SMART Social Media Goals for Netflix
Origin Story
Netflix was created in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph, at that point, they were mailing rental DVDs for consumers. Throughout the next decade, Netflix saw a growth of 5 million members. Hastings approached Blockbuster, a top company in the movie rental industry, to buy Netflix for $50 million, in which they were laughed out of the meeting. In 2007, Netflix allowed users to stream movies and shows on-demand, moving past its initial strategy of mailing DVDs. Three years later, Netflix allowed for streaming on cell phones, and in 2012, membership rose to 25 million subscribers. Now, the streaming platform has accounted for nearly 222 million subscribers.
Objectives
Netflix values being the leader for quality entertainment for all. It states that its main objective is to “entertain the world.” Since its conception, it has expanded to over 190 countries and provides content in more than 30 languages.
Also, the streaming giant is always striving to “be the best global entertainment distribution service.” Netflix amplifies voices for cultures and people from different walks of life. It serves as an international entertainment hub for creators and visionaries to tell their stories. The streaming service has prioritized a workplace culture of diversity and inclusion, which translates to the screen. By initiating Strong Black Lead in 2018 and partnering with creatives within the culture, Netflix provides a space for people of color (and those who connect with the culture) to watch authentic pieces on a worldwide platform. For Netflix to be a global powerhouse, it must continue to expand its efforts to other communities by creating similar initiatives like this.
To be the best service, the platform must continue to provide high-quality entertainment for cultures around the world, which will allow the company to see steady growth in subscriptions. Currently, Netflix is leading all streaming platforms with Amazon Prime following with 175 million members, Crunchyroll with 120 million subscribers, and Disney+ with 118 million viewers.
SMART Goals
To obtain Netflix’s objectives, the company should adhere to Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-Based (SMART) goals. According to Lucy Alexander, a HubSpot writer, SMART goals are “framework[s] that will enable you to write goals that drive greater impact.”
Specific: Netflix will look to expand its user-generated content by 30% for people of color (or different cultural backgrounds) on Twitter within three months.
Measurable: By using KPIs Netflix will assess its campaign success on a bi-weekly basis.
Attainable: Netflix will create a weekly hashtag to discuss relatable issues that people of color experience on a daily basis. This hashtag will be “meme-d” from a scene on Netflix’s platform, which allows for them to cross-promote content.
Relevant: In helping Netflix achieve its objective to expand its global stories, its user-generated campaign will feature diverse celebrities (and cultural figures on Twitter) to get the conversation started.
Time-Bound: The three-month assessment will align with the company’s quarterly analysis, which will aid Netflix to measure the impact of the campaign by viewing numbers on the featured content and its global demographics.
KPIs
Users can get caught in the weeds of vanity metrics — likes, followers, retweets, comments — instead of the valuable engagement metrics. The streaming platform will need a mixture of both metrics to decide on this campaign’s success.
Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs, are “used to measure and track your progress toward achieving a specific goal.” For this campaign, KPIs such as hashtag tracking, mentions, the number of shares, conversion tracking, content views, and subscriptions will help Netflix assess whether the campaign was successful.
Vanity Metrics
I just wrote that people can get wrapped up in vanity metrics, I know, but it’s for a good reason. Vanity metrics include hashtag tracking, mentions, and the number of shares. They immediately help campaign managers determine whether a campaign is successful. The feedback provided can help managers adjust the campaign as needed. These vanity metrics help the company focus on social listening, which monitors the public’s perception of the company or a specific campaign.
Engagement Metrics
As I previously stated, the weekly campaign will accompany a meme of a clip related to content on Netflix. The Tweet will encourage users to quote the original tweet along with the hashtag to be featured on Netflix’s profile. Netflix will create a thread, where it will provide context for the meme and a unique link to track the number of clicks on conversions (i.e. views) it received from that campaign. Conversion tracking allows Netflix to follow a user’s journey to their website and determine if the user converted (i.e. watched the content or purchased a membership). Content views and subscriptions may be harder to track. There are many factors that can impact views, but it is important to keep those in mind to see if they impact the overall goal.
The KPIs and SMART goals are because we want a successful social media campaign. The social media effort is to continue to build the company’s reputation and aid the company’s objectives. For Netflix, I want to see an effort to expand and connect with its global audience through a user-generated campaign. Ultimately, I’d like to see a boost in Twitter followers, content views, and subscriptions.
