House of Cards, the series redefining traditional television shows, is a calculated risk that’s paying off for Netflix. In a recent survey, “86 percent of Netflix subscribers said having the access to watch House of Cards makes them less likely to cancel their subscriptions.”
While there are a lot of ways to look at the impact House of Cards is having worldwide, there are a few lessons that can be drawn and applied to the approach marketers take when building and executing upon a mobile strategy.
You need original content. A lot of it.
House of Cards is original, and only available on Netflix. Netflix would still be successful even without House of Cards, but is now a tool which Netflix can use to retain loyal subscribers, and attract a whole new audience.
What about your mobile strategy – is there original content on a consistent basis being pushed to the app? Would your audience miss anything if they were to delete the app? Original, relevant content can help establish a loyal app audience who may turn into brand ambassadors in the long run.
Netflix is gaining strength by mixing this original content with mobile by giving their audience what they want, and when they want it. As outlined by Steven Rosenbaum’s in his article, “Why I was wrong about Netflix ‘House of Cards’”, he notes:
“I watched episodes 1 and 2 on my Roku. Episodes 3, 4 on my iPad in a hotel room in San Francisco. Episode 5 on my iPhone at the San Jose airport, and the balance on my Tivo at home in a few days. Four devices, two ends of the country, three locations.”
Don’t show all your cards on the desktop.
Let’s take a closer look at the concept of exclusivity: people want more of those things there are less of.
House of Cards bypasses “the usual television ecosystem of networks and cable operators”. Being only available to Netflix subscribers plays into the hand of exclusivity – you can watch the show on Netflix and Netflix only.
The same concepts can be applied to any mobile strategy. Your audience will be more willing to download and use your app if it provides resources that are not available elsewhere. When producing your original content, create something that is only accessible through the app. Your audience will only have one choice – download the app, or don’t have access to the exclusive content.
Take a look at your data.
Every organization should be keeping a close eye on their mobile application analytics. While there are a few common metrics that should always be measured, by taking a look at things like push notification open rates, organizations can start to target their audience with relevant content on a more timely basis.
Netflix made an informed decision on House of Cards by looking at their subscriber data. Netflix looks at when their subscribers “pause, rewind and fast forward, [ratings and searches], as well as the time of day when shows are watched and on what devices.” Their know their audience inside and out, and use the data at their disposal to make informed decisions and give their audience what they want.
