The Game of Thrones Social Media Strategy: The “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken”
One of the most recognized TV series in the world, Game of Thrones, begins its seventh season on Sunday 16 July. We could list many, many reasons why it is such an enormous success, beginning with the storyline. But, as we live in 21th century, there is always more to it than a great script, dual characters, amazing casting, and fantastic graphics.
What HBO has excelled at since the inception of The Game of Thrones in 2011, is to keep the audience on edge through intrigue and suspense. For some shows, the time between seasons can be problematic with a story so full of characters and plots such as Game of Thrones. However, the production’s “Never Resting” social media team discovered the perfect way to keep their audience greedy for more. As fans speculate about the smallest details, the Game of Thrones social media group decided to amplify the conversation, capitalizing and generating exclusive content that fans find engaging and can easily share on social media. This translates to social media buzz about Westeros even between seasons.
The season 7 trailer’s release caused quite a stir on social media. For more than 10 minutes on Facebook, fans watched an ice cube melt waiting to reveal the show’s season 7 start date. The experience engaged fans by asking them to comment “FIRE” (”AND BLOOD”) to speed up the process of the ice cube melting.
There is no doubt the Game of Thrones social media team are exceptionally creative creating new ways to engage with fans. The bet for this season is a Snapchat filter, where the viewer can become a white walker with blue cold eyes and freezing breath.
@GameOfThrones When you're fresh out of dragon glass and Jon Snow doesn't arrive in time to save you. #WinterIsHere pic.twitter.com/vRC2eRrAfx
— Amanda (@Amandella26) July 12, 2017
To support fan recognition, fan posts are shared throughout the Game of Thrones social media accounts, generating more and more engagement, amplifying the conversation. Let’s just say that they “always pay their debts”.
Talking about amplifying, Game of Thrones producers asked artists and fans to create design images inspired from the series. The best renderings were presented in a gallery on Tumblr.
All the social media programs described thus far are for Season 7 only. Each year the Game of Thrones social media team has set out to engage fans through increasingly sophisticated and compelling campaigns. To HBO’s credit, they discovered that the best way to charm the GOT audience is to ask them to create content and then amplify and reward their efforts. This strategy culminates in successful buzz about the show all year long. Even if the script kills beloved characters without mercy, the social media team keeps all murdered characters alive through social media content.
The Game of Thrones has proven that content is still the king of a good social media strategy. If you would like use social media to enhance fan engagement on your website, contact Crowdynews to schedule a demo and we will “light the way.”