Engagement With B2B Brands on Instagram Tops Facebook in Q3 2017

Conventional wisdom holds that Facebook is the behemoth of social platforms. The conventional wisdom usually is correct, but not always.

For example, during Q3 2017 B2B brands’ social media content generated far more consumer engagement on Instagram than on its parent, Facebook, according to Shareablee data provided exclusively to PR News. B2B brands on Instagram generated nearly 9 million consumer actions during the quarter. That represented growth of 1% vs. the previous quarter, says Shareablee’s Ron Lee. Facebook was a distant second, generating nearly 5 million consumer actions, a 14% drop vs. the previous quarter, Lee says. Content from B2B brands on Twitter generated the least consumer engagement, at nearly 2 million actions, down 11% from the second quarter.

Overall, Q3 was sluggish. Compared to Q2 2017, consumer engagement with B2B brands fell 4%; likewise B2B brands posted 5% fewer pieces of content during the quarter. B2Bs generated 15.5 million consumer actions during the quarter and posted 123,000 pieces of content across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Instagram was the platform that generated the highest numbers.

In terms of individual brands, stalwart IMG Models Worldwide maintained its dominance, generating more than 5.1 million consumer actions, up 6%, in Q3 2017. Another socially strong brand, Pantone, the color intelligence company, generated 1.5 million consumer actions, up 12%, despite posting 22% fewer pieces of content during the the quarter. Instagram was its top platform, responsible for 98% of consumer engagement. At number 3 is Sotheby’s, generating 1.1 million consumer actions, down 28% from Q2. Instagram accounted for 90% of its consumer engagement. Consumer engagement with cloud-computing brand Amazon Web Services’ content rose a whopping 97% during the quarter, on a 62% increase in social posts. Interestingly, Amazon Web eschews Instagram, being active on Facebook and Twitter only. Engagement on Facebook was responsible for 98% of its actions.