interactivity
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
Future unFriendly
Louis CK is right: The world is amazing and no one is happy.
This weekend I saw two game-changing videos. One was the Tipp Ex advertisement with the Hunter and the Bear, the other was the Arcade Fire video “The Wilderness Downtown.” One word sums up both of these experiences: Wow.
The Tipp Ex video advertisement is exhaustively interactive. A bear comes upon a hunter – and you, the viewer, decides what happens next. Does the hunter shoot the bear? Dance with the bear? Kiss the bear? You name it. The hunter and the bear do it.
Of course there are limits. And of course, *that* is what people talk about. Forget the fact that there are at least 50 possible outcomes. Forget the fact that this video continues to shoot around the internet at lightning speed and has garnered over 6.5-million views on YouTube in less than 2 weeks. Forget the fact that this is another inspiring example of interactive media, a la Old Spice. Nope. Let’s talk instead about how the words “sew” or “knit” don’t trigger results.
Taking the concept of what a video can be, to another new level is Arcade Fire’s “The Wilderness Downtown”. (You must launch this video on Google Chrome for the full effect.) This interactive video sucks you into the experience in a most intimate way. By incorporating imagery from Google Maps, the street you grew up on becomes part of the video. Not only that, but halfway through this experience, you are prompted to write a note to your younger self, who lived on that street. There are multiple windows opening – with content transferring between them. It is truly remarkable.
Yet when you read people’s reactions online, many complain about their address not working. Or, having seen this done before… it’s nothing new. And therefore..? That takes away from the overall awesomeness? People. Dial back the negative. I think this ambitious interactive experience takes an entire industry of video production to new heights. The potential blows my mind.
In my opinion, these two examples give us a taste of what’s to come. And I, for one, will be greeting that future with a jaw on the floor and an abundance of praise for the very effort.
Tags: Arcade Fire, interactivity, Louis CK, TippEx, video, youtube
The Answer Is C
You have probably taken a multiple-choice test sometime in your life. It could have been a dreaded exam in school or it could have been a survey taken for fun.
Photo Credit: slavin fpo
My friend once told me that if you don’t know the answer to a multiple-choice question, always pick C. I don’t know the logic behind that.
Surveys and polls have been around for a long time. It’s old-school compared to the latest news about Twitter, Facebook and the many emerging social platforms. So why still talk about them? The answer is C.
As social beings much of what we do is engage with Communities. Same holds true online. Therefore engagement opportunities on a website are fundamental; at least for websites looking to build community, to garner advocates and/or to foster loyal customers.
Decide which interactive elements to include early on in the design stage. Polls or surveys are great options. They can act as two-way Communication if results are shown immediately after the participant has taken part. The participant may also develop a stronger connection with other members as they can see how they compare to others.
Polls and surveys can also be a valuable source of information for the company or organization operating the website. It can give insights about the target audience or feedback about products/services or the website itself.
There are many options available for conducting online surveys or polls. The following are just a few:
Community + Communication – what are you waiting for? Pick C.
Victor
eMarketing Strategist
Tags: communication, Community, engagement, interactivity, polls, surveys
The Customer Experience – DIY Online Contests
The customer experience with companies and brands is an important component when trying to build loyal customers. Traditionally, this included sales people interacting with customers in the store or customer service representatives interacting with customers through telephone support. Extending online, the customers’ interaction with a company’s website (online store front) is sometimes overlooked, but it is just as critical when trying to build loyal customers.
(Photo by Eric__I_E)
A key component of all websites is its level of engagement with the user. Depending on a company’s goals and objectives for their website, the type and level of engagement will vary. In general, if a website’s goal is to get customers (users) to visit the website on a frequent and regular basis, the website must have a high level of engagement to elicit users’ need or desire to visit the site repeatedly.
This is where online contests come into play. Contests are a great way to increase a website’s interactivity. Depending on how the contest is set up, users can submit entries, view other people’s entries, possibly vote, share content with other people, comment on submissions, etc. The problem, however, is that the capital cost to develop and integrate these contests on a website prevents many smaller businesses from joining the “game”. That is, until now.
Launched last December, Strutta is an online, do-it-yourself, contest creation and hosting platform. It has a simple and easy to use interface that allows users to create video, photo, text, audio and mixed media contests. It also has different pricing options for different budgets.
I’ve been testing Strutta recently by creating my own contests. The features they offer make this tool very powerful and best of all, they understand the importance of the customer experience. I had a few questions while testing Strutta and sent them a message through their contact form. Their response was both timely and helpful.
The customer experience is formed through many touch points between the customer and the company. A company needs to ensure that they have a solid grasp on each and every touch point and they must develop a strategy that will maintain a great customer experience at every point.
Victor
eMarketing Strategist
Tags: contest, customer experience, diy, engagement, interactivity, online, strutta
