Video may have killed the radio star, but recent ad campaign feedback indicates that the web has NOT killed the video star. As social media has grown to occupy more and more of brands’ marketing budgets and consumers’ everyday lives, other ad mediums have seen a decline, first in readership/viewership and second, in ad dollars. While television has felt the jolt of social media’s ad dollar pull, it hasn’t felt it as acutely as print publications. Data compiled both by Neilson and by multi-industry, independent brands implies that television advertising hasn’t died – it’s simply evolved.
a culture of multitaskers
Traditional television still commands 98% of the average American’s five-hour daily video diet. However, it no longer commands our full attention – the Pew study, completed earlier this spring, reports that 74% of smartphone owners use their mobile devices while watching TV and shortly thereafter, Neilson reported that this percentage fell closer to 86%. Whichever stat you choose to give credence to, the number is staggering. We as a society, have chosen to multitask, not only in our work life, but in our free time as well.
get the most out of your mixture
For decades, effective brand sentiment campaigns have used a marketing mix of tactics and platforms to keep consumers as interested as possible and in as many ways as possible. The importance of using a mix of mass media and marketing tactics has increased conversely with modern consumers’ attention span. The competition for their attention and loyalties has gotten fiercer, but it can still be done – if you evolve your marketing strategy appropriately.
Some of the most effective ad campaigns to emerge in recent years use a mixture of television and social media to build a seamless conversation with fans and foes across both, simultaneously. Successful brands now use television ads, in-show pop ups and promoted hashtags to drive everyday interactions and audience feedback online. Take for example the televised prompts to tweet your vote to #TheVoice, engage with fellow @GossipGIrl fans or to connect to @NFL sportscasters and share your thoughts on the latest ref mis-call. Smart brands are blending the interactive with the traditional to achieve lasting results and mine honest and vocal creative feedback from social media’s “real time focus group” conversation structure.
How effectively has your brand been using social media? Take the time now to evaluate whether or not you’re getting all you could be from social media. Do you expect your online interactions to operate within an insulated bubble of one dimensional, digital media? Or do you go the extra mile to surround your customers with a universal brand experience they can’t and won’t want to ignore?