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5 Easy Ways To Create A Social Media Audience for Live TV
Having worked in live television production for the past six years I understand that having a presence on social media is not always seen as the most important part of a production. I mean there’s always so much happening, particularly in live programming that social media responsibilities can sometimes be abandoned or left until someone volunteers to take them on.
Last year I decided to take the social media reins on a live daytime show I produced. Along with some colleagues we worked on securing a social media following for our show and we did pretty well. When the series ended in March we had over 8,000 fans on Facebook and nearly 4,000 followers on Twitter.
Here are some ideas we implemented along the way.
Exclusive Content
Drive viewers to your social media channels by offering exclusive content on Facebook, Twitter & YouTube. If, for example your show involves cooking then mention on air that the chef has put some exclusive recipes on Facebook for viewers to take a look at. If your show involves celebrity guests then offer an extended interview with a celebrity on your YouTube channel. Driving viewers to these channels will result in increased activity and interaction. We also found that quite a number of our viewers shared the exclusive content across Facebook & Twitter.
Behind the Scenes
Viewers love to see behind the scenes of television shows. Each week post up some photos of your production staff, guests and presenters onto your social media channels. Viewers will feel as though they are getting an insight into the inner workings of the show. Again, we found that viewers were inclined to share these photos across Facebook & Twitter.
Be Creative with Giveaways
Say for example that New York Jets Quarterback Tim Tebow is coming onto your show promoting his book. Why not ask his publicist to bring ten books, all signed! Then, mention on-air that the first ten people to post a photo of their best Tebow pose onto Facebook will win a signed copy of the book. Great publicity for Tim Tebow and it will drive viewers to your Facebook Page. Having the photos will also provide great content for your show.
Use Your Guest’s Social Media Presence
It may not be Lady Gaga with 24 million Twitter followers coming onto your show but always ask your guests to let their social media followers know when they are appearing on your show. You will be surprised by how many Facebook fans and Twitter followers you’ll get from a simple mention on Facebook or Twitter.
Post Visually
If you’re posing a question to your Facebook fans, post a relevant photo too. We received a higher level of viewer engagement on posts with photos.
So there you have it, five simple steps that helped us go from having no social media presence to having almost 12,000 followers across Facebook & Twitter. The increased interaction we got from viewers was truely invaluable. Within a short space of time we knew which elements of the show worked and which didn’t. Also, comments and messages from viewers provided a few minutes of on-air content each day on the show.
One conclusion which I have taken from my experience is that gone are the days when a junior member of the production team can take on the responsibility of posting social media content. Social media content has to be produced. I say produced because how your show is represented across social media is as important as how it’s seen on screen.
Aidan
Tags: engagement, facebook, interactivity, Social Media, strategy, television production, video
Using Hashtags in your Digital Strategy!
#hashtags are being used across all social media platforms. So what’s the deal with hashtags anyway? Is it imperative to use them for your digital strategy? Do they help optimize your social media presence? If used effectively, yes, they can help your digital presence.
A hashtag is used to mark keywords in order to facilitate an unmoderated ad-hoc forum type discussion. Hashtags are words, or strings of words and characters stuck together with no spaces and marked with the # symbol, like this #hashtags. If a hashtag is promoted and used by enough individuals on one social network, this can result in a “topic” or keyword to start “trending,” inviting more people to join the discussion.
Although hashtags first appeared on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) networks in the late 80s, it wasn’t until Twitter rose to popularity that hashtags gained mainstream appeal. Hashtags are now being used on Google+, Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube, Orkut, Twitter, and several other micro news websites such as Gawker, Gizmodo, and Jezebel. Most people don’t understand the purpose and effectiveness of hashtags. Other people over use them. Below are 5 examples of how you can use hashtags effectively to help optimize your digital presence.
- Engage customers in a poll or questionnaire. Ask your followers on Twitter or Google+ to participate in a poll or questionnaire for a new product launch. For example, for clothing retailers, asking consumers what they think of a new color or collection #summercollection2012.
- Run a contest. Using hashtags to run contests on Twitter and Instagram are very popular. When running a contest, ask your followers to share or RT by including your company’s hashtag #magnifygiveaway.
- Create real-time dialogue. This technique is a fantastic way for events, conferences, and festivals to create dialogue online and build a larger audience outside of attendees. By promoting the hashtag on all marketing materials, including speaker schedules, and program brochures, attendees will know how to share the content as it is presented. Television shows that are broadcast live also utilize this method to engage with fans watching at home, for example, #americanidol2012.
- Run a promotion. Offer a discount by asking followers to share your promotion. For example, users can save 10% by retweeting your brand’s promotion using the hashtag #magnifysavebig.
- Use photos or images. With Instagram gaining popularity, businesses can engage followers on this network by asking them to upload a photo for a contest, or giveaway, including a hashtag to enter. For example, LEVI’s ran a campaign looking for their next model, and asked users to upload a photo of themselves on Instagram with the hashtag #iamlevis. They received millions of submissions.
My prediction is that we will see hashtags being used more and more across digital platforms. Hopefully these examples will help you understand how hashtags can be an effective way of promoting your business online!
Maryam Mehrtash
@socialmaryam
Tags: digital, facebook, google, hashtags, instagram, strategy, Twitter
What If An Offline Experience Was Brought Online?
Most, if not all, activities people do online originated from a similar offline behaviour. See the comparison table below.
| Offline | Online |
|---|---|
| Making photo albums | Uploading photos on Flickr |
| Talking on the phone or in person | Communicating on Twitter or instant messaging |
| Sending letters | Sending emails |
| Traditional group buying or group rates | Groupon – group discounts |
| Going to a friends house to see a home video on VHS | Watching home videos on YouTube |
| Shopping at a store | Shopping on an eCommerce site |
There are still many offline experiences that have not yet transitioned to online. I see these as the seeds for new ideas. Imagine how the following offline experiences could be taken online…
| Offline | Online |
|---|---|
| Visiting an amusement park roller coaster ride | What if you created a video, shot in first-person view, and posted it online for customers to see? |
| Visiting a haunted house | What if you created an interactive video where viewers could choose how to move through the haunted house? Certain choices would trigger “unexpected” events. |
| Taking a fitness class | What if a fitness class or yoga class was conducted online? You would stay home and connect to a real time stream of an instructor providing guidance. 30 different people could connect to the same video feed and the instructor would be able to see and speak to each of the 30 people. |
| Eating dinner with friends | What if a restaurant provided video conferencing kiosks at each table. Customers would be able to Skype in a friend from another city or country who was unable to physically attend the dinner. What if a restaurant chain, with restaurant locations in different cities, allowed friends in each city to “sit” at the same time and have a dinner together via video conferencing? |
| Running outside to exercise | What if the often isolated run became a social run? For example, a watch or smartphone could connect two friends who are running at the same time, but at different locations. Or, the device could track and report the performance of two friends, running on the same trail, but at different times. |
If you’re creating a digital marketing strategy for a business that is not traditionally seen as an online business, it’s good to imagine how customers may receive the same experience online (even if it does not appear realistic right now). It might just spark an idea to hit a strategy out of the park.
Victor Chan
Digital Strategist
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Tags: ideas, Marketing Strategy, offline, online
Bringing Humor to Digital Advertising
Everyone enjoys a great laugh once in a while, especially when it comes from a place you least expect. Usually businesses focus on promoting the unique selling points of their products and services, and forget to add a human element that keeps them real. Consumers love it when businesses make fun of themselves. It makes a brand more likable, more human. There is no formula for adding humor to advertising, and it can be done in various ways depending on your product or service. Here are some examples of my favorite digital ads that have gone outside the box of conventional marketing messaging and added humor to their marketing efforts:
- Dollar Shave Club – This startup created a witty video ad, similar in tone to the Old Spice campaign, that went viral earning over 4 million video views on YouTube and helping raise over $1 million in funding.
- LG Ultra Slim LED TV – LG created a video ad showcasing how easy it is to steal one of their ultra thin TVs. The campaign became viral, generating over 4 million views.
- Thor - the Marvel blockbuster film created a video campaign to promote the release of the new film by mimicking Volkswagen’s highly successful viral video The Force. The original video by Volkswagen garnered over 48 million video views, while Little Thor only reached 3 million views; however, in the viral video world that is still considered a significant success.
Hopefully these videos inspire you to consider using humor in your digital marketing! Which video was your favorite? Do you have other examples? We would love to hear about them.
Maryam Mehrtash
@socialmaryam
Tags: comedy, digital marketing, funny, humor, Social Media, Twitter, youtube
What If You Made a Decision Based on Incomplete Information?
Some people love it and others hate it – making decisions.
As a digital marketing strategist, making decisions is a core part of the job. After all, the creation and implementation of a marketing strategy is really a series of decisions.
In a perfect world all the information required to make the correct decision would be available. However, in real life, decisions are most often made based on incomplete information.
Information may be incomplete because of:
- limited time
- limited money
- uncontrollable factors such as the environment, industry, or economy
- inaccurate data
Limited Time and Money
Because we all have to deal with limited resources, the cost of acquiring more information to make a decision may reach a point where the added value is less than the cost of acquiring it. This is the point of diminishing returns on information. Consider what the likelihood is of making a better decision by spending another X amount of time or money.
Predicting the Future
Because we can’t accurately predict the future (if you can, please post the lottery numbers in the comments), many external factors may influence the outcome of a decision. These uncontrollable factors pose a great risk to any decision. Consider contingency plans in case an external factor is realized.
Inaccurate Information
Because we rely so much on information to make decisions, you must critically analyze the validity of the information you have. Especially in the online environment, there are many new monitoring and analytics tools being launched regularly. Before relying on any given tool, consider what is actually being measured and what that information means. If a tool is reporting 50% of the information inaccurately, your decision may be little more than a crap shoot.
Victor Chan
Digital Strategist
Photo Credit: Sarah G…
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Tags: decision, digital marketing, information, strategist, strategy
