Utilities should be tracking social media metrics to understand:
- How often people interact with their content.
- How interested people are in their content.
- How familiar their audience is with utility products, programs, and services.
To stay on top of trends, we monitor over 150 utility social media accounts across the US and Canada and publish a monthly report for members of certain E Source subscriptions. We also publicly highlight some social successes in a quarterly blog post.
We use engagement metrics to determine the top-performing posts. This is a great way to tell whether your audience cares about what your utility posts on social media and what they want to see more of.
Here are some trends from the past three months and an award-winning campaign by Alabama Power Company.
Top trends from October, November, December
Tis the season to be jolly and safe! There was a lot of cheer spread in Q4 as the holiday season was in full swing. However, woven throughout the holiday chatter were updates about restoring power after hurricanes and other major storms.
Post-hurricane communications
Utilities kept customers informed during Hurricane Helene and Hilton by providing restoration updates, safety tips, and helpful resources on social media channels.
All the holidays!
Q4 is a holiday extravaganza and trending hashtags that resulted in plentiful engagement included #HappyThanksgiving, #VeteransDay, #GivingTuesday, and #HappyHolidays.
Announcing holiday giveaways
The end of the year is also the season of giving, and who doesn’t want to win a free winter warm-up bundle? Utilities were engaging customers by offering holiday-themed giveaways, which are a great way to provide education, get new exposure, and start conversations in the comments.
The top-performing social media posts from Q4
Below are the top-performing utility social media posts from Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, and YouTube for the quarter.
Top-performing social media posts by platform
Utility campaign spotlight: Alabama Power
What’s a creative way to share your organization’s values while increasing awareness about initiatives like vegetation management? Focus on the people.
In its award-winning promotional video for its Second-Chance Tree Trimming Program, Alabama Power puts people at the center of vegetation management and restoration efforts. It also highlights the key role the utility plays in workforce development.
The Second-Chance Tree Trimming Program, in partnership with Ingram State Technical College and the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles, helps formerly incarcerated people by equipping them with career-readiness preparation, safety training, climbing, and tree trimming skills to compete for sustainable careers.
Second-chance tree trimming program
The video from the campaign received first place in the Internal Communications category of the E Source Utility Ad Awards Contest winners 2024. The video also received a standing ovation from the crowd at the awards ceremony at E Source Forum 2024.
