With the show’s upcoming Season 4 premiere, we take a look at all the official Outlander videos uploaded by Starz over the last few years to see how the network drives viewers’ obsession with the series, both during its traditional TV airings and between each highly-anticipated season. Four official Starz and Outlander social video accounts provided an interesting overview of the network’s digital strategy, which is heavily reliant on the show’s official Facebook page; seven of the top ten most-watched clips under these accounts were videos on that platform alone. Additionally, across all of Starz’s official accounts (YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram included), nine of out the top ten Outlander videos are teasers and trailers released a couple months before the premiere of a new season or before the return of one currently on a break, arguably to amp up anticipation. The Outlander clip with the highest view count, for example, was uploaded in July 2017 and introduces the show’s Season 3 premiere date on September 10; this video came away with 6.1 million views, an average 30-day view count (V30) of 5.8 million, and an average 30-day engagement rate (ER30) of 1.3x (just over the average engagement of most Facebook videos). This trailer may have received more views because of the month-long gap between Seasons 2 and 3, whereas the wait between Seasons 1 and 2 was a mere 10 days, so there was more anticipation for the 3rd season. We’re guessing the Droughtlander affected the interest and attention of fans, as did the general lack of Season 4 trailers during early 2018 (videos uploaded during these first few months merely hinted at the season’s arrival without providing any real footage). That being said, teasers and trailers for Outlander have performed well overall, with only two of the top ten clips dating from 2018. Clearly, Starz has dedicated Outlander fans who are more than willing to interact with the show’s official content, even if it’s just teasers and trailers. Starz may not be on this type of content bandwagon yet (with the exception of the parade footage noted above); however, we bet if the network started producing more types of Outlander content, it would see not just more views, but also lots more engagement from adoring fans, both during and between season airings. For example, in 2014 Starz uploaded more content to YouTube (82 videos) than Facebook (51 videos).
On November 4th, Outlander will be back on Starz to provide audiences around the world with plenty of intrigue, historical adventure, and of course some steamy romance scenes. With the show’s upcoming Season 4 premiere, we take a look at all the official Outlander videos uploaded by Starz over the last few years to see how the network drives viewers’ obsession with the series, both during its traditional TV airings and between each highly-anticipated season. In our search, we also discovered fans are contributing to the Outlander craze through plenty of user-generated content.
Here’s what we found:
Most Views on Outlander Content Hail from Teasers and Trailers
Whenever someone who hasn’t seen Outlander asks me what it’s about, I’m never quite sure where to start. My usual reply goes something like this: “Wellllll… it’s a historical-romance-drama series with hints of science fiction and fantasy because this 1940’s English nurse touches magical stones in Scotland and goes back in time 200 years and falls in love, even though she’s already married in the present — that is, the ‘40s…” Yes, this original Starz series is that complicated, but it’s also so compelling that we discovered fans around the world are eager to lay their eyes on as many Outlander videos as they can.
Four official Starz and Outlander social video accounts provided an interesting overview of the network’s digital strategy, which is heavily reliant on the show’s official Facebook page; seven of the top ten most-watched clips under these accounts were videos on that platform alone. Additionally, across all of Starz’s official accounts (YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram included), nine of out the top ten Outlander videos are teasers and trailers released a couple months before the premiere of a new season or before the return of one currently on a break, arguably to amp up anticipation.
The Outlander clip with the highest view count, for example, was uploaded in July 2017 and introduces the show’s Season 3 premiere date on September 10; this video came away with 6.1 million views, an average 30-day view count (V30) of 5.8 million, and an average 30-day engagement rate (ER30) of 1.3x (just over the average engagement of most Facebook videos). This trailer may have received more views because of the month-long gap between Seasons 2 and 3, whereas the wait between Seasons 1 and 2 was a mere 10 days, so there was more anticipation for the 3rd season.
Based on the high view count for the Season 3 trailer, we thought maybe Season 4’s trailer would attract even more viewers, mainly because Outlander audiences had to wait almost an entire year for the release of this newest season (a length of time now referred to by many as “Droughtlander”). Surely with a longer wait, the heart grows fonder and fans desperately want to see the newest trailer, right? Well, as it turns out, Season 4’s trailer pulled in 2.7 million views, 3.4 million fewer than Season 3. We’re guessing the Droughtlander affected the interest and attention of fans, as did the general lack of Season 4 trailers during early 2018 (videos uploaded during these first few months merely hinted at the season’s arrival without providing any real footage).
That being said, teasers and trailers for Outlander have performed well overall, with only two of the top ten clips dating from 2018. It seems as the popularity of the show increased over the years, as did the number of uploads Starz made: the network produced 136 videos in 2014, around 160 each in 2015 and…
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