My type on screen: an analysis of Love Island’s social media strategy
It’s inspired numerous think-pieces on everything from its depiction of modern British society to psychology and claims about the intelligence of viewers. Undeniably a pop-culture phenomenon, Love Island offers a masterclass in digital marketing for today’s television.
First broadcast in 2015, ITV2’s Love Island is a reality show based on finding love — or at least someone who’s your type on paper. Originally pulling in around half a million viewers, the latest series in Summer 2018 grew to an enormous 3.96 million and broke all of ITV2’s viewing records during the live final. But how do you create TV that is watched in these numbers? You get people talking about it.
Television has always been a social form of media, serving as a conversation-starter. However, people are increasingly watching television alone, whilst using social media to connect with other viewers to create the sense of a shared experience. This “pseudo group viewing” is powerful. During its third series in 2017, Love Island received 1.5 billion Twitter impressions. Whilst one of the series’ most dramatic episodes was airing, a sneaky love triangle which ended in Johnny dumping fan-favourite Camilla for new islander Tyla, viewers communicated their outrage by tweeting 9,000 times a minute.
The show is edited to be dramatic, with producers using well-known techniques to build suspense. But it’s also what happens outside of the show, on various social media platforms, that makes it so addictive.
Love Island’s most effective tool is the “First Look” (embedded above). A video clip, usually 2–3 minutes long, of what is to come on the show that evening. The First Looks are typically posted on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter in the early afternoon, just as the 16–34 year olds who make up the majority of the audience are getting bored at work or school and checking their phones. And so you get those “water-cooler moments” delivered straight to offices and classrooms around the country, watched by an average of 1.6 million people a day.
ITV2 have also demonstrated an understanding of each of the social media platforms they use, adapting the content for each. On Twitter, First Look videos and reminders of when to watch are posted, as well as viewers’ opinions being retweeted. Facebook, (embedded above) is used to share behind-the-scenes clips, quizzes and links to official Love Island merchandise. Instagram is utilised differently again, sharing pictures taken inside the villa by the contestants, and linking to “shop the look” paid partnerships with clothing brands such as Missguided (embedded below). ITV2 has also demonstrated flexibility and commercial awareness, deciding in 2018 to stop producing content for Snapchat, and instead focus on Instagram, as the app was losing popularity. The content posted on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram is all distinct, to ensure it conforms with how each is typically used. However, a specific colour palette and use of fonts keeps the content on-brand visually and cohesive across platforms.
Overall, ITV2 exhibits an extremely effective social media strategy for both engaging viewers and driving sales for official merchandise and paid partnerships. This is evidenced by record viewing figures and charging a reported £3.5 million to sponsor the show. Building on the social aspect of the show, they create impactful content across multiple platforms to spark discussion, with a demonstrated understanding of how each works.
