Social TV

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Social media and mobile technology have greatly affected traditional TV consumption. Here are some of the trends from a consumer and marketing perspective.

Social Connectivity

With the degree of separation getting smaller, people today are even more interconnected than ever before. Social media has a big part to play and this trend of coming into groups has affected and will continue to affect the way TV is consumed. Traditionally, TV is consumed by 4 members seating in front of the television. However, presently this does not happen anymore. You will find that while watching TV, you could be tuning in as well to your tablet, laptop or mobile device. Marketers need to pick up on this trend to keep their consumers engage. It is quite common now to find that reality TV shows such as X Factor or American Idol run a live twitter feed to find out what the audience is saying and this plays a big part in the ratings of TV shows and helps TV producers to plan strategically. Nielsen has discovered that social chatter has a direct correlation to TV viewing. They found that at social chatter are usually very active at the start of a series and at the season finale. This ties in directly with the large TV ratings and viewership for each TV show. Large viewership in TV shows can encourage advertisers to spend more during certain time slots.

TV and the Internet

Technologies have enabled us to pause, rewind and record live television. As a result, consumers are now able to skip all the TV commercials that advertisers spend millions on. For example if a commercial is scheduled to air at prime time 8pm and if your consumers just forward through the commercials because it was recorded, the advertisement would not have reached the desired targeted audience and the entire advertising budget would have gone to waste. A trend I have noticed is that as people are spending more time on the internet and their mobile devices, companies are doing 2 things. Firstly they are creating apps for their consumers to use while watching a TV program. This could be in the form of back stage cameras or commenting on the live show with other people of similar interest. Secondly, TV commercials are being used to direct viewers to the internet where they will be able to view more information and relevant cool content. Taking this trend into mind, the messaging of TV commercials are starting to evolve. The TV commercial is a platform to direct consumers to the internet, and from the internet, direct the consumers to the shops or make an online purchase. Previously, the TV commercials were used to direct viewers directly to the stores.  Keeping this in mind, we will start to see spending on TV commercials decrease and more budget allocated towards internet and video internet marketing. Companies like Ford and Proctor and Gamble have realized this and have started to take their marketing budget to the internet . My prediction is that in 10 years time, the total amount of money spent on Super Bowl commercials will be only $5million.