Which brands are winning when it comes to generating positive social media sentiment and which are losing? Which industries are performing best when it comes to social media sentiment overall? These are two of the questions that HootSuite answered in its study of brands in eight industries from September 16 to December 16, 2014.
Using 100 million data sources tracked across 26 social platforms, HootSuite and uberVU identified the brands and industries with the most positive social media sentiment as well as the brands and industries with most negative social media sentiment.
The results might surprise you.
Industries with the Most Positive Social Media Sentiment
The following percentages are based on industry averages:
- Consumer Packaged Goods = 33% positive
- Food and Beverage = 30% positive
- Travel and Hospitality = 27% positive
- Retail = 27% positive
- Financial Services = 21% positive
- Media and Entertainment = 21% positive
- Automotive = 21% positive
- Technology = 19% positive
Industries with the Most Negative Social Media Sentiment
Again, the percentages are based on industry averages:
- Financial Services = 8% negative
- Food and Beverage = 8% negative
- Media and Entertainment = 7% negative
- Automotive = 6% negative
- Retail = 6% negative
- Technology = 5% negative
- Consumer Packaged Goods = 5% negative
- Travel and Hospitality = 4% negative
Based on these results, it would seem that some industries are simply better at attracting social media attention in both positive and negative forms. For example, the food and beverage industry ranked in the second highest spot for positive social sentiment (30%) and in the second to highest spot for negative social sentiment (8%). The good news for the industry is that the positive social sentiment is nearly three times more than the negative social sentiment.
Brands with the Most Positive Social Media Sentiment
Brands with the most positive social media sentiment according to this study are predominantly found in three industries: consumer packaged goods, food and beverage, and retail. Looking at the top three brands in each industry, just 10 of the 24 brand leaders scored +40% or higher in terms of positive social media sentiment.
The top three brands in the consumer packaged goods industry had the highest positive social media sentiment overall: Friskies (+62%), Cottonelle (+52%), and Avon (+50%). In the food and beverage industry and the retail industry, all three of the top brands had positive social media sentiment scores above +40%. The food and beverage industry leaders are: Folgers (+44%), Mott’s (+44%), and Cheetos (+43%). The retail industry leaders are: Crate & Barrel (+43%), West Elm (+42%), and Famous Footwear (+42%). One brand in the travel and hospitality industry scored above +40% in positive social media sentiment: Renaissance Hotels (+40%).
On the flip side, the brand with the most negative social media sentiment according to this study was Clorox (-21%) from the consumer packaged goods industry. Dasani (-20%) and Kool Aid (-20%) also had a lot of negative social media sentiment in the food and beverage category. Among financial companies, JP Morgan had the most negative social media sentiment (-19%), and US Airways had the most negative social media sentiment in the travel and hospitality segment (-18%).
You can see more of the data and some insights from HootSuite in the infographic below.
Image: Maare Liiv
Susan Gunelius is the author of 10 marketing, social media, branding, copywriting, and technology books, and she is President & CEO of KeySplash Creative, Inc., a marketing communications company. She also owns Women on Business, an award-wining blog for business women. She is a featured columnist for Entrepreneur.com and Forbes.com, and her marketing-related articles have appeared on websites such as MSNBC.com, BusinessWeek.com, TodayShow.com, and more.
She has over 20 years of experience in the marketing field having spent the first decade of her career directing marketing programs for some of the largest companies in the world, including divisions of AT&T and HSBC. Today, her clients include large and small companies around the world and household brands like Citigroup, Cox Communications, Intuit, and more. Susan is frequently interviewed about marketing and branding by television, radio, print, and online media organizations, and she speaks about these topics at events around the world. You can connect with her on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or Google+.
