The television market is seeing a continued increase in the percentage of consumers using social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, while in front of their television. Nielsen recently published a report that stated "41 percent of tablet owners and 38 percent of smartphone owners use their device daily while in front of their television screen. Not surprisingly, social networking is a top activity on both devices, but people aren't just chatting with their social connections, they're also shopping and looking up relevant program and product info." What does this mean to the future of television? They can no longer ignore the impact social media is having on their programming.
As this dual screen consumer experience is on the rise, businesses need to re-evaluate their marketing strategies. The single approach of reaching consumers through the reach and frequency model on television is now evolving through the integration of social media. The following statistic was also stated in Nielsen's report: "As of June 2012, more than 33 percent of Twitter users had actively tweeted about tv-related content. Some 44 percent of U.S. tablet owners and 38 percent of U.S. smartphone owners use their devices daily to access social media while watching television."
It's quite obvious that big brands are taking notice to this change in consumer behavior. The question that remains is...when will the small business owners use this to their advantage? The answer doesn't have to be this big budget multi-platform experience, but just a re-working of the current objective their marketing is currently trying to achieve. Also, understanding that a professional presence on social media is more important now more than ever.
I regularly like to say to business owners that their social media platforms, due to high search relevancy, has become somewhat of their on-line elevator pitch that they are not present for. Therefore, they need to make that first impression last with a professional presence that is encouraging the consumer to become a fan or opt into their list for future messaging. How successful do you think small business owners are with this new opportunity to reach their consumer though the growing dual screen experience?