Television is Now a Social Media Venue Too

Have you noticed hashtags in the corner of your TV screen, and TV-related polls and reposts all over your social media newsfeeds? There’s a connection.

As the multitasking generation continued to spread its wings and invent new ways to interweave, television saw interest in its wares sliding toward the bottom. Especially with so-called “me TV” (firms such as Netflix and Hulu that allow viewers to bypass commercials and handpick their entertainment), traditional television has seen a considerable decline.

The comeback was easy enough, however: If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. In this infographic, posted by BlueHost’s Brittany Warnock, we can see how television has begun to implement social media tactics like live voting and polls in promotions — and even on pre-taped programming.

Social media moguls haven’t been unaware of this shift, however, and have reciprocated the B2B handshake by making space for viewer input online. Some have even hosted more discussions about TV shows themselves.

This two-way street is a four-way win between broadcasting companies, social media platforms, the viewing public, and companies like yours.

Television Has Become More Socially Connected

Any viewer who watches television these days is probably also sitting at a laptop or operating a mobile device. Broadcasters and program producers get that.

With hosts tweeting live, contests being voted on through hashtags and reposts, and entire programming being changed by what happens online, viewers can feel a part of something way bigger than themselves.

Neuropsychologists and behaviorists have known all along that people are moved by the chance to belong to something more broad than themselves, whether it’s a physical community, church, or global movement. Multi-screen involvement is the 2014 path to belonging.

Broadcasters love this new development for an older industry and are utilizing it to goose their ratings.

Social Media Has Become More Real-time, Engaging, And Media Focused

At its roots, social media can be seen as a self-serving platform. Consumers use social media to talk about themselves to garner approval and seek self-regarded interests.

Companies use social media to influence public perception of their brands and engage buyers. Just like TV, social media benefits when users are able essentially to teach an old dog new tricks.

What was once a place to post pictures of our breakfasts or tweet about our opinions is now a forum in which to engage with others in real time, which means we’re getting back to human interaction instead of become further isolated. Platforms are experiencing an uptick in traffic due to television-related prompts and ploys, because we are all entertainment seekers who discovered in the 2010s that self-importance got boring fast.

Now our selfies are charged with television-motivated brand boasting and our hashtags are opinionated for a purpose. All of this benefits business in ways that consumers may or may not realize.

Viewers Are Basking In The Media-rich Glow Created By What Has Spawned Between Their Screens

Multitasking is the way of the modern world: We pin while we cook so we can instagram what we eat. In a world like this, televisions were being increasingly neglected until one day, broadcasters and producers got together to say: “Hey, we’re tweeting too! Check this out!”

Now, with a hashtag in the corner of the screen for every program and commercial, and most promotions alluding to the Web in some way, the public is never without an avenue for both distraction and engagement.

Your Business Can Get Involved

Regardless of what you offer to the public, getting noticed on social media is almost too easy in 2014. Create a profile, post some valuable content, link it back to your updated website, and watch people become interested.

Crafting a television commercial can be a bit more difficult, with videography and upfront costs posing a substantial obstacle. However, your company can still step into the stream between social media and television in the following ways:

• Follow the current

Is it Super Bowl season? Post a few well-crafted tweets or Facebook posts about the coolest commercials. Olympics coming around again? Keep a thread of stats and medals on your feed. Feeling the Christmas movie spirit? Post your favorite quotes (“You’ll shoot your eye out, kid!”) for followers. This works because consumers begin to see your brand as humorous, contemporary, and relatable. Hardly anyone wants to follow a brand that does nothing but sell itself.

• Garner interactivity

Poll your followers about the best performance on American Idol or The Voice, or ask who’s watching Game of Thrones versus American Horror Story, as opposed to Teen Wolf. Cater to your target market, and give your followers the opportunity to interact with your brand.

• Form a video following

Ever notice the onslaught of YouTube celebrities who are becoming real celebrities, and how often talk shows, such as the Ellen DeGeneres Show, the Today Show, and Good Morning America share YouTube clips on TV?

Start your campaign on YouTube and you might end up broadcast on TV without ever paying for a commercial ad spot. If your videos are shared and followed enough online, they may be repeated onscreen, too.

The notable gap between social media and traditional media is being bridged by many different people’s efforts to integrate them. Consumers, television moguls, and social media masters are all benefitting from the shift, and you can too.

Post from: Search Engine People SEO Blog

Television is Now a Social Media Venue Too

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Written by Larry Alton,

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