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. If you like this list, 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. Bernie Sanders (14.4x)
Portland set the record tonight. Including the 9,000 who couldn’t get in the doors, an astonishing 28,000 people showed…
Posted by Bernie Sanders on Sunday, August 9, 2015
2. Carly Fiorina (13x)
Where Clinton has lied and evaded in response to questions, I have stood firmly on my track record of accomplishments. I…
Posted by Carly Fiorina on Thursday, August 13, 2015
3. Dr. Ben Carson (11.9x)
I wanted to use our time tonight to directly deal with an attack launched on me today by the left and the media. A…
Posted by Dr. Ben Carson on Thursday, August 13, 2015
4. Rand Paul (11.2x)
The last time the United States was debt free was 1835. That's ridiculous. We shouldn't spend more than we take in! #StandwithRand in NH
Posted by Rand Paul on Wednesday, August 12, 2015
5. Rand Paul (8.8x)
The Second Amendment is an important part of the Bill of Rights we must protect! #StandwithRand in NH
Posted by Rand Paul on Wednesday, August 12, 2015
6. Donald J. Trump (8.7x)
Not under my watch-
Posted by Donald J. Trump on Thursday, August 13, 2015
7. Carly Fiorina (8.5x)
We have a tax code that's about 75,000 pages. We need to get it down to three. My blueprint: Lower every rate, close every loophole. https://carlyforpresident.com/join-us
Posted by Carly Fiorina on Sunday, August 9, 2015
8. Bernie Sanders (8.4x)
This is a campaign that is on the move and, together, this is a campaign that will end in victory.
Posted by Bernie Sanders on Monday, August 10, 2015
9. Ted Cruz (8.1x)
[Post no longer available]
10. Donald J. Trump (7.7x)
Will be interviewed by Sean Hannity tonight at 10 PM for the full hour. Hope you enjoy it and, more importantly, hope you agree!
Posted by Donald J. Trump on Tuesday, August 11, 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