Love is Blind Reunion: Did Netflix’s social media team do enough?

marketing Apr 21, 2023
Love is Blind Reunion

Whether you’re rooting for Marshall or backing Irina, you know the feeling of frustration and patience that Netflix’s show, Love is Blind, fans had to face this past Sunday night. 

We can all agree that although watching the “I do’s” and “I dont’s” at the alter is drama enough, the real tea is spilled in the Love is Blind Reunion. 

Sunday night at 8 pm EST/5 pm PST, couples and exes would once again sit on the same stage and fill us in on all the details of their marriages and break-ups, just one year after the show started filming. 

Netflix started advertising the Love is Blind Reunion weeks in advance, with the intention to generate buzz amongst fans and be willing to block off their diaries to watch the live show unfold. 

But……*PAUSE*.

Let’s focus on just a crumb of Netflix’s marketing strategy for a moment. 

 

Content and Curation

 

Netflix has become one of the most recognizable streaming services around the world and currently has acquired 230.7 million memberships thus far.

With so many people to cater to and tastes to satisfy, Netflix provides a variety of high-quality documentaries, TV shows, and movies to engage current members and market to potential subscribers. 

 

Social Media and Influencer Marketing

 

Like most companies, Netflix uses its social media presence to advertise new and popular shows as well as engage with users online.

They also partner with influencers and celebrities to generate excitement around a show and entice users to watch their content. In some cases, Netflix will create individual pages on Instagram and Tiktok for shows, so that they can dedicate their content to that specific fan base, Love is Blind being one.

Here, the marketing team post memes, updates, and highlights of the show.

*PLAY*

With such an amplified run-up to the Love is Blind Reunion, you would think that we would all get what we wanted as viewers: drama, love, and the questions we wanted answers to. Well, we did….after an hour of waiting. 

 

 

That’s right, Netflix’s Love is Blind Reunion was delayed by over an hour due to ‘technical issues’. 

Apart from “Chris Rock: Selective Outrage,” which was live-streamed on March 4 without any problems, this was Netflix’s only other live event thus far. 

 

Social Media Leverage 

 

So how did Netflix leverage its social media presence to communicate with the public during this period of time?

Well, before the show, Netflix took to their Instagram stories engaging fans with trivia surrounding Love is Blind’s previous seasons.

Throughout the day, Netflix retweeted fans' tweets regarding the upcoming Love is Blind Reunion before relaying a reminder just 5 minutes before its airing time.

 

At 5 pm PST/8 pm EST, when millions of fans sat down with their bowls of popcorn and glasses of wine, their screens were met with constant error messages, while some members were temporarily booted out of the streaming service altogether.

Twitter quickly became the most valuable resource for viewers to read live comments and questions from other Love is Blind Reunion fans regarding the unexpected delay and to ultimately find reassurance that they weren't missing out on any of the show’s nail-biting drama. 

Just minutes after its scheduled time, Netflix tweeted “Love is … late. #LoveIsBlindLIVE will be on in 15 minutes!”. This helped calm the crowd for the time being.

Netflix then followed up by tweeting “Promise #LoveisBlindLIVE will be worth the wait…..” attached with a picture of this season’s villain, Irina.

 

 

While under pressure, this was a smart idea from the marketing team at Netflix who saw an opportunity to re-engage fans with a major spoiler appearance from the show and ultimately thank them for their patience.

With 11.3 million views, 716 retweets, and 11.4k likes, this tweet got the attention that Netflix needed. 

With the Love is Blind Reunion live event still unresponsive 30 minutes on, Netflix’s social media front also became very quiet.

No updates were given for quite some time from the streaming service, but that's not to say that Twitter users and competitors weren't taking advantage of this time.

Even Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) weighed in on the drama. Netflix retweeted Ocasio-Cortez’s tweet, which went viral: She garnered nearly 100,000 likes and 13,000 retweets, with plenty of fellow fans sharing jokes and frustration in the replies.

Although Hulu didn’t directly mention or tag Netflix, their tweet still went viral. They shared a still from their show “Little Fires Everywhere” featuring Kerry Washington smirking with the caption “Hmm,” which received more than 44,000 likes and 7,000 retweets.

Paramount+ expressed their condolences to the Netflix social team, tweeting “Pouring one out for your mentions tonight,” which received attention.

In another viral tweet, video rental services Blockbuster and Redbox joined forces to criticize Netflix. Blockbuster tweeted, “Remember renting VHS from us?

You could start it on time no problem….this is what we get.” Redbox showed their support by responding “Solidarity bro.”

 

 

After an hour of waiting, Netflix released a now, pre-recorded version after efforts to live stream the event failed; however, many viewers shifted their focus to other shows, like Succession and Yellowjackets, that were streaming after the Love is Blind Reunion was supposed to finish.

Surprisingly, Co-Chief Executive Officer Greg Peters stated that 6.5 million viewers ultimately watched the Love Is Blind Reunion special on Netflix. Now that’s a patient fan base right there.

He also added “We hate it when these things, but we’ll learn from it and we’ll get better. We do have the fundamental infrastructure that we need.”

Netflix’s marketing team primarily focused on their Twitter account to interact with viewers during this stressful time versus other platforms such as Instagram or TikTok. 

Do you think that the social media marketing team could have done more?

What more as a viewer did you expect and want from Netflix, aside from an on-time live reunion during this time?

#TEAMMARSHALL

 

✍️ Written by Hannah Cersell

 

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