The Digiday Podcast

Duolingo's head of global social strategy, Katherine Chan, talks about making unhinged content work and learning from mistakes

Jan 2, 2024

Duolingo's head of global social strategy, Katherine Chan, discusses their unhinged content strategy on social media, the challenges and mistakes they've encountered, and the importance of learning from those mistakes. They also explore their social strategy across platforms, the fun they have with the character 'Duo' in the app, their successful test campaigns tapping into niche interests and fandoms, and plans for future engagement.

36:45

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Episode guests

Katherine Chan

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Duolingo's unconventional and experimental social media strategy on TikTok has successfully attracted Gen Z users and contributed to significant user growth.

Duolingo's social media team emphasizes maintaining a humorous and comedic brand personality for Duo by embracing creative freedom and empowerment within certain content guidelines.

Deep dives

Duolingo's Success with Gen Z

Duolingo has successfully captivated Gen Z through their social media strategy, particularly on TikTok. The company's experimental approach allowed them to embrace the platform's potential, leading to significant user growth. By personifying the character of Duo and creating an unhinged presence, Duolingo has been able to engage Gen Z and make language learning fun. The strategy involves running experiments, making big bets on what works, and leveraging the community on TikTok. This approach has not only attracted new users to the platform but also created a flywheel effect where more creators and brand partners want to collaborate with Duolingo.

Introduction

3min

Duolingo's Unhinged Content Strategy

15min

Exploring Unhinged Content Strategy and the Flexibility of Duolingo's Social Strategy

2min

Creating Duolingo Content and Setting Brand Parameters

2min

Platforms and Collaboration

9min

The Role of Organic Reach and Tapping into Fandoms

2min

Social media is in its so-called unhinged era, where social media managers are breaking the digital fourth wall and speaking the language of the internet from branded accounts. At the helm of the unhinged social media movement is a big green owl, Duo, brand mascot for the language learning app Duolingo.

Duo has made a name for itself on TikTok with funny skits as the social media team behind the owl works to humanize the brand. But sometimes, like Icarus, Duo sometimes found itself flying too close to the sun. Last year, the brand came under fire for a comment on a TikTok about Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s defamation trial.

It’s been a lesson in toeing the line, learning what works and what doesn’t. Experimentation may be the cornerstone of Duolingo’s social media strategy, but Duo’s unhinged personality is here to stay for now with the company planning to explore other character personalities from the Duolingo universe in the future, said Katherine Chan, head of global social and influencer strategy at Duolingo.

“We have a running rule that we have no rules,” Chan said on the most recent episode of the Digiday Podcast. “We basically have a set of guardrails in terms of absolute no's for the brand. But outside of that, there’s a lot of freedom and empowerment to try to draw the shortest line from ideation to post.”

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The Digiday Podcast

Duolingo's head of global social strategy, Katherine Chan, talks about making unhinged content work and learning from mistakes

Episode guests

Podcast summary created with Snipd AI

Quick takeaways

Deep dives

Duolingo's Success with Gen Z

Developing Unique Brand Personality

Navigating Challenges and Setting Boundaries

Future Growth and Content Strategy

Remember Everything You Learn from Podcasts