A Lesson in Social Listening from Netflix
Netflix is among the top names that come to mind when talking about video-streaming and online media services and rightly so. The company is a powerhouse in all its endeavors – be it in delivering quality content or a strong digital presence. The company has witnessed a phenomenal growth in terms of business. The numbers are intriguing – subscribers of Netflix were a mere 22 million in 2011 but have shot up to nearly 150 million in 2019. An estimated 37% of internet users worldwide are Netflix users. Netflix’s massive success can be attributed majorly to two things – the quality of product offering and its top-notch marketing efforts. This company does not take a backseat on social media when it comes to paying attention to the audience. Here, we discuss how Netflix proves to be a fine example of proper social listening, audience engagement, and expert digital marketing.
How has Netflix used Social Listening and Social Media to its Advantage?
Netflix has chosen an unadulterated, strong and bold marketing approach on social media. They know their target audience very well and their Twitter bio attests to it. See how they get their target audience to relate to their brand with the reference to Gerard Way. The brand caters to the millennial mindset engaging with and tracking conversations happening online.
Netflix uses Social Listening to invent in Netflix Socks
If you’ve followed Netflix on their social handles, they have always been an audience-friendly brand trying to post humorous and witty posts et cetera. Their gregarious nature does not stop just there, they have also been social listening into the comments and chatter posted online. Through these measures, Netflix discovered that many users fall asleep while binge-watching shows only to wake up several episodes later. To tackle this issue Netflix devised Netflix Socks, a pair of smart socks that sense it when the user is dozing off and send a signal to the device to pause the show.
No doubt, the project was a massive success and they won the Shorty awards for the creative use of technology. Besides proving to be innovators in the industry they also won the trust of their customers as being attentive to their needs.
Social Media Monitoring and Customer Engagement
Netflix invests a lot in social media and digital marketing. They post highly creative content regularly. Not just that, engaging with their audience is a part of their routine as well and they do it quite vigorously. Encouraging viewers to share their content with friends, tag them, participate in activities and polls posted via stories is all part of these activities. They are also keen listeners and their monitoring of pop culture trends has helped them with their social media campaigns. Netflix does not rely much on the traditional ways of marketing. When targeting millennials they are not afraid to follow the “trending” topics and add their own take to it. They are daring and are willing to get casual with the audience. They have promoted the concept of “meme-marketing” very effectively with their posts. By social listening to millennials, you would know which are the trends they love and like Netflix, you can simply leverage on them.
Netflix’s intriguing ability to think forward and adopt innovative social media gimmicks never fail to impress its audience. Paying close attention using social listening to what is being said online is also a big passion for Netflix’s team, and sure enough, the results show in their massively growing business. Netflix is a great example, but not the only brand to have used social listening so successfully. Keep watching this space to see us discuss others who are also doing great work to reap the benefits of social listening.