A well-known conference and an iconic singer were all the buzz on social media. BrandGraph, a social media measurement tool that analyzes billions of posts, ranks the most talked about brands on its BrandGraph 500 list.
South by Southwest (SXSW), a popular conference in Austin, and the singer Miley Cyrus had the two biggest chart jumps in the month of March — both climbing more than 200 spots on the BrandGraph 500 during March.
So, what sparked the dramatic bump up the social chart?
SXSW spiked in March BrandGraph 500
SXSW held its annual conference in March, which catapulted the brand up 250 spots on the BrandGraph 500.
The conference has become a staple in the event industry that celebrates the convergence of tech, film, music, education, and culture.
The conference was canceled in 2020 because of COVID-19 and hosted limited virtual events in 2021, but it’s made a comeback in 2022. Event organizers called it “an epic reunion of creatives around the world,” which took place over the course of 10 days in mid-March.
Before and after the event, the brand’s share of voice in the events category shot up to 78%. As you can see by the BrandGraph chart below, its average share is usually just short of 20%.
BrandGraph data shows the buzz created around the event was mostly organic. The graph below shows organic content (represented in blue) hit a high for the year, reaching 25.0K organic posts. There was a small uptick in sponsored content, too, (represented in green), but it was minimal compared with the organic content volume.
Some of the posts on social media were from big names in entertainment. Shawn Mendes, for instance, who performed at SXSW, had impressive engagement. This post alone racked up 1.8 million likes from his 67.6 million Instagram followers.
Luxury accessory brands and high-end car brands also took to social to talk about their involvement in the event.
And, of course, event guests shared their thoughts, too. Everything from snaps with celebrities, reviews of various speakers, and pictures at the event’s ready-for-social backdrops filled social channels.
Miley Cyrus climbs the chart on the 16th anniversary of ‘Hannah Montana’ TV premiere
Pop star Miley Cyrus was also a BrandGraph chart climber in March. The “Wrecking Ball” singer took to social to celebrate the 16th anniversary of “Hannah Montana,” the show that catapulted her to stardom.
On Twitter, the 29-year-old singer shared a few fond memories of the teenage character, whose nights were consumed by her secret pop star life.
On March 24, the singer wrote, “Happy 16th Hannah-versary! 16 years ago my life changed forever when HM (Hannah Montana) premiered. Cyrus even sang one of the hits from the show on stage and shared it with her 46.7 million Twitter followers and 166 million Instagram followers.
As a result of the anniversary and the social chatter, Cyrus climbed up the BrandGraph 500 by 205 spots. It was the second biggest jump of the month behind SXSW.
When you dig into more of the BrandGraph metrics, you can see who’s posting about the pop star. BrandGraph shows a breakdown of the content creators who are sharing some Cyrus-social-love. Metrics show 53% of the content creators are female, and about 38% are between the age of 25 to 34. However, she’s also popular with the 18-to-24 crowd too. The metrics show 26% of that age group is buzzing about the singer, who crosses multiple music genres including pop, country, and rock.
March was a big month for SXSW and Miley Cyrus. Social channels were full of messages, photos, and videos, which is why the two jumped up the BrandGraph 500 by hundreds of spots. BrandGraph can offer your brand similar insights. The platform helps brands measure social media performance, benchmark progress against competitors, and identify influencers. Want to learn more? Visit the BrandGraph website today.
