Social media performance benchmark of 20 organisations in Kent across nine platforms

1. The BIG Social Media Audit
We evaluate 20 Kent
organisations to see
how they are using the
main key platforms
deeson-creative.co.uk @deesoncreative
Authored by Emily Turner and Jordan Hammond © Copyright 2014 Deeson Group
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2. About Deeson
Creative
Deeson Creative is part of the Deeson Group, established in
1959.
We’re known for our practical, innovative and strategic approach
and our team has worked with blue chip companies, major media
brands and some of the public sector’s largest organisations.
All work is in-house and our experienced team includes social
media strategists, communications specialists, marketers,
magazine editors, designers and web developers. Our culture
builds long-term client relationships.
Our services include social media and content strategy,
social media training, PR, content, design and branding,
infographics, video production and reputation management.
We work with: Robbie Williams, Shepherd Neame, ITV, Brit
Awards, Porchlight, Canterbury City Council, Lounge on the
Farm and Geek 2013.
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3. The big Deeson
audit – how are Kent
organisations using
social media?
Who can we look to in Kent for inspiration across the main platforms, as well as emerging
ones?
The Deeson Creative team has completed a big audit of 20 local organisations, both in the
public and private sector.
We’ve been using our benchmarking tool to look at performance across nine platforms,
including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Vine, Instagram, Flickr and Google+.
WHY SOCIAL MEDIA?
We know social media is a burning issue from our monthly Socialbury knowledge sharing
events, which brings together senior representatives from the county’s leading organisations.
Organisations have told us they are finding social media useful and exciting, but also a
resource drain, tricky to keep up with, difficult to measure, and hard to integrate in an
organisation’s culture.
THE BENCHMARKING PROCESS
We examined brand consistency, page set up, post frequency, response rate, engagement
levels, design customisation, community management, social etiquette and use of rich content.
There was a maximum score of 30 points per platform.
THE ORGANISATIONS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE
We audited: Visit Kent, Dover Castle, Canterbury Cathedral, Chatham Dockyard, The
Aspinall Foundation, Saga Holidays, Port of Dover, Manston Airport, P&O Ferries, DFDS
Seaways, Kent Police, Kent Fire & Rescue Service, Kent Community Health Trust, South
East Coast Ambulance Service, Kent County Council, University Kent, Canterbury Christ
Church University, Canterbury College, K College and Midkent College.
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4. The Big Deeson Audit
Who’s getting the thumbs up?
2
5
HIGHEST SCORE
FAB FACEBOOKERS: Saga Holidays, Dover Castle, P&O Ferries and Kent Police
HIGHEST FACEBOOK SCORE
Saga Holidays scored the most points for its
wide variety of content and use of video to create
an interesting fan page. Posts have clear calls to
action, such as ‘share’, ‘like’ or ‘comment on this
post’, which prompt fan interaction.
The organisation has developed a vibrant
community with an above average engagement rate
of around 13%. They are experienced community
managers, responding quickly to all comments,
questions and third-party posts.
They keep their page looking contemporary and
fresh by regularly changing the cover image to
match campaigns and using images in their
updates. See their page here.
We also liked Dover Castle’s personal touch of
naming the page manager and clearly setting out
community rules.
TIPS AND CONSIDERATIONS
Out of the 20 organisations, four do not use Facebook.
A few things leapt out at us during our monitoring:
• Branding – cover images can have 20% text and
can be used to support campaigns but few are
changed regularly
• Community engagement – some pages had slow
response times, or no response at all. There was
also a lack of likes, comments and shares on posts
for some organisations and analysis is needed to
determine the right content and times to post
• Content – engagement will be improved by an
increased use of dynamic visuals and shareable video
• Etiquette – there needs to be a relaxation of the
tight corporate voice into a ‘human’ tone. Greater
third-party content sharing will lead to wider reach
HOW MANY ARE ON FACEBOOK?
NOT ON
FACEBOOK
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5. The Big Deeson Audit
Who’s talking the most?
2
5
HIGHEST SCORE
TOP TWEETERS: K College, DFDS Seaways, Saga Holidays and Chatham Dockyard
HIGHEST TWITTER SCORE
The highest score was achieved by K College. Their
use of a striking background, header and avatar fits
perfectly with their audience and made them stand
out.
Of all the feeds we looked at, they are one of the
few using Vine shared via Twitter. They retweet,
reply, even to negative tweets, and @mention
frequently. When you scroll through their feed, it
looks interesting and lively. Read their Tweets here.
TIPS AND CONSIDERATIONS
Twitter is the only social media platform used by all
the organisations we analysed. During our audit we
noticed:
• Branding – background and header images
aren’t being exploited to their full potential
• Community engagement – some are finding
it difficult to deal with the flood of @mentions
and this means positive mentions are being
overlooked. Retweeting advocacy builds
confidence among your online community
• Content – organisations rely heavily on text posts.
Twitter feeds need images and videos to make
Tweets stand out and achieve higher engagement
• Resource – most feeds are operating a 9-5pm,
weekday model and this means the opportunity to
be part of a real-time conversation is sometimes
lost. This is having a specific impact on
engagement in the leisure and tourism sector
WHO’S ON TWITTER?
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6. The Big Deeson Audit
Who’s being watched?
2
0
HIGHEST SCORE
CHANNEL CHAMPIONS: Aspinall Foundation, Saga Holidays, DFDS Seasways and K College
HIGHEST YOUTUBE SCORE
The internet was made for animals and nothing is
more shareable than animals doing funny things in
videos. The Aspinall Foundation proves this theory
with more than 8.5 million views on their YouTube
channel.
This organisation knows what people want to see
and they deliver extremely shareable video content.
An 18-second video of a gorilla walking like a
human notched up 3.5 million views alone. The
foundation is using the videos to prompt donations
with a call to action, helping them broaden their
audience.
Watch their videos here.
TIPS AND CONSIDERATIONS
Five organisations out of the 20 we reviewed aren’t
using YouTube as a channel. For those that are,
subscribers and views could grow through:
• Branding – some channels look unofficial as
logos haven’t been uploaded and header images
lack engaging visuals
• SEO – YouTube is the second biggest search
engine and many organisations aren’t thinking of
search terms when tagging or writing titles and
intro copy for videos
• Content – as we move to mobile internet, the
move towards shorter videos for faster download
will be key. Many videos are longer than two
minutes
• Community management – comments need
moderation to filter spam and respond to those
showing their appreciation
WHO'S ON YOUTUBE?
NOT ON
YOUTUBE
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7. The Big Deeson Audit
Who’s the most connected?
1
6
HIGHEST SCORE
LINKED LEADERS: DFDS Seaways, University of Kent, K College, MidKent College
HIGHEST LINKEDIN SCORE
DFDS Seaways obtained the highest score and
was one of the few organisations using the updates
function of LinkedIn to share content.
DFDS uses a photo in each post to make sure
its posts stand out in busy newsfeeds. Not many
organisations have completed their ‘about us’
section, but DFDS has. You can have a look here.
TIPS AND CONSIDERATIONS
Nearly a third of organisations we audited aren’t
using LinkedIn and many of those that are using it
have incomplete profiles. Pages can be improved
by:
• Branding – make the most of that cover image
and take a look at the University of Kent’s
attractive page
• Community management – If someone has
taken the trouble to like a post, acknowledge
them and show that you are ready for
conversation
• Keep it regular – A post every three months isn’t
going to build an audience
• Content – Think about what people are looking
for on LinkedIn and share appropriate content. If
you are recruiting, develop a recruitment section.
If you sell products or services, list your offering
in the products section. Some organisations have
thousands of followers but aren’t uploading any
videos, images or links to blogs and news
WHO'S ON LINKEDIN?
NOT ON
LINKEDIN
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8. The Big Deeson Audit
Who’s micro filming?
1
4
HIGHEST SCORE
VINE PIONEERS: Visit Kent and Kent Police
HIGHEST VINE SCORE
Vine is relatively new as a platform. Among the
organisations we looked at, only five have set up
accounts and four organisations are using it actively.
Within the group, Visit Kent has been using Vine the
longest and uses an app to share third-party Vines
to help boost content.
Kent Police has only just started using Vine but
has the most professionally produced content. Its
Christmas advent calendar campaign worked well
on Vine and was easily shared on its Twitter feed.
Have a search for them on Vine.
TIPS AND CONSIDERATIONS
We’ve some suggestions for non-Viners and those
getting to grips with it:
• Reduce risk – create a profile to stake a claim
for your organisation’s name before someone else
does. You don’t want to compete with a parody
Vine account
• Branding – stand out as the official account by
completing the bio and uploading your logo
• Sharing – use apps to share other people’s Vines.
You are likely to encourage others to share your
content if you do likewise
• Twitter – don’t forget to share your Vine to your
Twitter feeds. You can share to multiple accounts
• Search – choose a name for your account that is
discoverable and remember hashtags are vital in
helping people find your Vines
WHO’S ON VINE?
NOT
VINING
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9. The Big Deeson Audit
Who has pinning potential?
2
4
HIGHEST SCORE
POLE POSITION PINNERS: Saga Holidays, P&O Ferries, Visit Kent and The Aspinall
Foundation (as UK Safari Breaks)
HIGHEST PINTEREST SCORE
Saga Holidays is racing ahead with Pinterest,
using it to develop mood boards for destinations,
showcase cruise liners, suggest holiday reading and
promote competitions.
Take a look here at Saga Holidays’ boards for
creatively themed images that evoke that holiday
feeling.
Twelve of the organisations we examined are not
using Pinterest, even though they have a wealth of
images on websites and other platforms.
TIPS AND CONSIDERATIONS
Pinterest is developing rapidly and we recommend
looking at:
• Community development – it takes time to
follow the right people and build your audience
• Some of the follower/following ratios were high –
it’s good etiquette to follow back
• Content – Pinterest is not just about uploading
your own images, it’s about re-pinning images
too. This takes time to research (yes, that time
word again)
• Marketing – Don’t forget those calls to action,
‘re-pin if you like this’ or ‘tell us why you like this’,
etc
• Awareness – an organisation may not have a
Pinterest profile but images are being pinned
about them by others. This means unmonitored
reputation and lost engagement
WHO'S ON PINTEREST?
NOT
PINNING
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10. The Big Deeson Audit
Who’s snapping and sharing?
2
5
HIGHEST SCORE
INSTAWINNERS: P&O Ferries, DFDS Seaways and South East Coast Ambulance
HIGHEST INSTAGRAM SCORE
Take a look at P&O Ferries and DFDS Seaways’
Instagram accounts for a visually stimulating mix of
getaway destinations, ships, tasty food, tempting
duty free goods and staff introductions.
Both include professional shots and reportage-style
snaps, giving a good diarist account of life on the
seas. The two organisations are maximising their
use of hashtags to help people find photos easily.
CONSIDERATIONS
Of the 20 organisations benchmarked, only six
use Instagram. A third of the accounts are just
placeholders and don’t have any content.
We found that three organisations without an
Instagram account will be unable to use their
corporate names as they are already in use by
unofficial personal accounts.
We couldn’t find anyone using the Instagram video
option to upload and share 15-second films.
WHO'S ON INSTAGRAM?
NOT
INSTAGRAM
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11. The Big Deeson Audit
Who’s uploading photos?
1
9
HIGHEST SCORE
FANTASTIC FLICKRS: University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University
HIGHEST FLICKR SCORE
Both universities are using Flickr to curate a
scrapbook of student life and give a behind-the-scenes
glimpse of what it’s like to study in Kent.
Both update their feeds the most regularly out of the
organisations surveyed and use a wide variety of
photos, captioned with searchable terms.
Canterbury Christ Church University’s branding
stands out with its beautiful header image which
sets off its location. Have a look here.
TIPS AND CONSIDERATIONS
Nine organisations aren’t using Flickr and we
found four with accounts which have ambiguous
ownership, so it is unclear if they are official.
After looking at all the organisations, we’d suggest
these pointers to get the most of out Flickr:
• Branding – Fill in the profile about us section
to give the account official status and authority.
Remove the stock photo for the profile header
image
• Content – Update regularly – some organisations
haven’t updated content for a few years
• SEO – Captions and tagging are important to
make sure your content is searchable
WHO’S ON FLICKR?
NOT
FLICKERING
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12. The Big Deeson Audit
Who’s growing SEO?
2
2
HIGHEST SCORE
GOOGLE+ GIANTS: Kent Police, Saga Holidays, DFDS Seaways and K College
HIGHEST GOOGLE+ SCORE
Kent Police ramped up the points for making the
most of Google+ with a comprehensive ‘about us’
section, which signposts to their other social media
platforms, as well as strong branding and video
content. Although relatively new to Google+, Kent
Police has started to pave a way with interesting
content. Have a look here.
There is a well-known saying that the only person who
likes Google+ is Google. Our audit of 20 organisations
showed that engagement levels were non-existent
and we couldn’t see any +1s on recent posts.
TIPS AND CONSIDERATIONS
Fourteen organisations have established a
Google+ page, but only ten have updated posts
recently. Some have forgotten their page and one
organisation hasn’t posted for a couple of years.
Quite a few haven’t yet linked up their YouTube
pages, which saves posting time.
Our audit uncovered:
• Placeholding – Some organisations have
reserved their space but have yet to fill in their
profile, leaving them at risk of unofficial pages.
It’s easy to fill in your organisation details, web
address and link up your YouTube accounts
• Content – Make the most of your content and take
time to evaluate which type is best for which platform
• SEO – Make your content easy to find by using
search terms and hashtags in posts and copy
accompanying video and photos
• Branding – Your page needs to have visual impact so
add your look and feel to areas that can be customised.
Aim for each post to include a photo or video
WHO'S ON GOOGLE+?
NOT ON
GOOGLE+
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13. The League Table
90
Visit Kent
Aspinall
Foundation
Dover Castle
Chatham
Dockyard
30
81
Canterbury Cathedral
41
39
22 114
Saga Holidays
DFDS SEAWAYS
152
P&O
P&0 Ferries
127
DFDS Seaways
Manston Airport
15
Port of Dover
Kent Police
65
Kent Community Health Trust
111
59
Kent Fire & Rescue Service
123
97
82
Canterbury Christ Church University
80
University of Kent Mid-Kent College
46
K College
deeson-creative.co.uk • @deesoncreative 13
46
Kent County Council
29
South East Coast
Ambulance Service Canterbury College

14. Where we are ...
and where we go from here
Kent has organisations who are working very hard
to get the best return on social media investment
and to reach out to new audiences.
The core platforms, Twitter and Facebook, are
being used well by most of the organisations
benchmarked and YouTube is being used widely.
USING SOCIAL MEDIA
TO BOOST CONTENT
Short video is being adopted slowly according to our
survey. It requires a new set of skills and when you’ve
only got a few seconds, storyboarding is vital.
Vine is supported in Twitter with clips cited below
tweets which can be played without having to click
out of Twitter. Instragram and Instagram video
are supported by Facebook and can playback
within fan pages.
It’s a shame that not many organisations are
using Instagram to share photos and that none
are experimenting with Instagram’s short video.
Sharing third party content is easy, as there are
plenty of apps where you can search for hashtags
and share Instagrams from customers, students,
visitors and other stakeholders.
Flickr seems to be falling out of favour and many
organisations have left their profiles gathering dust.
Maybe they are spending time getting to grips with
other platforms, such as Pinterest.
Sales conversion from Pinterest is reportedly high
in the US, but take up is slower in the UK. Among
those we investigated, tourism is making the most
of Pinterest with really inventive board names that
grab attention.
The professional network, LinkedIn, is a little
neglected and organisations are not making
the most of its ability to amplify recruitment
opportunities or reach the business community.
Pages often look incomplete, lacklustre and
neglected.
Google+ continues to baffle organisations with its
importance in Google ranking and, yet, tumbleweed in
terms of engagement. Some organisations have given
up and pages have been left unattended for a couple
of years or they’ve completely ignored the platform.
THE BARRIERS TO
SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS
Engagement is also a tricky thing. Two things are
needed: dynamic content and swift responses
to comments and likes. Without these, our audit
showed that a lot of fan pages have below average
engagement rates.
Our audit tells us that communications teams are
facing the following pain points:
1. Maintaining consistent presence across a
spectrum of social media
2. Skills and resource to create rich content
3. Finding the time to respond, let alone proactively
develop engagement
4. Silo working for internal communications, PR,
corporate communications, social media, web
editing, video production
5. An overview of all activity with a focus on
maximising content across channels
6. Measuring impact
If 2013 focused on content, the next year is going
to look at how this content is reaching audiences
and measuring each channel’s effectiveness.
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15. deeson-creative.co.uk
@deesoncreative
emilyt@deeson.co.uk
lizzieh@deeson.co.uk
01227 469060