Although there was a drop in the consumption of content on social networks related to education issues during the first months of 2020, little by little this sector became relevant again in user trends and conversations. And it is that two years after the start of the pandemic, the indicators have presented changes that reflect the attitudes and concerns of the audiences in social networks and in the sites related to the subject. What can be caused this?
In the case of Mexico, according to the “Back to School” study carried out by Comscore, during the initial period of the pandemic —January to June 2020— the average number of interactions was 17,773 per month, while, between the months of July 2020 to March 2022, this indicator decreased to 11,778.
The change in interactions could be the result of the uncertainty generated during the first semester of the pandemic regarding the continuity of school classes. Subsequently, once the temporary changes in the teaching methodology, such as online and television classes, were assimilated by the people and allowed to establish a certainty of the educational system, the interactions decreased by 34% compared to the first months of 2020.
However, this does not mean that the category has ceased to be interested in networks for educational institutions. In fact, until June 2020, advertisers were maintaining a constant volume of 60 posts on average per month. But this average increased between July 2020 and March 2022 to 65 monthly publications, demonstrating that there is an interest on the part of users to consume content related to education, as well as to acquire a service related to the category.
It is true that after the start of the pandemic, educational consumption did not grow in the same way as, for example, entertainment or retail, but it is still a topic of vital importance for society, so it is logical that it remains in the discussion constant in social networks, with Facebook being the platform with the most shares, exceeding 50% in both 2021 and 2022, leaving behind Twitter, Instagram and YouTube in second, third and fourth place respectively.
According to the analysis carried out by Comscore from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2022, 776,198 mentions were recorded on the subject, where the most relevant content was related to the repercussions for maintaining virtual classes or on TV, the dates delivery of grades for the second semester 2022 and the continuity of the virtual modality in basic education.
In fact, in the week of August 16, 2021, the “Back to school” trend reached 32,771 mentions, being the date with the highest activity in the evaluated period. It is interesting to note that the “online classes” modality obtained a greater number of negative and positive mentions, while those related to face-to-face classes mostly reflected a position of neutrality. The educational institutions with the highest number of interactions were the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), the Ministry of Public Education and the National Polytechnic Institute.
Having said all this and seeing how education is always part of a latent trend and has potential for consumption, an advertiser in this category might ask: “Well, then, when is the best time to promote yourself?” In both 2020 and 2021, content related to education had a peak in visitors or viewers during the months of August and September, which coincide with the return to school in Mexico.
With more than 10 states that have resumed attendance, it is very likely that this peak will be repeated or even increased during the eighth and ninth months of the year. The same logic can be applied during February and March in markets in the southern hemisphere. It will be a matter of advertisers knowing how to take advantage of these opportunities.
Alejandro Enriquez is Comscore’s Custom Solutions Manager for Latin America.