Top 10 Media Publishers for September 2015: Instagram Trumps Facebook for Engagement

by Tania Yuki

Originally posted on Adweek SocialTimes

In September, U.S. media publishers accounted for 1.4 billion total social actions (likes, comments, shares, retweets, favorites, dislikes), with 699 million from Instagram, 666 million actions from Facebook, and 46 million from Twitter. This represents 22 percent of all actions taken on content published by brands in September. The media publishing industry saw a 5 percent decrease in total actions compared to August 2015.

Of the Top Ten, BuzzFeed Food saw the highest growth in engagement at 57 percent, jumping to number five in September from number ten in August 2015, driven by a 62 percent increase in likes, shares, and comments on Facebook. BuzzFeed Food also claimed the top spot on Facebook closely followed by BuzzFeed Video . Bleacher Report was the top media publisher on Twitter, and National Geographic kept its number one spot on Instagram.



Key Engagement Drivers in September
BuzzFeed Food , BuzzFeed Video and Playboy saw the highest growth among the top ten, driven by an increase in social actions on Facebook. BuzzFeed Food increased post frequency by 97 percent on the platform, and, in particular, saw a 90 percent growth in actions on Facebook videos. Italian-inspired recipe videos dominated the media publisher’s most socially engaged Facebook posts, providing instructions on how to make various types of pizza and lasagna .

Facebook video recipes also drove BuzzFeed Video ’s 12 percent growth in September, where the media publisher saw a 22 percent increase in social actions. Videos showing how to make various dishes like cheesy chicken , bacon-wrapped tater tots and alcoholic Oreos , led BuzzFeed Video ’s top posts on Facebook.

Playboy’s social growth in September was due to a 14 percent growth in actions on Facebook. The top performing Facebook posts included a dig at the man-bun and comical memes and photos .



Fastest Growing Categories and Publishers

The fastest growing categories by total social engagement month over month were food (+15 percent), driven by BuzzFeed Food , science & technology (+6 percent), driven by CNET and The Verge , and Family (+4 percent), driven by American Baby and FamilyFun . WWD saw the highest growth of any media publisher in September at 158 percent.