Commentary

Brands Tally 38 Billion Social Impressions in Q3

Brands generated a mind-blowing 38 billion social media impressions worldwide in the third quarter of 2012, according to a quarterly survey from research outfit PQ Media and uberVU, which measures social audiences; in addition to a demographic and regional breakdown of these impressions, the partners also produced a list of the brands with the most impressions.

The total number of social impressions generated by brands globally increased steadily from around 10.6 billion in July to 12.9 billion in August and 14.5 billion in September. Unsurprisingly (given its role originating social media and higher adoption rates) the U.S. dominated social media brand impressions, accounting for 42% of the global total of 38 billion, or around 16 billion impressions. More surprising was the fact that men were exposed to more brand impressions on social media, accounting for 55% of all social media brand impressions, despite the conventional wisdom that women are heavier users of social media.

A relatively small number of brands accounted for a disproportionate number of social media impressions, with 30 brands earning 31.8 billion impressions, for an 84% share of total social media voice. In terms of categories, restaurant brands generated the most social impressions, with ten brands earning a total of 9.4 billion impressions; consumer tech followed with five brands earning 8.1 billion impressions, and carmakers came in third with five brands earning 2.9 billion impressions.

Turning to specific brands, Coca-Cola came first with 4.07 billion social media impressions, followed by Samsung with around 2.77 billion; Apple, with 2.69 billion; Amazon, with around 2.58 billion; Google, with 2.44 billion; Starbucks, with almost 1.15 billion; and Wendy’s with almost 1.03 billion.

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