EUINFLUENCER 2023: THE METHODOLOGY

For the 7^th #EUinfluencer event, not only did we rank the top influencers in the EU Bubble, but for the first time ever, we recognized individuals from TikTok for their influence and we expanded the research to Mastodon and LinkedIn to highlight the impact and the level of activity the influencer has across the channels.

This is how we did it:

We divided top influencers in twelve categories (step 1 & 2)
We listed the overall top-100 influencers on X (step 3, 4 & 5)
We cross-checked the top-50 influencers on LinkedIn and Mastodon (6)
We mapped Instagram and TikTok players separately (step 7)

You can see all the winners here.

STEP 1: FINDING INFLUENCERS

Several social media monitoring tools were used to find users posting on X about 13 categories related to EU affairs:

Healthcare
Agriculture
Economy & Trade
Energy
Food & Drink
Sustainability & Climate
Technology
Human Rights
Transport
Space
Travel & Tourism
Ukraine
Artificial Intelligence – NEW

We then created queries that would allow multilingual responses and focus our results on Brussels influencers and influencers who post about Brussels.

STEP 2: TOP INFLUENCERS PER CATEGORY

We retrieved the number of posts on X of each category for the previous year, the name of the user, and their number of followers. With this data, we built a graph for each of the categories, looking at several different factors.

With this methodology, we then classified influencers by interest, potential reach, number of posts, and followers.

From there, we gathered the top users from “high interest, high potential reach” of each category. Thereafter, these users were ranked by followers and number of mentions in order to identify the top #EUinfluencers of each category.

STEP 3: CREATION OF THE TOP-100 #EUINFLUENCER LIST

We gathered the 100 influencers who were the top influencers of each category, taking into consideration the following KPIs:

Number of followers
Average retweets per tweet (the average number of retweets the influencer gets per tweet)
Density of followers in Brussels (the number of followers of the influencer in Brussels divided by their number of followers; Estimated number)
Number of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) that have mentioned the influencer during the previous year

STEP 4: CRITERIA FOR INCLUSION – EXCLUSION

We established criteria for inclusion and exclusion from the list:

Only individuals were included; subsequently disqualifying companies and/or association accounts from the rankings.
Current MEPs, Commissioners and, in general, politicians were excluded.

STEP 5: ESTABLISH TOP-50 #EUINFLUENCER LIST

And Bob’s your uncle! This is how we created our #EUinfluencer top-50 list. Using our own unique formula and years of experience in target and influencer mappings.

STEP 6: TOP-50 #EUINFLUENCER LIST ACROSS KEY CHANNELS: MASTODON AND LINKEDIN

The digital world is continuously changing. With the recent changes to Twitter and it’s rebranding into X, the usual power of communication on the platform is fragmenting to other channels.

Which came first, the chicken or the egg? In the world of social media, a similar conundrum arises: the influencer or the platform? It is fundamental to underscore that the individual takes precedence, with channels following suit. We started the ranking with X due to the intense EU discussions in that domain, but it’s crucial to remember that the person creating the content is the most important factor. An influencer is not defined by the mere presence of an account but by the impactful content they create. Furthermore, their influence isn’t confined to a single platform; they can wield their influence across various channels.

This transition is currently underway with several of our EU influencers making the move to Mastodon and LinkedIn. However, this journey won’t be without its challenges. Much like real-life migrations, those shifting to new platforms must adapt to the unique dynamics of each one and painstakingly rebuild their follower base. These tasks are no small feat, as every platform has its own intricacies and demands.

This naturally prompts the following question: How will influencers harness these channels for communication? Will they favour a single, dedicated route as if it were a well-trodden highway, or will they diversify their approach, navigating multiple avenues to reach their audience? Could it be that LinkedIn and Mastodon will eventually overshadow the once-dominant Twitter (now X)?

The upcoming months promise to be exceptionally intriguing as we observe these developments unfold.

To delve into these new scenarios, we’ve conducted a comprehensive examination of the activity on LinkedIn and Mastodon among the Top-50 influencers from the X ranking. Our aim was to discern the interplay between these channels and gauge their presence and level of engagement.

STEP 7: MAP AND IDENTIFY NOTE-WORTHY INSTAGRAM AND TIKTOK INFLUENCERS

We have taken a broader approach by including influencers from TikTok and Instagram in our analysis. Using the same criteria of hashtags and keywords applied on X, we identified similar trends on Instagram and TikTok.