(This page is only one section of the thesis. To view the full thesis, click here.)

Understanding the Data

The analysis of engagement from followers was conducted on the social media platforms of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. For Instagram a total of 170 posts were analyzed, for Facebook a total of 156 posts, and Twitter had 100 posts analyzed. This equals to a total amount of 426 posts across all platforms for the I am Belmaya social media accounts. The data collected ranges from April 2017 until July 2020. From the 426 posts that were analyzed, 414 of those posts were able to be categorized into either emotional posts, open promotion posts, or workplace posts (view Chart 1). The remaining 12 posts were categorizing into overlapping posts (view Chart 2). Because of the small amount of posts within the overlapping categories, the data collected from those posts are insufficient to be interpreted correctly, so the discussion of the data will focus on the three main categories containing 414 posts.

Below is Chart 1, which gives an overall interpretation of the data collected from 414 posts. Emotional posts had a total of 184 posts with 5,114 engagement actions. Open promotion posts had 141 posts with 2,782 engagement actions. Workplace posts had 89 posts with 2,735 engagement actions. When evaluating the average amount of engagement per posts, the category of workplace posts had the highest average with 30.73 engagements per post. The emotional posts category was close behind with 27.8 engagements per post and open promotion posts had the lowest average with 19.73 engagements per post. The average for all posts was 25.68

Based on the data viewed in Chart 1, the results state that based on the average amount of engagements, posts within the workplace category and emotional category would be the best content to post because they are both above the cumulative average. Posting content that was categorized into open promotion would garner the least amount of engagement from followers and was well below the average of all posts. So far, based on these results, it follows the concept that the link between an independent documentary filmmaker and their followers is a crucial relationship when understanding social engagement between the two. As stated earlier within the thesis, emotional posts and workplace posts give the followers a sense of trust, credibility, and authenticity  with the filmmaker, compared to the traditional marketing style as used through the open promotion posts, which is made to create awareness rather than forming a connection with followers.

As stated, Chart 1 clearly states that both, workplace posts and emotional posts, enhance follower engagement when compared with open promotion posts. Following that data, workplace posts also seem to have a slight edge over emotional posts as well, but it is important to give a detailed analysis to better understand whether the data is completely accurate (view Chart 2).

Below is Chart 2, which gives the most detailed analysis containing all social media posts categories and engagements. Within this chart, the three main categories are analyzed along with an additional three overlapping categories for posts which include—emotional/open promotion, emotional/workplace, open promotion/workplace. The most important additions for Chart 2 is the detailed information on the engagement actions of likes, comments, views, retweets, and shares. By being able to view the data for each engagement separately, it creates a more accurate understanding into which posts are the most effective for follower engagement. Chart 2 has both the total and average of likes and comments, the two actions of engagement that are the most popular for the social platforms being examined.

Based on the information within Chart 2, the emotional posts category has the highest average of both likes per post, and comments per post. As stated, these forms of engagement are the most commonly used for the social media platforms, so being able to clearly understand that emotional posts have the best rate of engagements for these actions gives a different, but more accurate representation of which types of posts work best. For the average amount of likes and comments, open promotion posts finish last and second, respectively. For workplace posts, the average for like and comments finishes second and last, respectively.

The information for Chart 2 seems to give a different depiction from the data given in Chart 1. In Chart 1, data states that posting workplace posts is a better option than emotional posts, but Chart 2 states that this may not be true—why is that? The two main reasons for this disparity is the amount of workplace posts compared to emotional posts (only 89 compared to 184), and the amount of views from workplace posts which is equal to the amount that the emotional posts received. By having a large amount of fewer posts compared to the other two categories, the data for the workplace posts may be inaccurate and show the category in a more favorable outcome when viewing the data. The best way to get a more accurate depiction of the impact of workplace posts would be for the I am Belmaya social media accounts to post more workplace content and review the data and see if there is a change from the current information that was obtained.

The second reason for the favorable data in Chart 1 for workplace posts would be the amount of views this category of content acquired. With only 89 posts, the workplace category was able to have the same amount of views that was seen within the emotional posts category. This was due to a complete outlier within the workplace category. When acquiring data, one video within the workplace category was able to obtain 796 views on Facebook and that single video was able to boost the total amount of views a significant amount, ultimately causing the large view count with a low amount of post. Once again, the best way to know whether the workplace data for views is accurate would be for the I am Belmaya accounts to post more content in the category to confirm the accuracy of the data.

Through the data gathered in Chart 2, it can currently be stated that best post for the I am Belmaya social media accounts to make would be content within the emotional category, but to reaffirm this claim and learn which category would be the least effective, a detailed analysis of each of the platforms was needed. Below are detailed data charts that focus on each social media platform separately. In Chart 3, the focus is on Instagram likes and comments. For Chart 4, the focus is on Facebook likes, comments, and shares. Finally, Chart 5 focuses on Twitter likes, comments, and retweets. By dividing the data for each of the social media platforms, it gives the ability to state which category of posts is best for the I am Belmaya social media accounts.

Emotional posts leads in the average likes for both Instagram and Facebook. Emotional posts also leads in the average amount of comments on Facebook and Twitter, along with the average amount of shares on Facebook. Workplace posts have the highest average amount of comments on Instagram, and highest average amount of likes and retweets on Twitter. Open promotion posts did not lead in any type of engagements throughout all the social media platforms.

Overall, by examining the results from all data charts, it can be stated that the best option for what should be on the I am Belmaya social media platforms are emotional posts, followed closely behind by workplace posts, and lastly open promotion posts should be the least used type of posts. This statement is supported by data gathered from over 400 posts from the platforms of Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter from April 2017 until July 2020.

What Do the Results Indicate?

Based on the data gathered, it can be determined that in order to receive the most engagement from followers, the I am Belmaya social media accounts should post emotional content the most, followed by workplace content, and finally open promotion content the least. These results are important to understand as they reflect and confirm the concept that independent documentaries when marketing must focus on two things, the relationship between the protagonists of the film with followers, and the relationship between the filmmakers and followers (Noschis 2015a). Understandably, independent documentaries still need to follow some traditional marketing methods to create awareness for their film through official methods (film festivals, fundraising, premieres), and this is apparent with the use of open promotion posts, but using other methods for I am Belmaya has been proven to be more effective to create engagement for followers.

The main reason why emotional posts and workplace posts seem to be more effective for independent documentaries, goes back to understanding the purpose of a documentary in the first place. Documentaries are made in order to create social cohesion and social insight into particular topics (Aufderheide 2007). Individuals who follow independent documentary social media accounts (in this case, I am Belmaya) understand that the goal of the film they are following is to create a topic of discussion for what the film is covering. Because of this, followers of these types of accounts are looking for elements of passion within the [film]” (Noschis 2015a), especially through social media, where direct interaction between filmmaker and follower is possible. The followers are not looking for entertainment, they are looking for informative discussions.

Due to these specific characteristics by the followers of independent documentary film accounts, it would make sense that the most effective type of content on social media are posts that encourage the establishment of trust, credibility, and authenticity with the filmmaker. Those three factors are what emotional and workplace posts create. Where open promotion posts seem to focus on raising awareness of when the film will be released, emotional posts raise awareness about the topic of the film and workplace posts help show followers the progress the film is making to raise those issues through the filmmaking process.

Using the results collected from the I am Belmaya social media accounts, it can confidently be stated that if an independent documentary would like to have an engaging relationship with followers, then the social media accounts should be posting emotional and workplace content that involves personal stories, thought provoking discussions and behind-the-scenes information. Posting open promotional material is ultimately needed, but should not be the focus of the social media accounts.