One of the “heavyweights” of social media has rolled out a new feature since the beginning of #31DaysOfLinkedIn and we tracked his success across different platforms.
Gary Vaynerchuk, someone with millions of followers and book sales, has released a new behind-the-scenes video series – #DailyVee – and announced it almost simultaneously across the major social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
At least, those are the ones I saw it on.
So how did Gary Vaynerchuk’s #DailyVee launch do on social media?
I know this is a series about LinkedIn – heck, it’s called #31DaysOfLinkedIn! – but to be fair to all the platforms and you, it is important to compare which platforms are going to be where you find your own best audiences. One way we can do that is through the perceived success of folks with large audiences on multiple platforms.
(All stats below are as of the time this article went to “press.” The posts we used to determine these numbers are linked above in the second paragraph.)
Facebook: Gary earned 841 Likes, 25,000 video views* and 165 Shares
Twitter: Twitter is Gary’s most active social profile, his audience gave him 24 retweets and 49 likes
YouTube: The most obvious place to find a video series was not the source of the most views as 21,961 folks watched his first episode of #DailyVee
Instagram: The photo sharing site also allows you to post 15-second videos and Gary’s got 1,252 Likes/Hearts/Whatevers
LinkedIn: The reason we are here…Gary used Publisher to blog about the #DailyVee effort and it drew 213 likes and 1,279 views
What can we determine from the #DailyVee vanity metrics*?
You need to know where your audience is and where they will most likely react.
When you’re as notable as Gary, you earn a following across multiple platforms. I actually follow him across all the platforms listed above because I am catching his content at different times in different places (See: #TRGrules). Many of the numbers above could possibly be many folks like myself who see his message multiple times.
We know for most folks the audiences across different platforms are going to be completely different. When I look at the fans, followers, and connections of my own platforms, I see the following:
Facebook: The TRG page is mostly folks from businesses, organizations, and nonprofits in the actual region and state I reside and do business in. This is highly intentional on our part as our local audiences (and yours) are most likely to be active on Facebook than other platforms. Less than 23{628954cb2bad821921117287c23504a7919be1893c483613421612ad8712cddb} of our Page’s fans are actually personal Facebook friends of mine. This audience is the most active when it comes to actually clicking through on content, watching videos, and converting to real world activity.
Twitter: Our Twitter followers are a mix of local, national, and international voices and listeners, involved in business, politics, government, nonprofits, agriculture, media, and many other fields. Twitter is actually my favorite and more active platform. Gary’s almost 1.2 million followers are a global audience from all walks of life and he is highly interactive with them. The same goes for the @RocketGroup audience (minus the million part) as we get more legit interaction – responses, retweets, and ongoing conversations – than on the other platforms.
YouTube: The world’s second-largest search engine is a place where videos go to die for a lot of folks (*looks in mirror*). Someone like Gary has invested the time, effort, and resources to produce high-quality videos which deliver value-laden messages and interactivity. For someone like TRG, even though we produce some great and award winning client content, we cannot dedicate the resources to generate the Hollywood-levels of production on a daily basis for self-promotion. You shouldn’t either. Do what you can with your mobile phone (which is a lot), your family video camera, or by hiring someone like us when you absolutely need to. Our own subscriber base is a well-loved 23 at the moment and our biggest viewed videos have been ones with edgy messages or behind the scenes looks. Just like the #DailyVee but with fewer car chases. YouTube audiences are historically fickle and “fanboyish” so while views and watch rates may be all over the place it is not a platform known for profitable interaction and should be used as a supplemental channel for most of us. Not all of us, most of us.
Instagram: Gary uses his Instagram to tout his travels, his topics, and his sports allegiances. Until recently, we were running everything through the @WagnerGus Instagram channel and recently split off to the long-reserved @TheRocketGroup handle. We’ve been following our “educate, inform, entertain” mantra with a “mostly entertain” twist as our audience on the still-developing channel is local, personal contacts, social media brands, and folks who appreciate fun photos and themes. Instagram is the platform I have the most fun with and it appears to be the same for Gary. To this point, I have never closed a business deal because of something I did on Instagram but I have spent plenty of money based on content from accounts I follow or discover. It’s a perfect place for B2C companies who can take great photos.
LinkedIn: Ah, the reason we are all here this month. I would guess for someone like Gary his LinkedIn audience is a mix of his readers, attendees of his events, and people who write him checks for his abilities…or want to. While LinkedIn has company pages available, just as Facebook has brand pages, both Gary and myself use our personal profiles for the most part to interact and publish content from. My own audience of valued connections on LinkedIn is full of folks I have worked with professionally, people who are (or have been) in similar professions as me, and people I have never met.
When it comes down to audience reaction on LinkedIn, the more active you are the better the reaction. This is the tenth #31DaysOfLinkedIn post and I have had more interaction on LinkedIn in those 10 days than I have had all year. I’ve known most folks on the platform are dormant or lurking for years, as was I. Putting a little bit of effort into the profile has led to several reconnections and some early stage business discussions.
The best platform for businesses, organizations, or nonprofits on social media is…
Up to you.
As you can see Gary’s biggest audience reaction was on Facebook but he didn’t ignore the other platforms. His content is video-based so he uses Facebook and YouTube. YouTube allows him to share the video content on LinkedIn and Twitter. He also cut teaser videos for Instagram use.
When it comes to The Rocket Group, Facebook has the biggest ROI and the most audience likely to do business with us, Twitter has the best interaction, and LinkedIn has the most potential. YouTube and Instagram are used for content aggregation, creativity, and inspiration.
TL; DR: Spend the most time and effort on the platform which will generate the most success for you (likely Facebook) but have a proactive strategy for the other social media platforms.
How does this high-level analysis compare to your own findings? Let us know in the comments below, on social media (tagged #31DaysOfLinkedIn), or send me a direct message with the contact link above. Heck, the phone number below works as well!
Thanks for reading this far down the page and we’ll talk with you soon!
The #31DaysOfLinkedIn Posts from @RocketGroup
#31DaysOfLinkedIn – Introduction and Recap
A Look at LinkedIn Endorsements and Recommendations
Add Project Details to Your LinkedIn
Building Relationships on LinkedIn
Comparing LinkedIn Audiences to Other Social Platforms through @GaryVee
Educate, Inform, and Entertain Yourself with LinkedIn Groups
Kids, LinkedIn is for Professional Stuff
LinkedIn Premium: How Do They Work?
LinkedIn: Connect with the Right People, the Right Way
Manage Your LinkedIn Activities
Optimize Your LinkedIn Headline
Professionally Mingling on LinkedIn
Recruiting and Hiring on LinkedIn
Say No to the Default on LinkedIn
Setting a Schedule for LinkedIn Activity
Share (Professional) Stuff on LinkedIn
Sharing and Getting Shared on LinkedIn
Sharing Content on LinkedIn Effectively
Spread Out Your LinkedIn Posts
Taking LinkedIn to the Real World
To Pay or Not to Pay for LinkedIn
Want to Get Found on LinkedIn?
What We Learned During #31DaysOfLinkedIn
