Report: 91% of Political Advocacy Groups on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube

Burson-Marsteller released some interesting findings today from a study which analyzed the digital presence of 34 U.S. political advocacy groups including the AARP, the Human Rights Campaign and National Taxpayers Union.

Of the 34 groups examined, only one group had no social media presence on any of the platforms — we’d like to know which one — and 91 percent of groups used all three major social media platforms (Twitter, Facebook and YouTube).

Other findings include:

The majority (61 percent of groups on Twitter and 56 percent of groups on Facebook) use social media to encourage direct outreach to Congress and other politicians.

On average, political advocacy groups had 4,880 Twitter followers, 32,588 Facebook fans and 777 YouTube subscribers.

Political advocacy groups on Twitter are following an average of 2,261 accounts, and 73 percent of groups mentioned (or “@”-ed) other users to engage or acknowledge them.

Only about one out of five advocacy groups (21 percent on Twitter and 19 percent on Facebook) use social media to ask for fundraising support.

Seventy-three percent of political advocacy groups on Twitter retweet posts by users.

In total, 32 groups had YouTube channels, and these groups have uploaded 3,432 videos in the complete lifetime of their channels. The average number of videos per YouTube channel was 107.

Burson evaluated the 34 groups from March 15, 2010 to April 30, 2010. The sample included 14 “right-leaning” groups, 15 “left-leaning” groups and 5 neutral groups.

Launch a social media campaign that will build your brand and deliver results in our online Social Media Marketing Boot Camp starting June 7. Speakers include Abigail Cusick (Bravo Digital), Gregory Galant (Sawhorse Media), Alex Leo (Thomson Reuters Digital), Jim Tobin (Ignite Social Media), and many more. Read the reviews.