Netflix Reveals What Images Hook Viewers on New Shows

Netflix has found that its viewers spend only 1.8 seconds considering whether to watch a show or movie that is presented to them. With so little time to make a successful pitch to potential viewers, the company has become obsessed with making it easy for members to make a quick decision about whether a show is interesting.

For Netflix that means perfecting the promotional artwork imagery that runs alongside an explanation of the show. Members spend 82 percent of their time focusing on artwork while browsing Netflix, according to the company.

This week Netflix released new findings about the power of the images its presents to viewers while introducing them to shows, and what traits in an image can encourage a viewer to watch a show.

Netflix finds that images with expressive facial emotion that convey the tone of the show do well. Artwork featuring recognizable or polarizing characters also succeed.

For example, in looking at promotions for the second season of "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt," an image featuring a close-up of two characters showing silly expressions was most popular for the comedy.

But there are also cross-cultural differences to which images work. For example, with the show "sense8," Netflix found that different promotional images were most appealing in the United States, Brazil, Germany and Britain.

Even if a show has an ensemble cast, when it comes to promotional purposes someone needs to hog the spotlight.

"While ensemble casts are fantastic for a huge billboard on the side of a highway, they are too complex at small sizes and ultimately not as effective at helping our members decide if the title is right for them on smaller screens," explained Netflix's Nick Nelson in the blog post.

While the Netflix show "Orange Is the New Black" featured eight cast members in its Season 1 image, Netflix scaled back to a single character for seasons 2 and 3.

Netflix reached these conclusions through what's called A/B testing, in which audiences are split into groups and shown different images. Analysts then gauge how audiences respond to the different options.

Netflix said it's far from done with optimizing images for shows. It wants to next see whether it can optimize trailers, montages and motion billboards.

© 2016 The Washington Post