Do you know if your brand is loved on social? True brand health is based on more than success in one social metric or sheer popularity—there is a big difference between Like and love. To find which brands seeing “love” on social, we went beyond fans and followers to focus on several different social metrics that showcase the reaction to brands across the social web. Using uberVU, Hootsuite’s listening and analytics solution, we’ve created The Love List, a collection of social data that ranks over 450 of the world’s biggest, most valuable brands.

Several of January’s Top 10 brands got a little help from celebrity friends, earning social’s love with sponsorships and collaborations, proving that influencer marketing can have a big payoff for brands on social. Media and Entertainment brands especially saw success.

New Year, More Mentions

HGTV took the number one spot in January, shooting up from its December ranking of 27. The network saw a huge surge in mentions volume in early January thanks to the Rose Parade, which aired on HGTV on New Years Day. Following the live coverage of the parade, the network aired several premieres with the shows’ hosts getting social by answering questions from fans and encouraging live-tweeting with the hashtag #HGTVNewYear. These engagement tactics and overall positive theme for the new year helped HGTV earn social’s love in January.

Top Influencer = Social Love for HGTV

HGTV also got a little help from its celebrity Valentine, Ellen DeGeneres, who debuted a new show on the home improvement network. DeGeneres is extremely active on social (she has over 18 Million Likes on Facebook, 38 million Twitter followers and the most retweeted tweet of all time!) and her influence definitely helped HGTV earn the top spot on January’s Love List.

Seasonality Continues to Win

In December, we saw the effect the holiday season had on the rankings with Starbucks taking the top spot due to some Christmas cheer and seasonal items. Seasonality continued to have an impact on success in the Love List in January with the ever-popular New Year, New You theme earning attention for several brands on social. HGTV focused on how people could better their homes, the Travel Channel (#5) encouraged fans to expand their horizons with a Hawaiian vacation giveaway, and the fast food and snack brands that topped The Love List in December were noticeably absent in January.

Take a deep dive into how seasonal promotions and influencer marketing and sponsorships helped several brands earn more love on social in our upcoming webinar. We’ll cover key data trends and insights from The Love List rankings and highlight how you can emulate the success of top brands.