Woman with dark fringe and two green-hooded figures in front of a group of people posed before a lit castle at dusk
Submitted by SocialChain

Taking The Traitors to TikTok with the BBC

Influencer Marketing

SocialChain built a creator-led TikTok campaign for the BBC's The Traitors, running four creators through the show's own gameplay to a reported reach of 3.2 million.

13TikTok assets published
4.9%average engagement rate
8.2kpost engagements
3m+total following

Case in 60 seconds

The Traitors debuted on UK television in November 2022 as an entirely new format, so unlike cult shows with a strong social presence there was no existing engaged audience for the BBC to reach on social.

The campaign appears to turn on the show's own guessing game being the thing an audience would join in with, because a whodunnit invites viewers to accuse and theorise in public rather than simply watch.

Rather than promote the programme from outside it, SocialChain turned the game itself into a social-first reality, running one cohesive story arc across multiple creators cast as Faithfuls or secret Traitors.

Four TikTok creators with an average following of over 800k competed to uncover the traitor among them across 13 assets in five days, using feed posts, Stitches and platform-native filters, with the first deliverable shot at the series press launch with host Claudia Winkleman.

SocialChain reports a reach of 3.2 million, over 200k views and an average engagement rate of 4.9%, with 8.2k post engagements and 100+ comments expressing support or intrigue about the campaign gameplay.

Strategy Breakdown

A younger audience the BBC wanted to reach for its new reality game show, positioned towards viewing on BBC iPlayer.
A new format carries no cultural shorthand, so the work had to manufacture the shared speculation that established shows arrive with rather than borrow it from an audience that did not yet exist.
Broadcast promotion on social usually extends an existing fandom, which was unavailable here because The Traitors was a first-run format with no engaged audience to work with.
The BBC provided the game's rules and its host, with the press launch shoot with Claudia Winkleman giving the creator content a direct affinity with the show's brand.
Based on the available evidence, the work reads as built on the assumption that audiences will accuse and theorise in comments when given a suspect list, which is why the creators posed the question rather than answered it.

Creative & Execution System

Assets & channels

  • BBC iPlayer
  • TikTok
  • Stitches
  • feed posts
  • platform-native filters
  • video

Partners

  • SocialChain

Participation mechanic

  • Creators encouraged their audiences to comment their guesses and theories about which of them was the traitor, and to watch The Traitors on BBC iPlayer.

Creator role

  • @danispeaks — creator
  • @formzofficial — creator
  • @itssarahgordon — creator
  • @nohailchooch — creator
  • four creators
  • midweight talent with an average following of over 800k

Results & Evidence

MetricValue
TikTok Assets PublishedOur creators posted 13 separate TikTok assets over a period of five days, including feed posts, Stitches and platform-native filters.
Average Engagement Rate4.9% average engagement rate
Engagements and Commentswith over 8k engagements and 100+ comments expressing support for the campaign or intrigue about campaign gameplay
Post Engagements8.2k post engagements
ReachOverall this resulted in a reach of 3.2 million, over 200k views and an average engagement rate of 4.9%.
Total Following3m+ total following
Views on Talent Content206k views on talent content

Why SocialChain's strategy worked

  1. 1

    A format with no existing fanbase can be introduced through creator audiences that already exist, because the creators supply the attention the programme has not yet earned for itself.

  2. 2

    Casting creators into the show's own roles gives each post a reason to reference the next, which is how thirteen separate assets across five days read as one story rather than a repeated message.

  3. 3

    Shooting the opening deliverable at the press launch with the programme's host appears to be what anchored creator content to the show's brand, because it put the series' own face inside the creator format.

  4. 4

    Asking audiences to comment guesses converts a viewing ask into a participation ask, which suits platform-native features such as Stitches where responding is the format rather than an addition to it.

Related Case studies