Check out last week’s top 10 over-performing Facebook posts from the 2016 presidential campaigns! The data is via our friends at CrowdTangle, and remember that these aren’t the top-performing posts in ABSOLUTE terms, since that would almost always be dominated by the pages with the biggest followings. Instead, these are posts that beat the average for that particular page — posts that reset the bar for success for that campaign on Facebook. Of note this week: see what messages won the post-debate war, and don’t miss Hillary Clinton’s little opportunity for her own supporters.
If you like this list, BTW, check our our weekly Top Ten Facebook Advocacy Posts, also compiled with CrowdTangle data.
A special note to our readers-via-email: be sure to click through to the online version of this article to see the embedded posts. It’s well worth your time.
1. Rand Paul (52.9x)
Posted by Rand Paul on Thursday, August 6, 2015
2. Rand Paul (42.5x)
Posted by Rand Paul on Thursday, August 6, 2015
3. Dr. Ben Carson (23.5x)
A leader listens when the American people speak. Unfortunately, our stage was filled with plenty of rhetoric and…
Posted by Dr. Ben Carson on Thursday, August 6, 2015
4. Bernie Sanders (21.3x)
The Republican debate is over. Not one word about income and wealth inequality, climate change, Citizens United or…
Posted by Bernie Sanders on Thursday, August 6, 2015
5. Dr. Ben Carson (20.7x)
May the Lord guide my words tonight, let His wisdom be my thoughts.
Posted by Dr. Ben Carson on Thursday, August 6, 2015
6. Donald J. Trump (13.8x)
Just arrived for the #GOPdebate #MakeAmericaGreatAgain
Posted by Donald J. Trump on Thursday, August 6, 2015
7. Donald J. Trump (13.6x)
http://www.local8now.com/home/headlines/92-year-old-registers-to-vote-for-first-time-says-will-vote-for-Trump-313102521.html
Posted by Donald J. Trump on Tuesday, August 4, 2015
8. Ted Cruz (13.6x)
Here's what I'd do on my first day in office as President.Help make it a reality: https://www.tedcruz.org/donate/?cid=FO0148/
Posted by Ted Cruz on Thursday, August 6, 2015
9. Ted Cruz (13.0x)
SHARE if you agree! #GOPDebate #CruzCrew tedcruz.org/debate
Posted by Ted Cruz on Thursday, August 6, 2015
10. Hillary Clinton (11.2x)
Watch the GOP debate? Bet you feel like donating to a Democrat right about now. hrc.io/1hmsalS
Posted by Hillary Clinton on Thursday, August 6, 2015
Explanation of the Scoring
These posts don’t represent the most-viewed pieces of content on Facebook (since that would almost entirely end up being dominated by the same small handful of large-audience Pages over and over). Instead, we list the posts that performed the best (using shares as the primary metric) against the organization Page’s OWN average (hence the word “over-performing”). To build the list, we CrowdTangle’s tracking system, which generates an average rate of growth for Pages over time (with at least 50 data points before a Page is scored). So, the "x" numbers listed above specifically represent how many more multiples of shares each post received compared with what the Page’s posts normally get. Note that we set a minimum bar of total engagement of around 500 shares or so.
About CrowdTangle
CrowdTangle is a new tool that helps organizations easily keep track of what’s being shared on Facebook. Organizations can use it to find shareable content around their own issue area or to keep track of what affiliated Pages are posting on a regular basis. Launched in late January, the beta version of the tool is already being used by dozens of leading organizations across the country. If you want to see how it works, watch this short video: http://www.screenr.com/Iv1H
– cpd
White House photo by Daniel Schwen, via Wikimedia Commons.
