Fox News isn’t just cable’s most-watched news network. The channel also has the most engagement on Facebook, earning nearly 120 million likes, shares and comments on its page in the first six months of 2016.
That figure is way ahead of digital news outlets including No. 2 NowThis (80 million interactions) and The Huffington Post (61 million). That’s a ton of volume. Even Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg recently mentioned Fox News in defending the company against charges that it skews liberal/progressive, claiming that Fox “drives more interactions on its Facebook page than any other news outlet in the world. It’s not even close.”
How did they get there? “We’re running an engagement strategy,” FNC vp of social media Jason Ehrich tells Digiday. “Part of [the platforms’] function is to serve as a second screen. We’re trying to serve our audience and one way we’re doing that is to allow them to talk to them on social platforms.’
Ehrich also believes strong engagement can bring in more money. “One of the most important metrics is going to be engagement, and we’re going to have an awesome story to tell for potential sponsors. Engagement on social platforms equals earned media,” he said.