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Analysis of institutional authors

Cuevas-Molano, ECorresponding AuthorSanchez-Cid, MAuthor

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September 27, 2022
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Brand strategy and content management on Instagram: scheduling and message length as factors to improve engagement

Publicated to:Communication & Society-Spain. 35 (2): 71-87 - 2022-01-01 35(2), DOI: 10.15581/003.35.2.71-87

Authors: Cuevas-Molano, Elena; Sanchez-Cid, Manuel; Gordo-Molina, Virginia

Affiliations

RCU Escorial Maria Cristina, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Rey Juan Carlos, Madrid, Spain - Author

Abstract

Companies use social media in their communication strategy to connect with their audiences via online brand communities and social media fan pages. In this context, the scientific community defines the term 'engagement' as the primary metric used to identify the degree to which brand and consumers are organically connected. This phenomenon gets measured by audience interactions with the brand content, which is the main factor stimulating participation and value perception in their relationship with the brand. Prior investigations show that the timing and duration of the messages published by the brand can predict the degree of social media engagement, however they do not provide the time and length patterns required for messages to increase engagement. For this purpose, we carried out a quantitative and descriptive content analysis of 14,067 Instagram posts from 14 Spanish brands across 10 industries. Findings allow us to conclude that brands are not fully optimising the scheduling of their timings during the working days and hours that drive the best level of interaction. Nonetheless, they do take advantage of the opportunity to publish longer messages to increase engagement. From a theorical and practical point of view, this analysis contributes to the understanding of the content factors that stimulate fan page engagement and provides guidelines for brand managers to efficiently define the content marketing strategy on Instagram.

Keywords

BehaviorBrand communicationConsumer engagementCustomer engagementDigital marketingEngagementGratificationsInstagramPopularityPostsSocial mediaVirtual communities

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Communication & Society-Spain according to the classification of the FECYT, it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2022, ha conseguido situarse en la zona del Primer Cuartil.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.65. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 6 (source consulted: Dimensions Aug 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-08-03, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 6
  • Scopus: 7

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-08-03:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 166.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 183 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 8.
  • The number of mentions in news outlets: 1 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: First Author (Cuevas Molano, Elena) .

the author responsible for correspondence tasks has been Cuevas Molano, Elena.