Asset managers post slightly less on social media during Q3

Engagement levels on LinkedIn and Facebook dropped during the quarter

Key points:

• The number of social media posts by asset managers and their overall sentiment decreased during Q3
• Even though LinkedIn and Facebook continue to have the highest levels of engagement, asset managers saw a drop in engagement with their posts on both platforms compared to earlier in 2021
• While asset managers posted most frequently on expert views during Q3, the engagement for this topic actually fell quite significantly compared to Q2

The number of social media posts by asset managers and their overall sentiment decreased during Q3 when compared to the previous quarter, research by Fundamental Media shows.

During the third quarter of 2021, Fundamental Media analysed 2,433 social media posts by the top ten global asset managers (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube), including 844 LinkedIn posts.

With the exception of Facebook, asset managers have been posting slightly less content on social media in the third quarter of 2021, similar to figures seen in Q1.

While posts on LinkedIn and Twitter had become more positive overall during Q2 while Facebook posts had become slightly more negative, in Q3 the sentiment of asset managers’ posts had fallen back to the more neutral levels seen in Q1.

Even though LinkedIn and Facebook continue to have the highest levels of engagement, asset managers saw a drop in the level of engagement with their posts on both platforms compared to earlier in 2021. On the other hand, the engagement levels for Twitter and YouTube increased since Q2.

The average number of new subscribers to asset managers’ YouTube channels has increased from 138 in Q2 to 177 in Q3. Compared to Q1, the number of views has more than doubled to just below 100,000 views. The average number of reactions to videos (likes, dislikes, comments and shares) is similar to Q2, but the average number of views has increased by 61%, resulting in a much higher average level of engagement.

Engagement on LinkedIn

Looking only at the LinkedIn posts, asset managers posted most frequently on expert views, followed by ESG. Posts on the topic Europe received the most engagement, followed by posts on ESG.

During Q3, all topics had an overall neutral or positive sentiment, but regular communications and posts on ESG, Europe and retirement were overall the most positive.

While posts on Europe received the highest levels of engagement, overall engagement levels were higher for this topic during Q2. And while asset managers posted most frequently on expert views during Q3, the engagement for this topic actually fell quite significantly compared to Q2. 

Expert views, ESG and market continue to be the three topics that asset managers post about most frequently. During 2020, these topics were also very popular among asset managers, although the topics pandemic and economy were very often posted about during the first Covid year as well.