Why Netflix should clone TikTok's feed on mobile
A case for Netflix mobile apps to add a scrolling feed of short clips from its vast library - making content discovery even more engaging for its 200M+ mobile MAUs.
Lately I find myself bouncing between my streaming apps, scrolling through the tiles for something to watch, but then quickly falling back to TikTok or Instagram Reels because a full show feels like too big a commitment.
But the irony is that I can get sucked into short-form videos for 30-60 minutes each session, which could’ve been enough time to finish an episode of a series or make progress on a film. I know I’m not alone in this behavior. This chart from eMarketer shows the average time spent per day on TikTok coming close to an hour a day, catching up to the time spent on Netflix.
For Netflix, this could either be interpreted as a threat, or, in my view, an opportunity to exploit.
Although I’m referring to Netflix “cloning” TikTok in the title, the notion of turning long-form content to bite-sized clips is more analogous to YouTube Shorts. Launched in September 2020, in 3 short years, “Shorts now average over 70 billion daily views and are watched by over 2 billion signed-in users every month” as reported in the latest earnings call (2023 Q3). Knowing this and that 66% of consumers say short-form video is the most engaging type of social content, I suggest Netflix make a bet on short-form.
While consumers may maintain simultaneous relationships with multiple entertainment sources, we strive for consumers to choose us in their moments of free time. We have often referred to this choice as our objective of "winning moments of truth." In attempting to win these moments of truth with our members, we seek to continually improve our service, including both our technology and our content offerings.
My thesis is that Netflix can capture a greater share of "moments of free time” for people like me who have started to prefer the short-form videos. By presenting this alternative for content discovery, Netflix can advance their objective to “win moments of truth” with their members.
The Problem
The current means of content discovery on mobile in the Home tab can feel overwhelming at times, which causes users (like myself) to bounce. According to Miller’s Law for UX design, “an average person can only keep 7 items (plus or minus 2) in their working memory.”
Look at the screenshot below - there are 3 row titles, 9 visible tiles to tap, badges, 3 filter selections, and the options to scroll left/right or up/down available in one screen, definitely exceeding Miller’s Law.
Consider the series of micro-decisions a user has to make in order to determine what to watch, consciously or subconsciously -
It takes 2-3 interactions to go from page to page to view clips to get a taste of each show (tap > exit > scroll > rinse and repeat), whereas the TikTok feed format enables the next clip to only be one swipe up away.
In Ben Thomson’s words, “If there is one axiom that governs the consumer internet - consumer anything, really - it is that convenience matters more than anything.” Adopting the TikTok interface could make flipping through titles on mobile devices as frictionless as flipping through channels on TV.
The Solution
The vision is to make the short-form video feed the most convenient and captivating means (on mobile) for exploring Netflix’s 6000+ movies, series, and specials, thereby catalyzing engagement, retention, and user acquisition.
Let’s call this feature Netflix Clips as a placeholder for now, or Clips for short. Some other contenders are Netflix Discover, Netflix For You, or Netflix Feed.
Netflix Clips would not replace the Home tab’s merchandising UI. Both forms of content discovery are necessary and should co-exist. Consider this analogy - the current Home tab is designed for browsing, like perusing Costco’s aisles and shelves of merchandise. Whereas the Clips tab is more akin to tasting samples at Costco, except every product is conveniently opened and prepared so you’re fed one sample after another to your heart’s content.
Quick aside - I want to recognize that an attempt was made with the Fast Laughs feature, but was discontinued. Without presuming too much, here are a few possible reasons why -
The name was too narrowly positioned. When opening the Netflix app, members come for any number of reasons - to be inspired, educated, thrilled, amused, invested in a story, and so on. Fast Laughs limited the use case to just “make me laugh”, which could hinder members from visiting that tab if that’s not what they’re seeking at the moment.
If a member does visit the tab, the clips are expected to elicit laughter, which is not easy. Everyone’s sense of humor is idiosyncratic. And if the clips don’t deliver after a few attempts, the member could lose interest and not revisit the tab ← this was me.
It also misses the magic behind TikTok. On TikTok, one moment I see a baby girl cuddling with her father, then someone getting her purse snatched, and then tips on purchasing a home in this housing market. It’s the variety that keeps me hooked - not knowing what feeling might get evoked next (shock, awe, delight, intrigue, etc.). I’m sure there’s a neurological reason for this. The problem with the Fast Laughs feature is one comedy clip after another gets stale pretty quickly.
Granted, this might’ve been the MVP version. But instead of segmenting by a genre as the starting point, I believe there may be another way to limit scope, which I’ll cover in The Strategy section.
The Objective
Nearly every Big Tech have already cloned their own version of the video feed - Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, Snapchat Spotlight, Spotify Home, and even Amazon Inspire.
Fundamentally the objective of the social platforms is to keep users in the feed, endlessly scrolling its user-generated content (UGC). Netflix differs in that its primary objective is to get members to watch more of its expertly produced or licensed content.
Netflix Clips shouldn’t be designed to keep users in the feed. Instead the North Star would be to optimize clips viewed to titles watched conversion, thereby reinforcing its core business. Netflix also wouldn’t need to concern itself with creator tools, comments, and content moderation since they don’t deal with UGC.
The Design
Key elements to point out -
Auto-play clips. Unlike the social platforms that replay clips, I would suggest the clip to prompt the user to rotate the phone to continue playing. It’s like when you’re channel surfing, if you stay on the channel, the show will keep going (not replay)
Swipe Up/Down to view the next or previous clips in the feed
Watch Now is the primary CTA. When tapped, members could either choose to play from the beginning or continue watching from where the clip ends
Badges for “Recently Added”, “New Seasons”, “New Episode”, “Leaving Soon”, “Coming Soon”, “Top 10”, “Trending”, etc.
Description gives users a quick read of what the show is about. It’s truncated, so users can tap the area to expand and read more
Like gives additional signals to the algorithm for personalizing the feed on types of shows or clips that may be of interest to the member
My List should be self-explanatory, but also an even stronger signal for personalizing the feed
Share generates a deep-link that opens the Clips tab or browser for other users to view the content shared
Title Tile takes the user to the Detail Page for more about the title
The Strategy
Following Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters’ example to crawl, walk, run (referring to the advertising and gaming businesses), we’ll employ the same strategy to ease our investment in Netflix Clips. I would sequence each milestone as follows: Engagement (crawl) > Retention (walk) > Acquisition (run).
Success in streaming starts with engagement. It’s our best proxy for customer satisfaction and when people are watching they are more likely to stick around (retention) and recommend Netflix to their friends (acquisition).
Crawl - Engagement
Think of Clips as the modern day equivalent of channel surfing, where members scan through snippets of a show until one captures their attention to continue watching.
Goal
Validate if enough members will visit the Clips tab, and engage with the short form videos (Watch Now, Add to List, and/or View Details page).
Scope
Keep the scope limited and calibrate for getting to market quickly to learn how much members would engage with this feature.
Build the Clips tab scaffolding and interactions -vertical format, swipe up, watch now, like, add to list, etc.
Use clips and trailers from Netflix Original titles. This makes it easier to launch globally with a consistent experience without needing extra logic for licensed titles with limited rights or expirations.
Reformat clips to fit the vertical frame.
No personalization algo needed yet. Everyone gets the same feed. For the sake of velocity, invest in personalization later. This is one way to limit scope to build the MVP quickly.
Walk - Retention
If the Clips feature shows positive signs of engagement, the next phase is to turn on the content spigot and cut multiple clips at scale across all available titles.
With an increase in the clips content inventory, the feed will need to be personalized, which Netflix has trail-blazed for over 20 years (see A Brief History of Netflix Personalization).
Goal
Add personalization in the feed to increase further usage of Clips and increase watch conversions with more relevant clips.
Scope
So we’re not starting from scratch, build upon existing capabilities and inventions -
Computer vision techniques for cutting clips at scale and recognizing elements within the scenes for more granular metatags that can drive better personalization
Recommendation system for improving the Clips feed. Leverage viewing data, search history, ratings, time of day, date, shares, collaborative filtering, what’s trending, and so on
Supercharge the personalization algorithm with signals and interactions derived from the Clips feature.
Factor in clips watch time, title watch time, added to list, likes, shares, title page visits
The engagement in the Home tab and Clips tab should be mutually reinforcing to personalize both sides of the product.
Other considerations to factor from the clip: dialogue, actors in scene, setting, and metatags about the mood, tone, style, or any other context from the scene.
Run - Acquisition
For a while, I resisted installing TikTok. But my wife would spontaneously send me videos that she resonated with, reminded her of a conversation we had, or thought was hilarious. Eventually I gave in.
If Netflix Clips has content compelling enough to share, and if the video feed is made available without needing accounts, then the exposure from spontaneous shares could eventually drive user growth.
Moreover, if users can create free accounts to view more than just clips, this sets the stage for Clips to become a standalone medium for growing the user base.
Goal
Make Clips shareable and accessible to non-members as a way to drive user acquisition and conversion to any one of Netflix’s plans.
Scope
See screens below for a sample Share flow.
When sharing deep-links with users without the Netflix app installed, they can view the feed without limit to explore Netflix’s library, then eventually prompted to sign up for membership.
Monitor the member signup conversion rate attributed to this flow
With a wider exposure, Netflix can even push its merch shop, mobile games, and live events in the feed
Another idea is to let non-members create free accounts with access to Netflix Clips only. Grant these users free access to watch shows they find in the feed. This makes it feel like a treasure hunt where you never know which show you might come across so you feel a sense of urgency to watch now because you may not see the title again in the ever-changing feed. With this approach, users can’t search and cherry-pick shows never having to become a member. Then once users completes a show, they’ll be prompted to convert to a paid plan.
The Big Play
If members start to spend just as much time in the Clips feed as they do full length shows, there’s a massive opportunity to introduce vertical video ads in Netflix Clips.
Today Netflix touts nearly 5M monthly active users (MAU) for its ad-supported tier. Even if only 2% of its 250M+ members become frequent users of Netflix Clips, then it will already have the same reach as the ad-supported plan. And if Netflix allows free accounts with access to the Clips feature, there could be an exponentially larger user base for advertisers to reach.
Advertisers will also have a healthy list of interests to select for targeting given the diverse content across genres (anime, cars, cooking, comedy, dating, family, fashion, finance, gaming, music, mystery, history, sports, travel, etc.).
Also, ads in Netflix Clips may perform better. Since ads in the ad-supported plan will be shown before or during most TV shows and movies, they’re likely perceived as an interruption. Whereas sponsored videos in the feed will be the norm in this format and easy to engage with on mobile devices.
Short-form Innovations
Contrary to the initial premise, it would be advantageous to keep users in the feed for more ad exposure. For Netflix Clips to achieve daily usage comparable to TikTok, Netflix may need to expand beyond just showing snippets from its long form titles.
Just to brainstorm a few content innovations that Netflix can deliver -
High quality content designed for the vertical frame - reminiscent of Quibi
Short-form spinoffs of its most popular or trending titles like Stranger Things, Squid Game, Wednesday, etc.
Exclusive conversations and specials with the actors and show creators. Maybe even test a similar format as TikTok LIVE for celebrities to connect with users directly
AI-generated content using rights to the likeness granted by actors, like Black Mirror’s “Joan is Awful” (being a bit ironic here)
Interactive content - choose you own adventure stories - like Bandersnatch and Russian Doll (but vertical and short form)
Enable members to cut clips from shows and editing tools to re-mix content into memes, social commentaries, recommendations, reactions, and so on
In Summary
Netflix is uniquely positioned to deliver Netflix Clips more effectively than the streaming competitors because of its -
Wide network of 250M+ global members that will only grow with Netflix Clips
Extensive library of over 3600 owned content assets (Netflix Originals) that drives conversations in the mainstream culture, getting people talking about big cats, Michael Jordan, and chess
Commitment to cutting edge personalization technology, computer vision, and streaming performance
Culture that drives innovation mindset and willingness to try and fail - Netflix Shuffle, Fast Laughs, etc.
Netflix has the opportunity to delight their customers who like short-form format because it’s a more engaging content discovery experience that is hard to copy given their leadership in personalization technology, and margin-enhancing as it acquires more users with spontaneous sharing of clips and adding short-form mobile ads offering (nod to Gibson Biddle’s DHM model).