This month we met up with our friends from quintly to take a closer look at what’s been happening in the world of social media lately. In this post, we scrutinise the activities of the Facebook and Twitter channels from two of America’s most popular TV shows: The Walking Dead and Homeland.

It’s that time of the year again. You have been waiting for this moment after what felt like an eternity. Finally, the next season of your favourite TV series is on. At the press of a button, tucked in with your blanket and eating nachos, your favourite characters come to life on the screen and take you on an adventure of love, hardships and in all likelihood, a ridiculous amount of special effects. Sound good?

Have you ever thought about what makes these TV shows so addictive? Written by the hands of complete strangers, how are millions of people drawn into the storyline? It takes more than a good story or some great actors obviously. An essential part is its promotion –  advertisement and PR – to land a hit and keep your audience interested.

In this context, we observed what’s been happening with the social media channels of two of America’s most popular TV shows one month prior to their launch. In particular, we looked behind the curtains of the Facebook and Twitter activities from Homeland (season 5 premiere: October 4th) and The Walking Dead (season 6 premiere: October 11th), focusing on the following questions:

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  • Which TV series has a higher growth in their fan base?
  • Whose fans are more engaging?
  • What are the most relevant hashtags used?
  • What can we learn from their activities?

 

 


Facts

The Walking Dead (TWD) has 32,847,356 fans on Faceboook and 3,752,260 followers on Twitter, whereas Homeland has 2,091,064 Facebook fans and 174,094 followers on Twitter. The huge gap between these numbers implies that TWD seems to have the finger on the pulse and is able to thrill its fans. That TWD has quite a bunch of loyal adherents is acknowledged by the incredible number of 6,323 posts that they were responsible for whereas fans of Homeland only posted 415 times during the observation period. The average interactions per own Tweet for TWD is 1,815 and only a small number of 193 for Homeland, which is nearly 1/10 of TWD’s interactions. On the release date, TWD recorded 4,870 interactions per own Tweet, whereas Homeland had only 548 interactions for its season start. Regarding the used Hashtags, #TWD was used in 220 posts, #TheWalkingDead in 116 and #Homeland in 183 posts. Within the 10 most used hashtags, seven are related to TWD – Homeland uses only #Homeland. In terms of favourites, retweets and total interactions, TWD is also way ahead of Homeland: #TWD itself accounts 259,877 favourites, 181,466 retweets and 441,343 total interactions. However, #Homeland was favourited 14,544 times, retweeted 8,975 times and accounted for 23,519 total interactions. TWD is leading this field, using a variety of well performing hashtags.

All in all, by the end of the observation period, TWD and Homeland were able to increase their fan base on both, Facebook and Twitter. Homeland had a great peak on October 4th (start date), recording an increase by 3,949 new fans on Facebook and 753 additional followers on Twitter. In regard to TWD, the start of its new season on October 11th had the same effect on the fan base on Facebook (+59,205) and Twitter (+17,504). In direct comparison, Homeland has a slightly better follower increase than TWD in relation to the absolute follower, both on Twitter and Facebook.

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Learnings:

  1. Use different hashtags to lead the agenda. If you have a vibrant and engaged community as TWD has, always provide different hashtags to keep it going. You should keep in mind that trending hashtags can have an enormous effect on your brand awareness.
  2. Accompany your audience on the way to the start of something new. Especially in times when people have millions of opportunities on how to spend their free time, it is important to provide them with something that helps them to keep their interest in what you have to offer. Loyal fans are the best one you can get so you should be overprotective to keep them.
  3. Never underestimate the power of social media. Find out which network works best for you and your brand and make good use of it. It’s the best (and probably easiest) way to reach a good many of your fans at the same time and even those who are not following you (yet).