“Netflix and chill?” has become one of the most frequently asked questions among the young generation and it’s not only the English language that the streaming site has worked its way into.
In 2016, Netflix had a profit of $186.7 million – an amount that would really make you ‘stream’. In the same year Netflix added 130 new countries to its streaming service, meaning the company could take on refreshing new genres and styles of films and documentaries.
Many Reasons Why
The success of Netflix cannot be attributed to one single factor; there are numerous contributing reasons as to why the streaming service has batted a home run no-one can quite catch up with. The first is that it’s tapped into an industry that’s always been current and expansive – the film scene. The movie industry has always pushed and wanted more, especially in terms of technology and demand.
Netflix also has a very dominant social media presence. The streaming service has over 45 million likes on Facebook and Netflix’s UK & Ireland Twitter account has over 400,000 followers alone. The UK Twitter account is constantly interacting and responding with their audience. They do not even have to work hard to find people to converse with, as fans of shows constantly ask the Twitter account questions. Netflix have made engagement look like a walk in the park, but just how have they managed to gain this level of success?
A Series of Fortunate Events
Luckily, Netflix has a lot of content to choose from. The television shows, films and documentaries it streams are made into GIFs, short videos and reaction posts that their audience love and share. Netflix adds to its services regularly and shares series and films that are coming to Netflix, which generates even more interest as the site is always updated.
Netflix release whole seasons all at once, feeding the young generation’s need to have everything instantly. However, this does leave a rather sour taste when the season ends and the next hasn’t been released yet. Netflix then creates content and posts about when new seasons will come out with campaigns leading up to the release date, such as teasing pictures and mysterious videos. When they release something new, they make sure to tweet about it and use GIFs and quotes from the new television show or film in interactions with other users. It’s a seriously smart strategy that means the new ‘products’ are being pushed right under our screen-lit noses.
Also, posts and interactions from their accounts are funny and almost sarcastic. They relate the shows to current events, with their most recent gimmick being Eleven from Stranger Things labelled as ‘Me on Sunday Night’ pushing a monstrous ‘Monday’ against the wall. It intertwines our rather tedious lives with fiction, which means we can relate to the fantastical beings in television shows and brings out our own inner hero.
Nailed It!
However, the most prevalent reason why Netflix continues to succeed and grow is because they know their audience and they’ve perfected their relationship with them, especially through social platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. Netflix has constant engagement because, let’s face it, there’s a lot to talk about. One big cause for engagement is people begging for shows to be released on Netflix via Twitter and comments on Facebook posts. Also, people love talking about their favourite television shows. Fanbases are like cults – they group together and defend their heroes and when interacted with are like gold dust to the marketing world as they react and engage like bees protecting their queen.
You’ve Made It to The Good Place
Netflix have built their own world or at least their own private club that people want to be a part of. They even share behind-the-scenes videos of movies to make you feel part of the movie-making journey. Most significantly, their tone is always human, personal and as if you’re talking to your friend about your favourite television show. Netflix have made themselves their number one fan and are martyrs for the shows and films they have and make. They’ve proven that passion really does sell and created a strategy that even allows them to make movies of their own.
