Does social media matter for post typology? Impact of post content on Facebook and Instagram metrics

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of post type (advertising, fan, events, information, and promotion) on two interaction metrics: likes and comments. The measuring involved two popular social media, Facebook and Instagram, and in business profiles of five different segments (food, hairdressing, ladies’ footwear, body design, fashion gym wear). Design/methodology/approach – The method used was multiple regression analysis with an estimator of the ordinary least squares for 1,849 posts from five different companies posted on Facebook (680 posts) and Instagram (1,169 Instagram) over an eight-month posting period. Regression analysis was used to identify the relationship between the dependent variables (likes and comments), and the independent variables (post typology, segments, week period, month, characters and hashtag). Findings – It was seen that the post types events and promotion led to a greater involvement of followers in Instagram, in particular. In Facebook, the events post type was only significant in the like’s interaction. Another finding of the research is the relevance of the food and body design segment which was significant in both virtual social media. This indicates a user preference involving their day-to-day lives, in this case, having a tattoo done or seeing a photo of a dessert. Originality/value – With the findings of this study, academics and social media managers can improve the return indicators of interactions in posts and broaden the discussion on the types of post and interaction in different virtual social media.