Facebook is an ideal litmus test for a new TV series and allows programmers to reach a different demographic. Those are two of the main benefits SBS has experienced in its Facebook-first launch of new comedy The Family Law.
On Monday, AdNews revealed the show had reached more than 2.1 million people over the weekend by solely running the first episode on the popular social media platform. This translated to nearly 145,000 views (for 30 seconds or more) and 22,978 views for the whole show minus credits.
SBS group head of marketing Jo McAllister tells AdNews the social experiment allows programmers to gauge how successful a show is likely to be ahead of a TV launch.
“Facebook has an immediacy," she says. "Within an hour we could see people were watching and were really positive about the show.
"It was almost like an immediate audience testing - the things we thought were funny about the program, the audience did as well.”
Another major benefit of using Facebook is being able to target a different demographic to SBS' TV audience. This suited the content of The Family Law, which tackles adolescent issues familiar to multicutltural teens.
“SBS' demo is skewed slightly older. Facebook for us is a wonderful channel because it allows us access and to capture an audience that is slightly younger in demo than our TV audience,” McAllister explains.
“I think there was a fear of missing out. People like to see what people are talking about and share it amongst their friends. The talkability and buzz we wanted to create, we seemed to generate ... which is a martketers dream.”
SBS' tight budget meant that using Facebook was a novel way to spread the message in a more cost-effective manner.
When asked whether airing an ad-free episode online might potentially cannibalise TV revenue, McAllister believes advertisers will realise even greater value on TV due to the buzz created on Facebook.
“For me, doing something that is unique and a little outside the box actually generates great recognition for the brand and ignites that excitement about a potential series," she says.
"I would hope our advertisers are excited by the fact we're already having people talk about content that hasn't even aired yet on TV."
McAllister says SBS is not currently looking to use a Facebook-first approach for another show, but she wouldn't rule it out in the future.
What's more important to the marketing boss is ensuring each campaign is different and aligned to its target audience.
“For every campaign I would like to have something different, whether it is in social, outdoor or a digital vibe. But we don't want to get into that cookie cutter approach where every campaign is the same,” she says.
“You should think about the content and how to do something different to attract a new audience.”
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