using a data-driven approach to get more Likes is a great way to make sure your brand’s content
is hitting the mark with your audience. But content designed to start a conversation can build your
brand’s perception in different ways, generating deeper engagement from your community.
Use All the Tools Available
Brands that push the envelope on LinkedIn—and on any other social network—put themselves in the
best position to take advantage of everything the channel has to offer. Make sure your community
manager is staying on top of the latest breaking features and beta functionality from different social
platforms, and adopt early when it makes sense for you.
Learn from Your Industry, but Look to Others as Well
Understanding what works for your brand is good. Understanding what’s working across your industry
is even better. Learning from successes across every vertical —and seeking out top brands, no matter
what they do or sell—is how you can ensure your social efforts are ground-breaking.
1.
2.
3.

Spredfast’s smart social software enables companies to build lasting relationships with today’s
digitally connected consumer. Part of that is using social data to make smarter marketing
decisions when you plan, execute, and analyze your social efforts.
Spredfast Intelligence provides a searchable lens to historical and real-time insights to better
understand your audience, relevant conversations, and your brand’s social performance.
Spredfast is transforming the way
companies connect with consumers.
See the brands we work with:
Learn More

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