1 Aug 2023 Report

Social Media Power List 2023 - Top 20 Small Care Home Groups

In this, the first in a series of reports, we examine the use and applications of social media in the adult social care sector. Using carehome.co.uk’s list of Top 20 Small Care Home Groups 2022, we construct a ‘power list’ of runners and riders among some of the leading care groups and each of their respective homes. We examine how they use social media, what platforms they use, for what, and how effective they are at growing their audiences.

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OVERVIEW

Social media is an increasingly important mechanism to support stakeholder engagement in the social care sector.

In this, the first in a series of reports, we examine the use and applications of social media in the adult social care sector. Using carehome.co.uk’s list of Top 20 Small Care Home Groups 2022, we construct a ‘power list’ of runners and riders among some of the leading care groups and each of their respective homes. We examine how they use social media, what platforms they use, for what, and how effective they are at growing their audiences.

But, to lay the groundwork in our understanding, it’s important to first understand the social media platforms themselves. We look at five of the most popular and relevant social media platforms to the adult social care sector: Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. We explore which are growing in influence and which are not. We also research the age demographics of their users.

We then use this information to identify the most appropriate platforms for common applications of social media for the sector, from domestic and overseas recruitment to community and stakeholder engagement.

After analysing our results, we turn our attention to the relative merits of group verses individual care home social media accounts to help you determine which is likely to be most effective for your group or home’s needs.

A bar graph comparing follower counts across social media platforms for small care home groups in 2022. The data shows Adept Care Home with the highest followers, followed by Forest Care and Doveleigh Care. Other care homes listed include Clifton St. Anne's, Nightingale Retirement Home, and more, with varying follower counts on Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.

KEY FINDINGS

  • Since 2018, and of the five social media channels analysed in this study, LinkedIn and Facebook have enjoyed the largest growth in terms of user numbers.

  • TikTok – has seen the largest proportional increase in its volume of users.

  • Facebook has the largest number of users across all age ranges apart from those aged 13-17 and those aged 25-34.

  • TikTok is likely to play an increasingly significant role in the adult social care’s social media strategy over the next two decades.

  • The groups and their respective care homes had a combined total of 87,125 followers across the five platforms.

  • Cygnet Health Group and Royal Star & Garter account for over 67 per cent (58,592) of the total follower count.

  • Excluding Cygnet and Royal Star’s follower count, Facebook followers accounted for 81 per cent of the remaining group and home accounts.

  • Excluding Cygnet and Royal Star, Adept Care Homes (9,109) and Forest Care (3,484) were clear outliers in the combined group and home rankings.

  • Adept Care Homes has a significant LinkedIn following (1,487), which it uses to showcase group and staff achievement as well as for recruitment.

  • Peverel Court Care has the largest Twitter following (494).

  • Doveleigh Care has the largest collective following among the groups on Instagram.

  • Forest Care tops the individual group leader board with 3,484 followers across its Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn accounts.

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