How Netflix’s social media strategy dominates the online streaming industry
Veena Ramakrishnan
June 20, 2019 • 5 min read
Updated on November 21, 2019
The birth of Netflix in 1997 may not have caused much of an entertainment disruption at the time, but fast forward 20-odd years, and few could have predicted the impact Netflix would have. The online streaming company has changed the way we watch movies and television shows and caused some big-name casualties along the way.
Netflix is currently operating in over 190 countries at present and has a total of 139 million global paying subscribers.
The success of Netflix’s operations has attracted its share of competitors over few years, but despite this, Netflix manages to come out as the dominant streaming provider, helped, in part, by its excellent social media strategy.
From posting updates on upcoming movies and shows to engaging its audience with witty comebacks, Netflix manages to fulfill the purpose of its existence on social media as it does with its streaming video content – pure entertainment.
About this report
This Netflix social media report was put together using Unmetric Analyze. It listens to over 100,000 brands to help our clients create more engaging content, get more certainty around their social strategy and automate their reporting. The time period used to analyze this report is from 1st April 2018 – 1st April 2019. Read on to find out more about Netflix’s social media strategy.
Netflix has a total fan following of 57 million on Facebook which is 10 times more than its closest competitor, Amazon Prime Video. The brand added 11 million followers to its account in the last year, a 25.9% growth in fans. Netflix posted a total of 1,022 times, of which 90% of posts account for videos and 6% for images.
Interestingly, plain text posts engaged better while those with videos were posted frequently. Posts with plain text centered around questions from movies and TV shows resulting in the spike in engagement.
Netflix vs competitors
Netflix’s fan growth is 10X more than Amazon Prime Video and 19X more than Hulu and Hotstar (a popular streaming rival India). Netflix has the highest number of brand posts (1,000), but is closely followed by Hotstar and Amazon. Netflix also has the highest engagement compared to its competitors in the industry owing to its large fan base and a content strategy that understands its audience.
Content strategy
Content is the linchpin of social media marketing and Netflix is rightly called the king of media streaming for its top-notch content game. Netflix’s approach to social media is centered around authenticity and interactions with people – with everything sprinkled with a dash of humor and wit.
Netflix produces more videos than any other content type on social. These videos usually center around upcoming movies and TV shows, giving their audience a sneak peek of what’s in store for them. Apart from videos, the brand publishes images, gifs, and plain text posts in the form of questions based on the current movies and TV shows streaming online.
Campaigns
Netflix ran a number of social media campaigns in the last year that captured their audience’s attention. One such campaign, launched during the premiere of the second season of 13 Reasons Why, was particularly well received by fans. This Netflix Original addresses sensitive topics like suicide, rape, and bullying faced by teenagers. Netflix took it a step further and addressed the importance of these topics and also offered helpline services to tackle them. This initiative helped not only promote the new series, but created awareness on such pressing issues faced by teenagers across the world.
Netflix has a fan following of 15 million users on Instagram. The brand gained close to 7 million followers in the last one year which accounts for a growth rate of 92%.
Since Instagram is all about the visual appeal and aesthetics, Netflix predominantly posted images over videos. Of all their posts, 78% were images and 22% were videos.
View this post on Instagram🎆Happy 1985🎆 (especially to Mileven fans!) Stranger Things 3, July 4.
Netflix’s hashtag game on Instagram is pretty simple yet their posts garner a lot of engagement and interactions. Just like on Facebook, most of their hashtags center around their upcoming movie and TV show releases and contests. The brand’s #10daymoviechallenge received a lot of engagement as fans were asked to identify the movie or quote from their clues in the comments.
View this post on Instagram#10daymoviechallenge name it if you know it, quote it if you love it 👇
I don’t have to stress more on Netflix’s witty comebacks on social but if there is one place where I believe the brand shines best, it’s on Twitter.
Netflix saw a 20.5% fan growth in the analyzed time period with a total following of 6 million. A grand total of 5,227 tweets went out from the brand’s handle, of which 52% were replies. This shows how important it is for the brand to engage with their audience.
The brand tweets out an average of 14 times a day. While tweets with plain text perform better, those with links are the most frequent.
Netflix is famous for its replies on Twitter. The brand uses its handle to not just address queries but also engage in conversations with fans talking about trending movies and TV shows.
What better way to engage with your fans than with a simple GIF from the very movie or show they’re raving about on social?
— Netflix US (@netflix) June 10, 2019
Netflix also doesn’t fall short when it comes to influencers on Twitter helping to amplify its reach and presence. Celebrities and TV networks join the bandwagon of people engaging with the brand on social.
Um… that happened.
— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) February 27, 2019
Takeaways
#1 Give customers what they want
Netflix simply gives customers what they want. Whether it is a movie suggestion for dinner or shows to binge watch during a holiday, Netflix has got you covered. The brand runs interesting polls on social to get a sense of the kind of content that resonates with its audience.
#2 Posting consistency
Posting consistency is vital to remain active on social media. Netflix manages to stay consistent on social by posting almost every day.
#3 Customer relationship
Social media plays an indispensable role in building relationships with clients. Netflix’s witty replies to consumer queries and engaging in conversations with them has helped them build both a compelling social presence and a loyal fanbase.
Conclusion
Netflix has a clear idea of what they are doing on social media. Their main strategy is to entertain their fans not just through movies and TV shows but also through their witty social media content. The brand listens to what its audience is saying and curates content that best resonates with them. With this clear cut strategy at play, there is no stopping Netflix from losing its cool on social media.
Create your own report like this
This report was put together using Unmetric Analyze. It listens to what over 100,000 brands are saying on social media and understands how the audience is reacting to that. Clients use Unmetric to help them create better content, get more certainty around their social media strategy and automate all their reporting. Pricing starts at $1,000 per month.
