Los Angeles --
Social media leaders at Wednesday's PromaxBDA Innovations Committee
presentation, "Driving Viewers and Revenue with Creative Social TV
Strategies," highlighted the increased importance of social media as a
television marketing tool, and the growing trend of second-screen viewing.
The panel was moderated by Andy Batkin, CEO of
Social Summits, LLC, and featured Jason Damata, who helped launched and serves
as a spokesperson for Trendrr; Kay Madati, Facebook's head of entertainment and media;
and Ajay Shah, CEO and cofounder of TVplus.
All of the panelists agreed that the expanding
reach of social media has viewers increasingly engaging with TV on multiple
screens -- and had the data to back it up.
Batkin kicked off the presentation by citing
new Nielsen numbers that say half of smartphone or tablet owners watch daily
with a second screen device (smartphone, tablet, computer), and over two-thirds
use one multiple times a week -- whether it's to Google an actor's name or
update a Facebook status -- a practice Madati and his team call "TV With
Friends."
Damata backed up this notion with Trendrr data
that showed when TV personalities encourage viewers to interact with a show
online, they listen. "Like, if you remember, LL Cool J at the Grammys
saying 'hashtag hashtag,'" he said, noting a 1:1 correlation between a
host or TV personality promoting social media and viewers following the call to
action.
Shah turned the focus to how viewers engage.
He presented research that people typically spend 15 to 30 minutes on an app,
and that viewers spend more time on apps on larger devices. He also stressed
that beyond checking out online content, viewers love to share. Damata agreed,
recalling the Twitter phenomenon that occurred after Kanye West famously
interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music
Awards. How to recreate a social media "moment" to that degree,
however, was less clear.
While eliciting viewer excitement is an
ongoing topic of discussion, Shah emphasized that these viewers are critical
marketing tools. "This means that you'll be able to change the way that
some of your viewers consume content around your programs, and then use them as
your super fans, who can then share and link that to their friends on Facebook."
