BrandGraph Look at Harris and Trump Social Media Content in July 2024

All eyes are on politics as a historic presidential race unfolds. The Democrats changed the ticket late when President Joe Biden resigned from the race in late July and endorsed current Vice President Kamala Harris. With fewer than 100 days before Election Day, Harris faces Republican candidate and former President Donald Trump in a nail-biting race to November’s finish. But who’s dominating the social conversation? 

BrandGraph, our proprietary social media intelligence platform, provides the insights. BrandGraph maps relationships between brands, companies, social handles, and influencer-created content, offering a comprehensive look at the competitive landscape. By processing over a billion pieces of content across various social platforms, BrandGraph enables brands to identify influencers, analyze market trends, and gain a competitive edge. Now, let’s dive in.

Trump vs. Harris: Content quantity and makeup

BrandGraph analyzes millions of pieces of content to quantify how much content is generated about a single brand, or in this case, candidate. Of the 534 million pieces of content that BrandGraph aggregated between July 1 through July 26, 64,200 pieces focused on Trump. 

Seventy-three percent of those posts were found on Instagram and about 19% on YouTube.

The content quantity for Harris during that same time period is quite different. As you can see from the graphic below, of the 531 million pieces of content that BrandGraph analyzed, just 5,300 pieces focused on Harris between the start of July through the 24th. While that number is significantly lower, Harris wasn’t officially in the presidential race until mid-July, so it does make sense that the amount of content shared on social media was less.

Trump vs. Harris: Share of voice

Share of voice measures the candidate’s market share and visibility by category. For Trump, his category is U.S. Presidents, so his share of voice is compared to that of Barack Obama and Bill Clinton. 

As you can see from the chart, Trump’s share of voice has hovered around the average all year, which in this category is about 65%. However, since the end of June, Trump’s share of voice has steadily increased and is expected to climb above 80% by the end of August. During that time, Trump survived an assassination attempt and accepted the party’s nomination during the Republican National Committee in Milwaukee. Both events dominated headlines and social media.

Meanwhile, Harris’ share of voice looks a bit different. For starters, she’s in the U.S. Politicians category, where the average share of voice is about 40%. Since she announced her candidacy in mid-July, her share of voice has skyrocketed. At the end of May, she held about 20%, but by the end of August, she’s expected to hover right below 100%.

Trump vs. Harris: Engagement rate

Which candidate is generating a better engagement rate? BrandGraph shows both candidates have peaks and valleys as it provides engagement rates for both sponsored and organic content over the course of a year. 

For Trump, you’ll notice a spike in organic content at the end of June, which correlates to the first presidential debate held around the same time. His organic engagement rate was close to 2% in July, almost double that of the month before.

Meanwhile, Harris saw a strong peak in engagement a little later than Trump, which was likely sparked by her announcement to replace Biden on the campaign trail. Her organic engagement rate went from about 0.8% at the end of May to almost 4% one month later. At the same time, you’ll also notice a peak in sponsored content, likely due to the party investing advertising dollars into her political campaign.

Most popular content for Trump and Harris

BrandGraph curates a list of content and ranks it by popularity. For Trump, one of the most discussed pieces of content over the last 12 months focuses on a Time Magazine article that highlights Biden’s struggles to win over voters.

For Harris, one of the most popular sponsored pieces of content is an MSNBC segment with an interview focusing on Harris’ views on women’s rights.

Using BrandGraph’s filters, you can explore the most popular pieces of content and adjust the timeline you’d like to explore. For our example, we looked at content over the past year, but you can set it for the last 30 days or 7 days as well. 

While BrandGraph provides unique insights into the 2024 presidential candidates, it can do the same for your brand. It’s not always easy to measure success on social media, but BrandGraph can provide the insights, trends, and competitive benchmarks you need to gauge success. Learn more about BrandGraph today.