Explore our Social Media Marketing Toolkit

How much do brand followers overlap? [#DigitalInsights]

Author's avatar By Susanne Colwyn 26 May, 2015
Essential Essential topic

...and what are the implications for managing social media?

Every wondered how different brands share Twitter followers... or not? Simply Measured have analysed over 100,000 new followers against the top 10 most 'followed brands'.

Brand overlap on social media

As you might expect, there is little overlap between unrelated brands such as Disney and Nike. For related brands, there is more similarity. Burberry Twitter followers also tend to be Louise Vuitton fans which you would expect considering their demographics and affluence, though it's interesting that they like Disney.

Looking at Starbucks, they share 16% of their followers with H&M. This is aligned to their core demographics who are aged 18-24 year olds and account for 40% of sales, mirroring H&M's segment which account for 30% of their visitor traffic. So Starbucks now know they share 16% of followers with H&M, their fans are fashion conscious adults and even more from the table below. This can help them with partnerships, content sharing and promotions.

This is interesting insight which shows the value of profiling followers through selecting a sample of followers to understand different personas. It can also support content marketing planning by discovering more about their online conversations and personal interests as 'brand followers'.

Simply Measured's research also shows:

  • New Tweeters look at the suggested 40 Fans to follow when they sign-up and then the numbers drop thereafter.
  • 68% of those following these brands tend to tweet at 'least once every 30 days'.
  • 14% follow more than one brand and >1% follower four or more brands

Earlier this year, Simply Measured also shared how leading brands are succeeding with Twitter engagement, so you can learn more about their strategies or download their guide to profiling your own social media audience.

Author's avatar

By Susanne Colwyn

Susanne is a Marketing Consultant and Trainer, with over 20 years marketing experience in the public and private sector. She's passionate about supporting companies with practical result driven marketing, to help focus companies on evaluating and driving their marketing forward. Experienced in Integrated Strategic Marketing Planning, Data Segmentation, Customer Relationship Management Systems, Customer Insight and reviewing internal systems, data and processes, to maximise conversion strategies and the customer experience. You can connect with her via her LinkedIn or follow her @Qtymarketing.

Recommended Blog Posts