Will the punters be back, or won’t they? We wanted to know, so no sooner had Boris given the green light for boozers in England to break open the kegs on July 4th, than we conducted a poll to over 2,000 people to gauge the mood of the nation. We discovered, a little surprisingly to tell the truth, that 46% of people will be steering clear for the Summer. This prompted us to get deeper under the skin of the wider conversation about #pubsreopening and so we we've taken a closer look at the hashtag to find out what is driving conversation and engagement.
Bottoms up! We track the mood around pubs re-opening
by Amy RountreeSo, what was the best performing post on the subject?
Within half an hour of the Government announcement that pubs in England will reopen, the hashtag #pubsreopening was trending. It turns out that Kent is the thirstiest place in the country given that Kent Online news’ post on Facebook was the best on the topic in terms of engagement.
Cornwall was hot on the heels of Kent, with the St Austell brewery coming in second.
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Will people be weathering spoons?
Wetherspoons deleted their social media accounts a couple of years ago (honestly!), so they have not been engaging audiences through lockdown, nor announcing their plans to re-open. But pre COVID-19 and post, the brand and its reputation have taken a battering.
Love it or loathe it, the conversation around #Wetherspoons is not a positive one. Controversial views on Brexit, dogs in pubs, and allegations of poor treatment of its staff befall the cheap and cheerful chain of pubs. But it's fair to say that Spoons does receive equal amounts of positivity. Based on the data, and the mixed sentiment, we'd predict that the doors will re-open, there won't be a mass boycott, but the pumps won't run dry either.
Key takeaway
Monitoring hashtag conversations allows you to understand the sentiment behind conversations and the most engaging posts within those conversations. When considering whether to use hashtags on your content, consider whether or not your average, every day social media user is likely to use it, because in the case of #pubsreopening, it hit a chord with businesses, but not necessarily the general public.
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