As we prepared for Season 2 of Tulsa King, our primary objective was to reignite the fandom. With a gap of over a year and a half between seasons, we needed to carefully strategize how to ramp up our social media presence well before an airdate for Season 2 was even announced. Focusing on out-of-season efforts as our plans for Season 2 solidified was critical in ensuring a strong kickoff to the Season 2 marketing campaign and, ultimately, making it a massive success on social media.
As we brainstormed our Season 2 promotional plans, we carefully analyzed what worked and what didn’t during Season 1. Throughout Season 1, we leaned into a mix of memes, show clips, custom video content, behind-the-scenes material, and more. The content that generated the most engagement turned out to be show clips and select custom or behind-the-scenes creative. With that in mind, we decided to double down on these strategies for Season 2.
Rather than simply posting miscellaneous show clips, we took a more proactive approach—aligning them with real-world events, trending topics, and even engaging the audience to discover what they wanted to see. From our Season 1 custom video content, we noticed fans gravitated toward creative pieces where cast members spoke about each other, revealed behind-the-scenes “secrets,” and showcased their off-camera camaraderie. With these insights, we approached our Season 2 social shoot armed with a variety of creative ideas designed to highlight and celebrate the cast’s off-camera relationships.
As this content was released week by week during Season 2's airing, we immediately saw significant growth. Midway through the season, we decided to capitalize on the success and virality of our social accounts by launching a dedicated YouTube channel for the show.
Our efforts paid off! Throughout the second season, our social accounts experienced exponential growth. Social engagements increased by 640% season over season (SoS), views surged by 1,000% SoS, follower count rose by 704% SoS, and our newly launched YouTube channel gained nearly 100,000 followers. Week after week, we remained focused on intentional posting, leveraging trending moments from the show, cultural trends on social media, and engaging with talent accounts when it made sense. While we took a more 360-degree approach to our content overall, we intensified our efforts on episode release days (Sundays). This strategy resulted in Season 2 outperforming Season 1 by 266% in interactions on show days.
