It’s not easy keeping viewers’ attention, unless something is really, really good. Although hits like Empire or sporting events like the World Series will have fans tuning in no matter what, strategies for enticing people to watch and getting them to watch over and over again are changing. Tune-in strategies are ever more complicated with long running contests to promote premieres, giveaways, extra content for fan favorites, in-program ads and iCal reminders on digital ads.
All of these moves work, in some way, depending on who you talk to. We decided to see what the pros suggest, so we asked Jonathan Weitz, of IBB Consulting over email a few questions about what works, what doesn’t, and what marketers can do next.
Lost Remote: How are tune-in strategies evolving?
Jonathan Weitz: In our view, tune-in best practices are evolving to stay ahead of consumer trends and technology capabilities. As advertising on TV becomes more sophisticated and data-driven, we expect tune-in marketing to leverage these same capabilities, for example, optimizing a schedule of tune-in promotional messages on one’s own network or on cross-channel TV ads to deliver the reach and frequency to connect tune-in messaging with fans and prospective viewers. Another area that is creating a lot of opportunity for media companies right now is tapping even more into the expanding capabilities of social.
For instance, better optimizing organic and paid marketing on Facebook to attract viewers to live TV events. In practice, this could take the form of viewers of digital promotional videos being developed into an audience to target potential “intenders” for other shows or live events on the same network. Intenders are prospective viewers that look like fans of a particular show but have not actually engaged with it yet. The results of these campaigns can be used to inform creative tune-in ad treatments on TV. These strategies are bringing together the mass audience reach of TV and online video ads, with emerging data-driven targeting capabilities, helping to optimize the mix of marketing channels used in a tune-in campaign.
LR: Is marketing events like the World Series, where people are watching anyway, and say, Scream Queens any different?
JW: There can actually be a lot of commonalities in strategies across different types of programs, be it a live sporting event or a new series premiere. Fundamentally, it comes down to answering the need to drive an audience at scale, and facilitate word of mouth that spreads and can have a cascading effect. There are several strategies that can be effective across any type of programming include:
1) Delivering a core audience and then empowering those viewers to drive others to tune in. For example, creating “tune-in toolkits” that empower fans with easily shareable content elements to boost virality. Or providing a “living room” dimension to live events that lets fans interact with the cast, win prizes, and easily share the experience with each other while watching.
2) Targeting people that are not necessarily fans yet, but look like they could be. This is an incredibly important strategy that is starting to see more data science put behind it. Also, the live event itself can have an umbrella effect that carries a lot of buzz and viewership that extends to other shows, so live events are increasingly used strategically to promote tune-in to other shows or events. As part of the tune-in marketing mix, it is also important to go where the audience is to enhance tune-in effectiveness. If you want to grow the millennial audience for a live event, it will be important to incorporate mobile and online video ads.
3) Using experiential marketing for tune-in to live events – another area we expect will grow. This sees companies creating physical events around shows in order to connect with fans, influencers or market segments that you want to tune in. People develop an instant connection when they’re able to interact, post their experience to Instagram, share with friends, etc. Bravo’s ongoing contest to promote Après Ski that will result in them throwing a snow day for offices is an example of this.
LR: So we know what works. What are some mistakes you see out there?
JW: It’s a missed opportunity if marketers don’t have a tailored mix and marketing strategy for the different events and shows in the portfolio and enhances that mix over time, leveraging the analytics and performance data and attribution data coming from previous campaigns that is now becoming more available to tune-in marketers. Fine-tuning and updating investment in tune-in campaigns across an event or show portfolio is emerging as a practice within itself.