Measuring Social Impact: Analyzing Candidates’ Connection with Voters on Social Media

Social media empowers political candidates to engage with voters and shape their branding. Using the Captiv8 platform, we compared the social media presence of the 2024 presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. By examining the follower counts, engagement rates, and audience demographics of Harris vs. Trump, we can better understand their influence and connection with the American public. The data was collected and analyzed over a 90-day period, from June 14, 2024, to September 12, 2024.

Social Following: Harris vs. Trump

Donald Trump maintains a significant lead in overall followers across major platforms. He boasts a massive audience on X, with 90.5 million followers, compared to Harris’s 20.91 million. His following on Facebook (34.97 million) and Instagram (26.52 million) is also much larger than Harris’s 5.43 million and 18.25 million, respectively.

However, follower count alone doesn’t tell the full story. Kamala Harris’s follower growth over the last month is noteworthy, standing at 7.05%, compared to Trump’s modest growth of just 0.17%. This surge in followers suggests that Harris’s social media presence is expanding at a faster rate, possibly reflecting increasing interest in her content and messaging.

Engagement Rate: Harris vs. Trump

While follower counts are essential, engagement rates provide insight into how actively an audience interacts with a candidate’s content. Across the platforms, both candidates show engagement rates within expected ranges for high-profile public figures, with a few notable exceptions.

TikTok: Both candidates see remarkably high engagement on TikTok. Trump leads slightly with an 18.46% engagement rate, compared to Harris’s 17.16%. This highlights the platform’s importance for reaching younger, more active audiences.

Instagram: Harris edges out Trump on Instagram with a 1.32% engagement rate compared to Trump’s 1.14%. Despite Trump’s larger follower base, Harris’s content resonates slightly more on this visually-driven platform.

X (formerly Twitter): On X, Trump achieves a 0.3% engagement rate, slightly higher than Harris’s 0.29%. However, given Trump’s far larger following, his impact here may carry more weight in terms of absolute numbers.

YouTube: Trump’s dominance is clear on YouTube, where he has 3.25 million subscribers and a 10% engagement rate, compared to Harris’s 475,000 subscribers and a 3% engagement rate. This highlights Trump’s strong performance on longer-form video content.

Audience Profile: Who Are Their Followers?

Examining the demographics of each candidate’s followers reveals distinct differences in their voter bases.

Gender: Trump’s audience is predominantly male (63.8%), whereas Harris attracts a largely female following (68.35%). This stark contrast suggests both candidates resonate with different gender groups.

Age: Both candidates share a significant portion of their audience within the 25-34 age group, but the numbers differ slightly. For Trump, 38.29% of his followers are within this demographic, while 38.79% of Harris’s followers fall in this range. Notably, Harris has a higher percentage of followers aged 35-44 (25.35%) compared to Trump (18.03%), while Trump attracts more younger followers (18-24) than Harris.

Location: Both candidates draw a significant percentage of followers from the most populated states—California, New York, and Texas. However, Harris’s audience is much more concentrated in California, with nearly 12% of her followers hailing from the state, compared to 1.78% for Trump. Trump, on the other hand, has a larger international following.

Ethnicity: While both candidates have a majority White/Caucasian following, Kamala Harris attracts a notably higher percentage of Black/African American followers compared to Donald Trump. Black/African American supporters make up 24.71% of Harris’s audience, in contrast to Trump’s 8%. On the other hand, Trump has nearly double the percentage of Hispanic/Latino followers at 16.94%, compared to Harris’s 8.16%. 

Elevate Your Campaign Strategy with Captiv8’s Advanced Analytics

The social media presence of political candidates like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris reveals valuable insights into their voter base, engagement levels, and audience demographics. Understanding these factors is crucial for tailoring campaign strategies and messaging that resonate with key voter groups.

Captiv8 offers a powerful solution for analyzing the profile and audience of creators across all industries. With Captiv8’s advanced analytics, you can easily track follower growth, engagement rates, and audience demographics, allowing you to understand how different audiences respond to content. Whether you’re evaluating influencers, creators, or public figures, Captiv8 enables you to make data-driven decisions, optimize campaigns, and effectively connect with your target audience.

About Captiv8

Captiv8 is a full-service influencer marketing solution that redefines end-to-end, inspiring you to think bigger, enabling you to plan smarter, and empowering you to execute better. Additionally, through our intuitive workflow, brands can uncover actionable insights on trends, discover and vet influencers, seamlessly activate campaigns at scale, amplify branded content across the digital ecosystem, and prove business impact through our measurement dashboard. Our platform gives you the tools you need to build relationships and effective content, while our teams lend experiences and strategic services to steer you clear of common influencer marketing pitfalls. Interested in learning more? Take a platform tour today!