When it comes to using a network of influencers to market your brand, you no doubt think of social channels. Long before Instagram and YouTube created stars whose taste and reach held strong sway over their fans, reality programming was creating influencers, and it still is.
Fans obsessively follow every move of their favorite shows and favorite stars. Today, that fandom extends well beyond the living room screen and into every social and digital channel. TV advertisers are able to achieve the same kind of core results that influencer campaigns generate—brand favorability and purchase intent.
Let’s get a sense of why cable influencers need to be a part of your plan.
The growing impact of influence
According to content marketing firm Linqia, 39 percent of marketers plan to increase their spend in the influencer space in the coming year. However, social is not the only option marketers have when aligning with influencers. Cable television can be an excellent option for marketers looking to align with influencers.
There can be challenges for brands that rely solely on digital influencers. By working with reality networks, brands can avoid some of these challenges. The nature of digital influencers’ personal brands means companies often have to give up more control than might feel comfortable. And brands need to be certain that the influencers they’re using align with their brand values.
That is not to say brands should abandon their influencer strategies. Rather, they can look at influencer platforms that may already be in their media toolkits, such as television. And, as cable networks increasingly turn their attention online and towards digital content, media companies are able to address many of the concerns brands have when it comes to their influencer strategy.
Engaging content
Digital influencers are under constant pressure to create engaging content and drive viewership. But that’s part-and-parcel for TV networks, and central to the success of many reality TV hits.
But cable networks aren’t content to stick with traditional television formats. Cable channels have spent the past decade solidifying their online presence, pushing out original content to support or supplement their on-air series. Cable networks have also invested heavily in social and digital media, recognizing the power of online conversations and communities built around fans’ favorite TV shows. Smart cable networks are not only encouraging their audiences to talk and engage with TV content online, but are active participants in the conversation— getting the creators and stars involved in the chatter and becoming digital influencers in their own right.
The end result of that engaging on-air, online and social content creates a much wider canvas, unique to broadcasters, on which brands can reach audiences.
Scale
TV’s traditional benefit has been scale, and even with the growth of digital, it still dominates this discussion. eMarketer estimates that more than 196 million Americans subscribe to pay television today. And according to Nielsen, 92 percent of video is still consumed via traditional television platforms, with U.S. adults watching, four-and-a-half hours of live TV per day.
What’s more, not only does television have reach, it has a known audience since decades of research mean that TV is a well-understood medium. Unlike many still-emerging platforms, there are reliable benchmarks in place to help marketers understand how their content is working, and more importantly who it’s reaching.
Credibility
TV sponsorships create a positive association between the cable network and the advertiser. This creates high levels of credibility, and fans begin to associate a show’s stars with those brand sponsors. Again, it is a hypercharged version of what occurs in the social influencer space.
Indeed, a viewer survey of WE tv audiences found that 27 percent of viewers thought more positively of the advertisers seen on the network, an association that helped drive a 35 percent increase in purchase intent for those brands.
What’s more, TV advertising builds a halo effect: a study by Accenture found that multiplatform campaigns built around television actually helped increase the effectiveness of search and short-form video ads within those integrated pushes.
The best marketing campaigns don’t live in a vacuum. When you put television at the heart of a strong push, not only are you ensuring scale and reach, but you’re also lifting all the other elements of your marketing mix. New, shiny platforms and partners might be alluring, but the power of traditional television isn’t dying—amid social and digital, it is just getting stronger.
