How Streaming Services Leverage Marketing Strategies to Sustain Subscriber Engagement

DOI

10.2991/978-2-38476-541-6_58How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Streaming services; Emotional AI; Personalization; Immersive advertising; Subscriber engagement

Abstract

In today’s fast-growing streaming market, one of the biggest challenges is keeping subscribers engaged over the long term. This paper explores how platforms such as Netflix, HBO, and Amazon Prime have transformed casual viewers into committed fans through targeted marketing strategies. Drawing on industry reports, case studies, and academic research, the discussion focuses on three approaches that stand out: co-creation through social media, personalization shaped by emotions, and the use of immersive advertising. The first approach relies on interactive campaigns that invite audiences to participate directly. Examples like HBO’s fan competitions or Netflix’s activity on Instagram show how viewers can shift from being passive consumers to active promoters of the brand. Compared with traditional advertising, this form of engagement is often more authentic and less expensive. A second strategy centers on personalization and emotional cues. Mood-sensitive recommendation systems and customized thumbnails, for instance, draw on psychological research about how people often make quick, intuitive choices rather than carefully reasoned ones. By tailoring content to these tendencies, platforms influence what people choose to watch. The third strategy pushes into newer territory: immersive advertising. Augmented and virtual reality make it possible to integrate brands inside the entertainment environment itself. While this can lead to stronger engagement and better recall, it also raises legitimate concerns about privacy, transparency, and potential manipulation. Taken together, these examples suggest that successful streaming marketing is not just about offering more shows or movies. What matters more is sustaining engagement by combining technological innovation with insights from psychology. At the same time, there remains a tension between persuasive design and the freedom of users to choose for themselves. The future of streaming may depend on how well companies balance commercial goals with ethical responsibility, building trust while continuing to experiment with new ways to engage audiences.

Copyright

© 2026 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Naomi Dora Bihi-zenou
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/02/26
TI  - How Streaming Services Leverage Marketing Strategies to Sustain Subscriber Engagement
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 5th International Conference on Culture, Design and Social Development (CDSD 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 527
EP  - 533
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-2-38476-541-6_58
DO  - 10.2991/978-2-38476-541-6_58
ID  - Bihi-zenou2026
ER  -