The internet and social media have made an indelible impression on today's communications. No longer do we get our news and other information via the traditional one-way media of newspaper and television. The Internet has opened up new avenues and opportunities for receiving as well as commenting on events of the day.
Co-authors Mike Proulx, Senior VP/Director of Social Media, and Stacey Shepatin, Senior VP, both at Hill Holliday, draw on their own professional experience in the digital communication arena to present an informative and entertaining look at how television as a communication medium has acknowledged and embraced social media platforms as part of the “customer service” experience.
Commentary from other communications professionals adds real-life insight into the impact that social media is having both on the provider of the communication material and the receiver. Television in particular is evolving into a two-way interactive medium that allows viewers both to enjoy the personal experience of watching television and interact with others who are sharing that same experience.
Ironically, this set of circumstances was foreseen in 1939 by David Sarnoff: “Television will finally bring to people, in their homes, for the first time in history, a complete means of instantaneous participation [emphasis the reviewer's] in the sights and sounds of the entire outer world.” (p. 3)
“Social TV” examines the multiple ways in which this “instantaneous participation” has impacted both the supplier of the information and entertainment and the consumer. Both program developers and advertisers are scrambling to perfect their messaging based on feedback from those on the “other end” … the viewing audience.
Proulx and Shepatin address this challenging scenario in ten entertaining and information-packed chapters ranging from “The Backchannel: Bringing the Conversation to the Forefront” (Chapter 1) to “Social TV Ratings: Adding a New Dimension to Television Audience Measurement” (Chapter 5) to “Conclusion (for Now): Connecting the Dots” (Chapter 10).
What becomes patently clear from the outset is that the “social” aspect of television viewing is here and growing exponentially. “The portability of today's laptops, coupled with the steady rise in smartphone and tablet adoption, has made cozying up on the couch and being connected to the Internet in front of the television not only in vogue, but also a very natural and comfortable part of the TV experience” (p. 10).
What this means for the advertiser looking to connect with an already-engaged audience is a greater potential for “closing the sale” in terms of viewer participation in the advertiser's offer. And incorporating social media as an integral part of that offer facilitates the interaction. As the authors advise, “Find ways for your brand's Twitter account to provide inherent value to the TV viewer by sharing content that relates to the show they choose to watch. Be part of the conversation on the backchannel – not an intruder who people might see as a spammer” (p. 29).
How well does this work? Chapter 2, “Social TV Guides: Curating Social Media for Content Discovery,” examines the role that programming guides play in encouraging viewer interaction. From the early days of TV Guide to today, television viewers as well as television networks have regarded program guides as sources of information and opportunities for providing information respectively. For example, “[w]hen it first launched, 80 percent of TVGuide.com's advertising came from television networks through banners and page skins. Since the people who use social TV guides are primarily trying to find something to watch on TV, this is an extremely fertile ground for television programmers…Forty-five percent of TVGuide.com's advertising now comes from nontelevision brands” [wishing to reach its viewers] (p. 54).
Having made it clear that television programming guides can and do offer significant avenues for advertisers, the authors turn to the “social” aspect of today's television viewing relationships in Chapter 3, “TV Check-In Services: Creating Vertical Social Networks around Television,” where they examine why viewers use social media in conjunction with their TV viewing. “TVGuide.com asked people why they share what they are watching on television within social networks, and 77 percent cited the desire to tell their friends what shows they like as their top reason” (p. 72).
Technology is the “driver” in constantly-evolving television viewer interaction, and Proulx and Stepanek address the devices used by viewers for social interaction. Chapter 4, “The Second Screen: Enhancing TV with Synched Content Experiences,” discusses the many devices available and used with the understanding that “[m]obile certainly is not television's enemy; it is instead an opportunity for broadcast networks, cable companies, equipment manufacturers, app developers, and advertisers to enhance the TV experience by connecting one medium with another” (p. 86).
The goal for program developers and advertisers, say the authors, “is to provide television viewers with an enhanced content experience that drives tune-in, loyalty, and sharing – and offers advertisers another place to reach and engage with their target audience” (p. 90).
Chapter 5, “Social TV Ratings: Adding a New Dimension to Television Audience Measurement,” explores the “social rating” of television viewer interaction. “Tweets per second, volume of show mentions, number of check-ins, amount of posts, and conversation sentiment are just a few of the metrics that social media produces to which television networks have each access […] in addition to (although not in replacement of) Nielsen ratings” (p. 116).
Benefits of maximizing viewer interaction include the realization by advertisers that “[T]he more people that engage on TV's backchannel, the higher the chances that others online will discover and tune in, out of curiosity, to the program getting the lion's share of buzz” (p. 127).
Active engagement aside, the question then becomes how to extend the program experience beyond the actual viewing. Chapter 6, “Bridge Content: Driving Engagement In-Between Episode Airings,” explores avenues available to advertisers and program developers. “TV networks today have the Web – along with the publishing, distribution, and amplification power of social media” (p. 137).
For example, “Facebook page owners are able to monitor, in real-time, the percent feedback a given post currently has” (p. 139). Not only is the advertiser able to actively communicate with audiences, but immediate and increasingly valuable viewer engagement metrics are made possible.
The exponentially-expanding universe of social media platforms has put television programmers and advertisers in the position of having to better target audiences for efficient, effective message delivery. Chapter 7, “Audience Addressability: Using Online and Direct Mail Targeting Practices on TV,” makes it clear that times have changed. “The advent of online advertising, where targeting and optimization are fundamentally built into the medium, has put pressure on the television industry to become more than just a mass medium … ” (p. 159).
While this more tightly-targeted interaction is already possible today, though, the authors point out that, in practice, “we are still in the infancy stages of its true potential” (p. 160).
Chapter 8, “TV Everywhere: Watching TV Content Whenever and Wherever,” reveals some interesting information regarding today's television audiences. For starters, according to the authors, “Television is … becoming device agnostic and an extremely portable medium that is always accessible at will” (p. 181).
Of greater interest for advertisers is the fact that viewers are, contrary to popular belief, showing a greater tendency to watch commercials when they are watching television. “Not only do households with DVRs watch more primetime television than their nonDVR counterparts; they are also not skipping as many commercials as once feared. In fact, according to Nielsen, DVR playback of TV shows within three days of their original airing actually ends up increasing TV commercial ratings by 44 percent” (p. 183).
This discovery is certainly good news for advertisers in that “studies have shown much higher click-through rates and ad-recall scores … for ‘choice-based’ advertising executions versus regular video pre-roll ads” (p. 200).
Following this extensive discussion of how the television/social media experience is revealing new opportunities to advertisers for engagement with their target audiences, Proulx and Shepatin turn in Chapter 9, “Connected TVs: Blending Online Content with Television Content,” to a discussion of “connected TVs.” “Connected TVs – sometimes called smart TVs or Internet TVs – all have at least one thing in common: they deliver online content that is directly displayed on the television screen. This, essentially, turns one's TV into a giant computer screen” (p. 209).
This development opens up yet another realm of possibilities for advertisers, say the authors, in that while the concept is still in its growth stages, “your target audience is already engaging within it – albeit on a relatively small scale” (p. 225). The unstated advice here for marketers is “it's coming; don't be left in your competitors' dust.”
“Social TV” concludes with an aptly-named Chapter 10, “Conclusion (For Now): Connecting the Dots.” The authors note that while “the industry is still trying to figure out what works based on consumer interactions and feedback” (p. 234), the future of social TV is bright for the successful network programmer and the advertiser. “Social media cannot save a bad TV show, product, or service. However, it can without a doubt enhance a good one. The opportunity is yours to reach and engage audiences by connecting television to the Web, social media, and mobile” (p. 240).
Social TV is a fascinating look into the continually-evolving combination of the tried-and-true mass communication medium of television with the rapidly emerging social media platforms. The marketing executive as well as the advertising executive would be wise to give this book a thoughtful read.
