The UK’s business improvement districts, or BIDs as they are most commonly known, have the behemoth task of supporting and attracting business to villages, towns and cities. Social media can help BIDs support hundreds and thousands of levy payers by championing a place’s local offering and improving trade for businesses at scale. Maybe* helps BIDs do this through the combined power of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, on a single platform and boosted with an arsenal of expert tips and tricks.
Hundred of the UK’s BIDs are already onboard the social media train. We’ve compared them all to comprise our Top 10 so we can show you which BIDs are steaming ahead and what works for them.
Which UK BID is leading the social media charge?
by Amy Rountree| Organisation | Followers | Posts on social channels | Engagements on posts | Avg posts per day | Avg engagement on each post | Avg engagements per day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inverness BID | 23.1K | 497 | 32.5K | 15.24 | 27.30 | 416.17 |
| Wight BID | 68.3K | 833 | 24.2K | 1.06 | 291.93 | 310.64 |
| Milngavie BID | 4.3K | 174 | 6.2K | 2.23 | 35.53 | 79.27 |
| My Shawlands BID | 864 | 107 | 5.7K | 1.37 | 52.80 | 72.44 |
| Kirkwall BID | 7.4K | 690 | 5.1K | 8.85 | 7.32 | 64.74 |
| BID Loughborough | 16.7K | 357 | 4.4K | 5.48 | 12.43 | 56.87 |
| Staines-upon-Thames BID | 2.4K | 414 | 4.4K | 5.31 | 10.53 | 55.91 |
| ATCBID | 4.3K | 95 | 3.7K | 1.22 | 39.08 | 47.60 |
| Newbury BID | 17K | 220 | 3.7K | 2.82 | 16.82 | 47.45 |
| Dorking BID | 1.8K | 557 | 3.5K | 7.14 | 6.32 | 45.14 |
Why Maybe* for BIDS
The Maybe* platform enables BIDs to connect, communicate and collaborate across businesses, retailers and other organisations responsible for management and growth of the places they operate in. Maybe* supports BIDs to connect rate and levy payers to resources, knowledge and funds to keep them operating via social media.
In addition the platform enables shared learnings, alignment of commuications and visibility on tenant and public pain points and behaviours.
Maybe* helps BIDs stay connected to its levy payers and understand where they need help, what is concerning them and how they can continue to serve them efficiently. Maybe* provides a platform that enables BIDs to connect its members to online resources and prioritise its most urgent outreach and communication.
Who's getting it right?
Inverness BID claims the number one spot in our Top 10. With just over 23k followers on Facebook and Twitter, the BID has been very active through April and May 2020. The BID has posted 497 times to its Facebook page, creating new content and responding to comments from its community.
But it’s the BID’s engagement score that really sees them streak ahead in our leaderboard with an average of 416 likes, comments and shares on its content per day.
Though its bread and butter is improving business within the city, Inverness BID demonstrates its commitment to the community and is clearly bursting with pride in the local area. Regular updates show off local landmarks such as the cathedral, the castle and the landmark Greig Street Bridge, capturing the city in its beauty against blue skies and sunset.
But with 547 engagements, the cathedral against a backdrop of stunning cherry blossom is what has really lit up the Inverness community.
Finding your own best performing post
To find your own best performing post, use the Maybe* report builder tool. It packs quite the analytics punch. If you want to see your results quickly and concisely, the report builder comprises all your social media metrics and your key business data all in one place.
To find the best performing post you just need to select your date range and add the best performing post filter from the left hand menu. You can also add other Maybe* insights such as See what works so you can see how much you’ve posted and on what days the spikes in engagement occur.
For Inverness BID the most engagement occurred on April 30, just as it posted its cherry blossom blooms.
What do BIDs best performing posts have in common?
It’s not just Inverness that has something beautiful to share with the world. The Isle of Wight BID, currently in second place, has been teasing us with their seaside charms. You can also use the report builder to compare your own best performing post against that of your competitors.
How to replicate this technique
Key takeaway
Engaging the local community with inspiring and iconic imagery drives interaction that is relevant to the audience you want to communicate with. Shared interests, pride and passions go a long way to differentiate those BIDs at the top of the leaderboard.
Learn more
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