Almost a year ago to the day, one of Amazon Prime Video’s posts on Instagram went viral. That might be because it’s a little, well, raunchy.
On the day the movie Saltburn hit the streamer, Prime Video’s social account posted a still from the film from a scene where actor Barry Keoghan leans in to drink another character’s dirty bathwater, captioning it “Boy dinner.” The post has since clocked almost 130,000 likes.
The “boy dinner” post was the brainchild of Prime Video’s reactive AOR, Saylor, which supports Prime Video’s larger advertising strategy by reacting to pop culture and online trends in a timely manner, according to Will Trowbridge, Saylor’s founder and CEO.
Trowbridge said that a reactive social strategy can complement a brand’s overall marketing strategy through day-by-day brand-building.
“Especially for brands that have…an existing audience, you are missing out on opportunities if you’re not deploying a reactive strategy every single day,” he said.
Strike while the iron is hot
To build its reactive social posts for Prime Video, Saylor keeps tabs on what fans of Prime Video content are talking about as well as broader social media trends, Trowbridge told Marketing Brew.
“What is The Boys fandom talking about today?” he said. “What is the moment that everyone’s obsessing over? What is that story hook that everyone can’t get over and wants to talk about? Those are the very specific brand narratives that we track, as well as those more global internet trends and even micro internet trends.”
In mid-November, Saylor tied Prime Video content to pop culture after singer Charli XCX hosted and performed on Saturday Night Live. Saylor’s team figured that her appearance would generate buzz online, so it prepped an Instagram carousel post featuring stills from Prime Video content showing lyrics from the singer’s TikTok-famous tune “Apple” ahead of time. The post, which went live the day she appeared on SNL to capitalize on the buzz, has since attracted more than 18,000 likes.
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While brands don’t need to be part of every viral moment, Trowbridge said it’s important for brands to nail down a consistent voice and tone. With Prime Video, Saylor’s team worked with the streamer to create a “brand bible,” which is essentially a slide deck that defines the voice and tone for the brand and how to use them, he said. Without nailing details like that down, “it can feel like you’re throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks,” according to Trowbridge, which could have a negative result.
“I think audiences just see that as annoying and noisy, gross, thirsty brand work,” he said.
Short n’ sweet
Building a strong reactive social strategy isn’t just about keeping up with online trends—it’s also about engaging with audiences through different kinds of posts, Trowbridge said. Saylor sometimes posts simple copy for Prime Video, like by commenting on a post from the brand’s official account, which can be completed in seconds. Other times, static image or video posts may be more appropriate. While Trowbridge’s team tries to react to trends quickly, it can take a few hours to ideate and create those posts.
In many instances, though, simplicity is key for maximum impact, Trowbridge told us.
“You don’t have to reinvent the wheel,” he said. “You just have to be smart about what you create and ultimately make it really timely.”