In 2023, we continued to increasingly rely on LinkedIn to amplify our eco messages and content formats. In particular, authentic live impressions from our eco event formats or our presence at trade fairs and conferences were brought more into the communicative focus. In addition, we increasingly implemented calls on social and politically relevant issues in social media-friendly formats and prepared quotes from leading figures in the Internet industry on relevant topics for eco’s social media channels.

Strongest growth on LinkedIn

The number of followers developed positively on LinkedIn and Facebook. We recorded the strongest growth in followers on LinkedIn, with an increase of +20.41 per cent compared to the previous year. On Facebook, we achieved an increase of +6.88 per cent. On Twitter/X, the number of followers declined slightly by -1.82 per cent.

LinkedIn was also our strongest social media channel in terms of reach – the total impressions were roughly on a par with the previous year. The average engagement rates and therefore the number of user interactions per post developed positively on LinkedIn. On the other hand, there were downward deviations compared to the previous year with regard to all key performance indicators (KPIs) on Twitter/X.

High relevance on social platforms – impressions of our eco event formats were particularly successful

In terms of organic performance, posting impressions on location from our eco events were particularly well received – such as the Internet Security Days in September, the Network Policy Forum in April, GXFS Connect and other event formats in the context of the Gaia-X funding project, the Data Centre Expert Summit, ICANN78 and our press tour in the run-up to the Digital Summit.

Additionally, our strong community in the data centre sector in particular enabled us to score points with the Alliance for the Strengthening of Digital Infrastructures in Germany by addressing significant topics such as the Energy Efficiency Act and testimonial quotes from leading figures in the data centre industry. Postings from the Gaia-X topic environment were also particularly popular.

Continuation of employer advocacy activities

As our own employees still play a central role in reputation management, especially on social media, we continued our employer advocacy activities in 2023. The eco Association Communications team therefore provided eco colleagues with content suggestions to share via LinkedIn’s recommended content function. The Association Communications team was also on hand to advise interested employees in one-to-one sessions. In the [eco]rporate Influencer section of the eco internal newsletter [eco]mmunity, the Association Communications team provided continuous information on updates to the algorithm, new formats and features.

Paid media: Awareness campaigns for the Data Centre Expert Summit and the Internet Security Days on LinkedIn

In 2023, we will continue to focus on increasing reach on our relevant social media platforms via paid adverts. In the year under review, the Data Centre Expert Summit and the Internet Security Days were supported by awareness campaigns on LinkedIn. The Data Centre Expert Summit achieved 157,007 impressions and the Internet Security Days 249,951 impressions (previous year: 47,669) in the feed of the relevant target group.