I admit it, I’m one of the many consumers who use more than one screen at a time, a true user of multimedia. Heck, I might have three or four devices going, especially while I’m watching sports! Take a look around your own family room this evening and you might find the same thing going on. We’re not alone, in fact, we’re the majority. According to this report by Microsoft, 70% of consumers use a second screen while watching TV. Is your business engaging your customers in this multimedia environment?
A good example I saw recently, occurred in the first Monday Night Football game of the season. A great commercial is played during one of the ad breaks and next thing I know my Twitter stream is full of comments about that spot! Just so happened that I already follow the organization who ran that spot, so I saw all of the comments they were retweeting. I love that they took advantage of the audience’s use of multiple screens to increase the impact of their paid advertising. Sure that spot only ran for thirty seconds, but with their tweets, I was reminded of the spot for the next five to ten minutes.
I imagine they have a seven-figure advertising budget to engage the audience, but don’t let that stop you from doing what you can to reach your audience across several screens.
Here are some tips gleaned from the report mentioned earlier and from some real life examples such as mentioned above.
Keep the Message, the Brand, Consistent across Multimedia
This tried and true advertising and marketing mainstay is even more important as you spread your message across multiple media. Your audience will be experiencing the message at different sizes, with and without sound, among many other variances, so make sure the core message, your core personality, is the same across them all.
Be Consistent yet Tailor the Message for the Media
Stay consistent with your message then bring in the media’s, the device’s personality, so to speak. For instance, a television commercial is a good place to tell an emotional story. Twitter, not so much. An ad for a mobile phone should be more direct in the tone than one for a desktop screen or tablet.
Prepare your Assets for all Devices
Before beginning your cross-screen engagement, make sure your website works well on a tablet, on a smartphone as well as a desktop screen. Get your social media accounts prepped by establishing a consistent voice and practicing good social conversations or engagements with others in that space. Those on Twitter expect a different type of interaction than those on Facebook or LinkedIn, the night before a multimedia campaign is not the time to learn those nuances.
Take Calculated Risks
Once you have your feet under you, with a comfortable social media voice, mobile-ready website and a steady brand image, start showing off that personality a bit. Think of the now-famous Oreo Twitter response to the Super Bowl blackout earlier this year. People were really into their Twitter streams to learn what was going on with the blackout when out comes a tweet from Oreo telling us we can still dunk in the dark. Their well-oiled machine took advantage of the spontaneous event creating a bigger impact than those who spent millions for TV spots.
Start working on your cross-device engagement now and you can see improved results from your target audience.
Tell us your favorite examples of cross-device engagement!
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