Words: Cassandra Stern
Editor’s Note: Data used for this article is completely organic and current as of 3/23/20.
Did you know that as of January 2020, Facebook had 2.5 billion active users? That means almost 30% of the world’s population has a Facebook account- and that’s just one of dozens of popular social networking sites. At MASONRY Magazine and the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA), we are very aware of how important social media is to the health and success of the masonry industry. In addition honoring certain members of the masonry industry with the coveted Golden Brick award for outstanding social media participation and presence over the previous year, the MCAA and MASONRY Magazine are constantly working to develop their own social media presence. We have committed ourselves to making 2020 the year of social media at the MCAA, and since the beginning of the year, we have already shattered previous records with our coverage, reach, and engagement.
A little background: impression counts are one of the many metrics used to analyze social media data. A social media impression count reflects the number of times your content, or post, has been shown on different internet browsers- not the number of times it has been clicked on or interacted with. That’s known as your social media reach, which in turn is used to analyze your social media engagement, or your successful interactions with your audience.
Without getting into the nitty-gritty of Social Media 101, impression count is a common metric used to gauge the overall effectiveness and success of a partícular social media post, regardless of the type of content. Whether that’s video, gif, meme, photograph, infographic, or plain text, if a post has a high impression count, then you’ve done your job as a social media professional. Our top ten posts this year (so far) have already outperformed our 2019 numbers and are only continuing to grow, which is an excellent indication of our growing reach and we are well on track to surpass our original engagement goals.
In honor of and to celebrate our recent success, we’re recapping a list of our Ten Most Popular Facebook Posts of 2020 (So Far) by number of impressions here:
10. Who wouldn’t want a #brick couch?
Published at Jan 22, 2020 11:07 AM
Impressions: 5,860
Photo Credit: Visit Chattanooga website
Starting off our list at number 10, we’re revisiting a slightly different take on a living room staple. This brick couch is the source of a lot of laughs (11 laughing reactions, to be precise) and 8 comments including the suggestion that “every bus stop should have this.” This was a fun and lighthearted post, and we were happy that our MCAA audience enjoyed it as much as we did!
9. This knotted #brick sculpture is pretty awesome!
Published at Jan 22, 2020 4:51 PM
Impressions: 6,202
Photo Credit: Wendy Taylor
Artwork, and particularly interesting brick sculptures always perform exceptionally well on our social media channels, and this knotted brick sculpture was no exception! Shared over 30 times with 9 comments and 118 reactions, this post demonstrates that brick and mortar artwork is a topic the MCAA audience is exceptionally interested in which gives us a better understanding of how to deliver more content like this in the future.
8. Check out that stonework! Happy #FireplaceFriday from MASONRY Magazine!
Published at Feb 21, 2020 2:07 PM
Impressions: 6,688
Photo Credit: reddit.com
Coming in at number 8 is one of our most popular day of the week hashtag themes: #FireplaceFriday. While posts with this hashtag usually perform very well, it would seem our MASONRY Magazine Facebook followers were really interested in the intricate stonework details of this fireplace design. With 11 comments like “That’s a very awesome job, very beautiful” and 62 shares, this post achieved significant reach and decent user engagement as well. What do you think about the fireplace in this post?
7. “Mortar on a brick building comprises nearly 20% of the surface, and colored mortar can accent or contrast in a way that creates a soft, subtle exterior or a dramatic style statement.”
Published at Jan 23, 2020 2:09 PM
Impressions: 7,172
Photo Credit: SPEC MIX
Many of our MASONRY Magazine articles perform well on all of our social media platforms, but this one really resonated with our MASONRY Magazine audience. Colored mortar is a popular topic with career masons and mason contractors thanks to its polished look and many applications, and our followers were eager to learn more about it. The article attached to this post was read over 600 times after the post was published, which further demonstrates the power of our social media influence in the masonry industry.
6. On #FeaturedFriday, check out this mind-bending sculpture from British artist Alex Chinneck!
Published at Jan 17, 2020 9:25 AM
Impressions: 8,387
Photo Credit: Alex Chinneck
Our number 6 post is another beautiful piece of brick artwork that’s more abstract than some of the other pieces we’ve seen so far, and our MASONRY Magazine audience took notice. International posts perform extremely well on this social media channel, and UK-based artist Alex Chinneck is no exception. This photo received 70 reactions and was shared 22 times, which is pretty strong user engagement, and we look forward to sharing more content like this in the future!
5. We’re finishing off our #WackyWednesday chimney series with a final twist! Which was your favorite chimney of the day?
Published at Feb 12, 2020 4:51 PM
Impressions: 10,631
Photo Credit: reddit.com
#WackyWednesdays are another fantastic day of the week feature that both our MASONRY Magazine and MCAA followers absolutely love. In fact, one of our top-performing posts ever was a #WackyWednesday sculpture! This one, however, is not only wacky- it’s functional, and many users were quick to comment exactly that, with one user asking “what’s the illusion?” The 628 people who clicked the attached link can’t be wrong- this is one seriously cool piece of brick artwork!
4. Our Mason Contractors Association of America – MCAA Skills Challenge in action!
Published at Feb 5, 2020 4:20 PM
Impressions: 13,919
Photo/Video Credit: Cassandra Stern
We went live or posted video content several times from World of Concrete 2020, which was a huge first for the MCAA and MASONRY Magazine. This video was posted directly from the MCAA Skills Challenge at the WOC Bronze Lot and gave followers thousands of miles away an up close and personal look at the competitors at work. It’s no surprise that this video performed so well on social media- we had the best seat in the house!
3. Check out April Ruiz’s GEN NXT article here as you head out to a beautiful weekend! #MASONRYstrong
Published at Mar 13, 2020 4:54 PM
Impressions: 14,505
Photo Credit: April Ruiz
Our GEN NXT series is a popular series and an opportunity to meet and learn more about some of the masonry industry’s up and coming all-stars. We love this series and look forward to meeting, interviewing and featuring these spectacular individuals and giving them the recognition they deserve- like April Ruiz. We met April at World of Concrete 2020 as a MCAA Skills Challenge participant and immediately knew she was an excellent candidate for our GEN NXT series- and we were right! Our audience clearly agreed and the article was wildly popular on MASONRY Magazine’s Facebook page, garnering over 1,000 clicks on the article link, 14 shares, and 57 reactions. We are proud to share April’s story and look forward to continuing to bring these articles to our social media pages.
2. It’s the Fastest Trowel!
Published at Feb 5, 2020 1:34 PM
Impressions: 25,015
Photo/Video Credit: Cassandra Stern
This was the first record-breaker of the year for the MCAA. During this year’s Fastest Trowel Contest at World of Concrete, the MCAA social media team decided to livestream the competition right in the center of the action. At the time of its posting, this livestream video broke every MCAA social media record for impression count and reach, and has been viewed over 14,000 times to date. Thanks to the success and popularity of this livestream, we have decided to make these videos regular scheduled events at future World of Concrete competitions!
1. Has this ever happened to you? #FailFriday
Published at Feb 28, 2020 5:05 AM
Impressions: 50,558
Photo/Video Credit: reddit.com
It seems what mason contractors and career masons want most on social media is a good laugh! Our top-performing post had our MCAA followers in stitches and the metrics for its performance were absolutely off the charts- this post doubled the impression count of the runner up! This post received almost 15,000 10 second views, 136 comments, and over 100 shares. When it comes to engagement, this was the post of year! (so far, of course)! #FailFriday continues to be one of our most popular day of the week hashtag themes and for good reason: these posts are all in good fun and allow us to interact with and share a good laugh with our audience. Did you think this was as funny as everyone else did?
From masonry competition videos to industry information, stunning sculptures and beautiful masonry work, it seems there isn’t just one recipe when it comes to social media success in this industry. By providing our audience with a wide range of interesting and informative content, we will continue to improve our relationships with social media users across the globe and grow as an association. We are always looking for user generated content, so if you have something you would like to see featured on our social media platform, please feel free to contact us at any time at cstern@masonrymagazine.com.