‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ on Twitter: Season 12 RuVeal

“Twitter is our go-to source for breaking news tied to the franchise,” Hissey says. To create a newsworthy moment and kick off the conversation, VH1 used a Tweet-to-Unlock Card to encourage fans to use the show’s hashtag and help get it trending. In addition to the initial Tweet, a series of conversation starters and video clips were threaded underneath, inviting fans to relive their favorite wig and outfit reveals from previous seasons.

To reach its 1 million-strong Twitter audience ahead of the big RuVeal, VH1 worked together with Twitter on a Set-to-Remind campaign. Ensuring the announcement would be a surprise, the Tweet launched on January 23, just two hours ahead of going live, with the Set-to-Remind feature appearing just an hour before the live stream, creating a flurry of conversation online. Any fans who set a reminder were sent a notification when the RuVeal began later that day. This solution built anticipation, maximizing views and allowing excited fans around the world to have a front-row seat at the runway.

In the next step of their strategy, the team Tweeted a series of video clips featuring glimpses of the queens getting ready backstage. Teasing fans like a fresh wig, the videos created a volume of reactions within the #DragRace community. Cutting and sharing short clips from a main broadcast is a smart way to create bonus assets that can be used throughout a launch campaign.

VH1 gave fans on Twitter a sneak peek at one of the 13 queens 15 minutes ahead of the broadcast of the full RuVeal. The short video of Jan heightened excitement, driving conversation and resulting in one of the highest performing Tweets of the campaign. “We pay close attention to what ‘Drag Race’ fans are talking about during each season, especially across Twitter,” says Brittany Travis, senior director of social media at ViacomCBS. Building this teaser content into its promotional strategy allowed VH1 to ensure the conversation and speculation kept flowing.

The big RuVeal took place at 12pm EST, with a 14-minute broadcast/live stream showing each queen strutting her stuff, runway style. To create an experience for fans to gather to discuss the reveal as a fandom, VH1 and Twitter worked on a dedicated event experience. This created a hub for all things “Drag Race,” including comments from judges and former contestants, and featuring content from the new queens themselves, once the broadcast/live stream finished. Throughout the day fans were also able to show their support by using a custom emoji that was activated by using the #DragRace hashtag.

Once the broadcast was over, VH1 kept the conversation going with a thread showcasing each queen’s RuVeal look. Tagging contestants in each photo gave fans an easy way to assess and follow their favorite new queens, and the thread itself ensured the conversation surrounding the cast remained in one place. For Hissey, VH1’s strategy is to “lean into what’s trending, and the platform allows us to refine our social voice and test out new tactics that have application across social overall.”