In study published on January 25, 2022, Agorapulse, the first French social media management platform, reveals the major trends in community management in Francein 2021. To understand the practices of community managers, the teams of the Parisian company analyzed 1.6 million publications between June and November 2021.
Facebook is not dead according to Agorapulse
Criticized for several years, Facebook remains the social network most used by community managers. According to Agorapulse, “even if many think that the platform is in decline, it nevertheless remains the most used by French community managers to post content”. One in two publications concerns the social network founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004. Instagram occupies the second position, quite far behind, with a volume of publications which represents 18.5% on all social networks. Then come Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
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Distribution of the number of posts by social network / Agorapulse
There is the use and there is the frequency of publications. On this second point and without much surprise, it is Twitter that wins the prize. The blue bird is justly recognized for this characteristic. The use and the algorithm of the platform have decided so. Community managers publish an average of 18 tweets/month on this social network. Facebook is in second place with an average of 10 posts/month, followed by Instagram (8 posts/month), then LinkedIn (7 posts/month) and YouTube (4 posts/month).
Weekend posts for more engagement?
In its study, Agorapulse also analyzed the content that engaged the most in 2021. The carousel is on the rise. If the photo remains the most shared content (about 75%), it is the carousel which is the most engaging content. All platforms combined. Good to know for your next publications. Video still works well: it’s the most engaging type of content on Facebook. Note also that link sharing generates more engagement on Facebook than on LinkedIn “where engagement will be higher with photo or video sharing”.
The French social media management platform also reveals the best days to publish. A trend emerges: Saturday and Sunday seem to be the two most interesting days for community managers. Less publication, more visibility? Agorapulse data seems to confirm this. In terms of schedules, on Facebook engagement is on average higher at 1 p.m. and after 7 p.m., while on Instagram it is preferable to post in the afternoon and evening after 9 p.m., just like on Twitter. On LinkedIn, it is better to post early in the morning or after 6 p.m.
Average number of engagements per day / Agorapulse.
Last topic analysed: hashtags. We discover that their use varies according to social networks. On Instagram, 80% of publications in 2021 included at least one hashtag. On Facebook and YouTube, the majority of posts do not have hashtags. According to Agorapulse, “on Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter, the use of hashtags rather favors engagement for small accounts: more hashtags used, more engagement”. The social media management platform also presents the 10 most used hashtags by French community managers on Instagram in 2021:
The most used hashtags on Instagram in 2021 / Agorapulse