Trends Q: Brand posts on Facebook see a diminishing return, but what about Twitter tweets?

Last week we analyzed whether posting multiple times a day on Facebook would lead to lower and lower engagement. The results were interesting, but the visibility of a post on Facebook is influenced by an algorithm. So, what if we do the same analysis for Twitter tweets? That was our question, here is our answer.

The Goods
For this analysis we looked at over 20,000 tweets posted by mountain resorts between November 1, 2013 and Jan 24, 2014. Each tweet was labeled with a number corresponding to the place it held in the resort’s daily content lineup. Meaning, “1” meant the 1st tweet of the day, “2” the 2nd, “3” the 3rd and so on.

Then, we found the average engagement rate, based on followers, for both retweets and favorites. So if a brand had 10,000 followers at the time they posted a tweet that got 10 favorites, the favorite rate would be 0.10%. Here’s how it shakes out when you cross daily post number with engagement.

Right off the bat we see an almost identical curve for tweets as we saw with Facebook posts. Starting high with the first posts of the day, engagement steadily drops with each subsequent post. Favorites start at 0.10% with the first tweet and sit about 0.05% with the 7th. Retweets start near 0.08% and drop to 0.04% after 7 posts.

What This Means
The takeaways are similar to the Facebook analysis, with another reminder that decreasing engagement does not mean negative engagement, but let’s look closer at the reasons why this may happen.

Rather than content fatigue, the biggest factors are likely content types unique to mountain resorts. Early in the morning is when ski areas excitedly report snow totals and the day’s conditions. Likewise, if a picture is also shared, photos are a bit more impressive during early morning light. Rather than content getting worse or followers getting overwhelmed, the decrease in engagement is likely a matter of competing with the more exciting topics that occupy the first content of the day.

More, Merrier, Marketing
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