Major tourism companies have had the fastest growth in Facebook fans, eclipsing newspapers and magazines, according to the latest data released by digital agency Online Circle.
In the three months to the end of June, tourism websites such as Australia.com and Sydney.com have have had the highest percentage growth in fans when compared to the first quarter, with the tourism industry adding about 50,000 fans in total.
Newspapers and magazines, however, have maintained their grip on the most engaged category on Facebook, followed by TV shows.
The Today show leads in in engagement, followed by Sunrise, New Idea magazine and 9 News. In an average week, about 100,000 Facebook users are engaged across media pages.
In the TV show category, MasterChef leads with more than 1.4 million fans, followed by Home and Away. Vogue Australia has the highest number of fans in the news and magazines category, followed by ABC News.
Head of strategy at Online Circle, Lucio Ribeiro, said the impressive growth in tourism Facebook fans hows the industry has “incredible storytelling” capacity.
“They have extremely intelligent use of visual content. The industry is sharp, targeted and they know how to speak to an audience,” he said. “Tourism is about aspiration. You can spend hours on Australia.com's Facebook page.”
But while tourism has had a spike in Facebook fan numbers, media organisations, Ribeiro said, were stronger at maintaining fans and consistently building relationships with the audience.
“The media understand that Facebook is a tool to continue the story. TV shows and radio know how to build an online footprint,” he said.
The report, which covers 27 categories and 500 brands, showed utility companies have some of the lowest numbers of fans. Companies such as AGL Energy and Essential Energy have less than 10,000 fans and very low levels of engagement.
“Utilities are growing very slowly,” said Ribeiro. “It's a great opportunity for them to engage.
On the politics side, there is also a great opportunity for improvement. When compared to the United States, local politicians and political parties could be doing much more,” he said.
Although radio was included in first quarter reporting it has been omitted this quarter, which AdNews understands to be because of concerns about the collection of statistics from radio stations' Facebook pages.
In last quarter's results, Online Circle found retail brands, TV shows and musicians were worst hit by Facebook’s moves to delete inactive accounts, while newspapers and magazines were least affected by the changes.
To see the graphs in full click the images below.
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