How the Social media signals is calculated

In short

After every collection of the social accounts, Actavero checks for three kinds of change and adds them to your Signals: a post getting several times the account's usual engagement, a jump (or drop) in followers within a week, and a competitor posting at least twice as often as usual. High-impact signals are also sent as an instant alert on plans that include alerts, and all of them appear in the weekly digest.

Formula

Viral post: published in the last 7 days, engagement ≥ 3 × the account's median engagement per post over the last 35 days, and at least 50 interactions. High impact at 500+ interactions or 5 × the median
Follower jump: followers now against about a week ago, at least ±2% and ±300 followers. High impact at ±10%
Posting surge (competitors): at least 5 posts in the last 7 days and at least twice the weekly average of the 4 weeks before

How it is calculated, step by step

1. Collect the account's followers (daily on Scale, weekly otherwise) and posts (weekly).
2. Compare with the account's own history using the rules above.
3. Create one signal per change; the same post, or the same account in the same week, gives only one signal.
4. Send high-impact signals as an instant alert where the plan includes it.

What goes into it

Posts and engagement

The account's posts of the last 35 days with their likes, comments and shares.

Follower counts

The account's daily or weekly follower counts.

Data sources

• ScrapeCreators (public social media data).

How often it is updated

After every collection: daily for followers on Scale, weekly for posts.

How to read it

• A competitor's viral post shows a topic or format your shared audience responds to.
• A follower jump usually follows a campaign, contest or paid promotion; look at what the brand posted that week.
• A posting surge often marks a launch or campaign worth a response.

Example

A competitor's Instagram reel gets 1,200 interactions where its posts usually get 200: 'Competitor's Instagram post is getting 6× the usual engagement', high impact.

Limitations

• Comparisons are with the account's own recent past, so a new account needs a few weeks of data first.
• Engagement of the newest posts keeps growing after collection; a post can become viral after its first week and then isn't flagged.

Frequently asked questions

Related

• Social media: own channels — Each brand's own social accounts compared over the last 30 days: share of engagement, followers and posts, follower growth, posts per week, engagement rate, top posts, formats and posting days.
• Signals and their impact — A signal is a meaningful change since the previous measurement; it is only created above a threshold and rated high, medium or low impact.