Can social media be a barometer of public support during the presidential campaign? We’re taking a closer look at how key events preceding the 2024 U.S. election are reflected on Facebook and Instagram. Go on this journey with us, and stay tuned for regular updates until November 5th.
The data presented here comes from a social media analytics tool, NapoleonCat. If you’d like to track the social media performance of businesses and public figures, try the tool yourself free for 14 days.
- Changes in the number of followers after the June debate
- Donald Trump’s social media performance after the attempted assassination
- Biden’s following and engagement rate rocketed after his resignation
- Rapid growth on Harris’s Instagram profile after the September debate
- The cost of presidential social media ads
- What’s next?
Changes in the number of followers after the June debate
The contrasting performance of Donald Trump and Joe Biden during the June debate significantly affected their social media presence.
Throughout the debate, hoarse Biden struggled to express himself clearly. In contrast, Trump emerged as a clear winner, and the immediate response on social media echoed this sentiment. Trump’s unwavering performance resulted in over 100,000 new Instagram followers.
Meanwhile, Biden experienced a significant decline in his Instagram follower count:
Donald Trump’s social media performance after the attempted assassination
On the 14th of July 2024, Donald J. Trump was wounded in an assassination attempt. The shooter only pierced his ear, but the event left Americans stunned and uncertain. It seemed to be another event reinforcing Trump’s position in the race for the White House. The interest in Donald Trump has increased even more since the June debate. He gained over 1 million new Instagram followers within a week:
Biden’s following and engagement rate rocketed after his resignation
Right after he resigned from the presidential race, Biden gained over 60k new followers on Instagram overnight. Up until that moment, his following number was relatively flat. Biden didn’t experience any comparable fluctuation while still in the game.
We observed a similar trend on Biden’s official Facebook profile – he gained almost 34k new followers directly after his departure. Again, that’s the scope of interest he couldn’t attract throughout his campaign.
Moreover, Biden’s posts about ending his re-election campaign generated unimaginable engagement scopes. Nothing, even his poor performance during the June debate, has generated a comparable number of reactions and comments:
Rapid growth on Harris’s Instagram profile after the September debate
On the 10th of September, 2024, Kamala Harris and Donald J. Trump had their first-ever face-to-face debate. While there were plenty of sharp exchanges, Kamala usually put Trump on the defensive. Her fierce performance is reflected in the rapid growth of followers on her Instagram profile.
Between September 10th and 12th, Vice President Kamala Harris gained almost 225k new Instagram followers.
Data derived from NapoleonCat shows that the engagement rate on Kamala’s Instagram profile peaked soon after the debate, too:
The engagement rate on Trump’s Instagram profile has never been this high. The former president’s profile reached its highest value on June 28th, the day after the debate with former candidate Joe Biden.
The cost of presidential social media ads
Despite many top officials discouraging him, President Biden continued to invest time and money in his re-election campaign for a long time. In 90 days preceding his resignation from the race, his campaign staffers spent over $15,6 million on Biden’s Facebook and Instagram ads:
During the same period, Donald J. Trump spent less than $1,2 million on ads on these two platforms:
After Biden’s departure from the race, his campaign staffers worked to pull down his ads and replace them with ones for Vice President Kamala Harris. The amounts rocketed right after President Biden’s resignation:
But in fact, and although the Democrats only recently made the switch, they’ve been heavily investing in ads for Harris for months. In the past 90 days counting from April 24th, campaigners spent over $5.8 million on Facebook and Instagram ads.
What’s next?
We’ll keep on watching the profiles of nominees. You’ll find all the social media-related news from the campaign in this article. Save it and get back for more soon!
In-depth social media analytics & reporting tools
Analyze your performance across different social media platforms. Generate reports for your own profiles and your competitors’, too – with an all-in-one social media tool.
