Contrary to popular belief, traditional media is not dying; it’s just changing. The way we consume media is changing, and the amount of time we spend consuming it is changing. According to new reports by Spectrum Reach and Nielsen, 84% of smartphone and tablet owners use their devices as second screens while watching TV. It’s not that people aren’t watching TV, it’s that they’re accompanying their TV experience with other forms of digital and mobile media.
Another study by eMarketer suggests that by the end of 2016, people will be spending more than 12 hours per day looking at a screen, often more than one at once. What does this mean? People are consuming several different forms of media for longer periods of time. They’re multitasking, and consequently, dividing their attention spans. For marketers, this is a challenge, but also a huge opportunity. More than half of each day to reach customers? We’ll take it.
Of course, multitasking consumers call for a change in the way we reach them. It’s difficult enough to advertise on single channels, but now we have to figure out how to accommodate consumer media habits and combine them into one big comprehensive campaign. It’s not a task for the weak, but these are a few basic principles to keep in mind:
Each media channel is unique.
Even though media has become more interconnected than ever, it’s important not to forget the key differences between them. Traditional media uses a one-way communication technique, where digital media is a two-way conversation between the brand and the consumer. TV commercials should encourage some sort of action to go online, and the online ads should incorporate some kind of interactivity. The content should differ (for example, a TV commercial should not be posted online without being shortened, as the mobile users have the ability to click away), but still be recognizable as the same brand.
Use data.
Remember when we said media consumption is changing? Yeah, that means the statistics surrounding them are changing too. You should be constantly reviewing the hard numbers pertaining to media consumption, especially specific to your brand. Use analytics tools (Google Analytics and Facebook Insights are a good place to start) to regularly note changes in the way your customers are behaving. When are they searching for keywords related to your brand? Are they using a mobile device to access your website? Most importantly, USE this data to make changes to your media strategy.
Keep it consistent.
Arguably, the most important part of a multi-channel strategy is keeping the messaging unified across all touch points. The tone, buzzwords, color schemes, graphic components, etc. should be the same in every form of advertising used. Regardless of where the consumer is, whether it’s in the store, online, or on their couch watching TV, the experience you provide them should always match. Consistency will differentiate your brand from competition and strengthen the messages you choose to convey. Note that if you’re finding it hard to stay consistent over a million different media channels, less may be more. Being on Snapchat, Instagram, and the other trendy platforms isn’t effective if you’re not producing the right content.
America is consuming more media than ever, so much that it becomes exhausting at times for even the consumer (ever delete the Facebook app from your phone for a week to “cleanse”?) New media habits mean that marketers can’t use old methods and expect the same results. Media is changing, so marketing must change too.
Don’t have time to keep up on the latest media trends and adjust your business’s marketing efforts accordingly? At Transformation, media is our job. Let us take control of your marketing and see the results your business needs! For more information, contact us here.