The Science of Social Media
@DanZarrella

Free

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% Without "free" With "free"

Metric to Improve

Metric to Improve
Potential Change

Metric to Improve Potential Change
Discard Implement

Metric to Improve Potential Change
Discard Implement Potential Change Discard Implement

Metric to Improve Potential Change
Discard Implement Potential Change Potential Change Discard Implement Discard Implement

Metric to Improve Potential Change
Discard Implement Potential Change Potential Change Discard Implement Discard Implement

Focus:
Timing

Hour of Day vs ReTweets
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Day of the Week vs
ReTweets 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3

Day of the Week vs
Email Opens 0% 1% 2% 3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 0.40% 0.42% 0.44% 0.46% 0.48% 0.50% 0.52% 0.54% Unsubs Clicks

Day of Week vs Facebook
Like Rate 0.12% 0.13% 0.14% 0.15% 0.16% 0.17% 0.18%

Time of Day vs Facebook
Like Rate 0.00% 0.02% 0.04% 0.06% 0.08% 0.10% 0.12% 0.14% 0.16% 0.18% 0.20%

Takeaway:
Experiment with contra-competitive timing.

Focus:
Conversation

@Reply Percentage Vs Followers 0.00%
2.00% 4.00% 6.00% 8.00% 10.00% 12.00% 14.00% 16.00% 18.00% Over 1k Under 1k

@Reply Percentage Vs Followers 0.00%
2.00% 4.00% 6.00% 8.00% 10.00% 12.00% 14.00% 16.00% Over 1M Under 1M

Non-@ Link Percentage vs Followers
0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2 0.25 0.3 0.35 0.4 0.45 0.5 Over 1k Under 1k

Links vs Followers 0 500
1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000 1 4 7 10 13 16 19 22 25 28 31 34 37 40 43 46 49 52 55 58 61 64 67 70 73 76 79 82 85 88 91 94 97

Non-@ Link Percentage vs ReTweets
0% 2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 16% 18% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Reply Percentage vs ReTweets 0%
2% 4% 6% 8% 10% 12% 14% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

Repin Correlation To Likes and
Comments 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 Likes Comments

Takeaway: Content is king, not
conversation.

Focus:
Social CTAs

Effect of SCTAs on Facebook
Likes 0.09% 0.10% 0.11% 0.12% 0.13% Without "Like" With "Like"

Effect of SCTAs on Facebook
Comments 0.000% 0.002% 0.004% 0.006% 0.008% 0.010% 0.012% 0.014% 0.016% 0.018% Without "Comment" With "Comment"

Effect of SCTAs on Facebook
Shares 0.000% 0.005% 0.010% 0.015% 0.020% Without "Share" With "Share"

Effect of Questions on Facebook
Comments 0.00% 0.01% 0.02% 0.03% With Questions Without Questions

Effect of “Share” on Blog
Metrics -4.0% -2.0% 0.0% 2.0% 4.0% 6.0% Comments Links Views

Effect of “Link” on Blog
Metrics -2.0% -1.0% 0.0% 1.0% 2.0% Comments Links Views

Effect of “Comment” on Blog
Metrics -3.0% -2.0% -1.0% 0.0% 1.0% 2.0% Comments Links Views

The Word “Like” 0 0.1
0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 LpF 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 CpF The Word “Comment”

Effect of SCTAs on ReTweets
12% 39% 51% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% Neither Please RT Please ReTweet

Takeaway: Ask for the actions
you want.

Focus:
Visual Content

0% 10% 20% 30% 40%
50% 60% Without Media With Media Effect of Media on ReTweets

Facebook Post Types vs Likes
-80 -60 -40 -20 0 20 40 60 80 100 Jan-10 Mar-10 May-10 Jul-10 Sep-10 Nov-10 Jan-11 Mar-11 May-11 Jul-11 Sep-11 Nov-11 Jan-12 Mar-12 May-12 Jul-12 Sep-12 Nov-12 Jan-13 Mar-13 May-13 Jul-13 Sep-13 Nov-13 Jan-14 Mar-14 May-14 Jul-14 Photos Links Status Videos

Tumbler Photo
Post Percentage
83%

Tumbler Post Types vs Notes
-120% -100% -80% -60% -40% -20% 0% 20%

Takeaway: Visual, visual, visual, visual,
visual.

Number of Tags vs Likes
and Comments 0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

0 0.05 0.1 0.15 0.2
0.25 Without #NoFilter With #NoFilter Number of Tags vs Likes and Comments

#NoFilter Fakers
28%

Effect of Filters on Likes-per-Follower
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1 Normal Willow Valencia Sierra Walden Hudson Mayfair Amaro Rise Sutro Inkwell Unknown Toaster Brannan Hefe X-Pro II Lo-fi Nashville Earlybird 1977 Poprocket Kelvin Apollo Gotham

0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4
0.5 0.6 With "face" Without "face" Effect of Faces on Likes-per-Follower

Saturation vs Likes and Comments
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Luminance vs Likes and Comments
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 0.06 0.07 0.08 0.09 0.1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

#Selfies
Everything

Focus:
Relevance

One-to-One Sharing Motivations 0% 10%
20% 30% 40% 50%

One-to-Many Sharing Motivations 0% 10%
20%

Zombies
Marketing
Me

Takeaway:
Use combined
relevance.

Focus:
Text Content

Sentiment vs Twitter CTR 0
0.01 0.02 0.03 0.04 0.05 -6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Facebook Sharing By Linguistic Content
-0.2 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1

Takeaway: Don’t be a Debbie
Downer.

Link Placement
vs CTR

Tweet Length vs CTR 0.00%
2.00% 4.00% 6.00% 8.00% 10.00% 12.00% 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140

Readability vs Likes and Comments
0.00% 0.02% 0.04% 0.06% 0.08% 0.10% 0.12% 0.14% 0.16% 0.18% 0.20% 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.01% 0.02% 0.02% 0.02% 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 Comment Rate Like Rate

Part-of-Speech vs Likes -0.04 -0.03
-0.02 -0.01 0 0.01 0.02 0.03 Adverb Adjective Noun Verb

Takeaway:
Write simply
and plainly.

Thank You!