For decades, traditional TV was a trailblazer in technology. Over the past few years, they’re no longer the lone wolf of today’s digital and technology transformation. That’s why we and thousands of others flocked to New York last week for NYC Television Week. Presented by Broadcasting & Cable and Multichannel News, they gave insight and perspective on emerging trends in multi-platform advertising, marketing, OTT, streaming video, big data, and personalization. Through all of the panels, speeches, and networking the biggest takeaway was clear—TV marketers must immediately embrace technology to improve their ratings and give viewers their preferred experience.
Here’s our three takeaways from the week:
Make DVR’ing actionable everywhere
About half of TV viewing is time-shifted now. It’s a reality that will never diminish; rather one that will likely grow rapidly. At the TV Data Summit, Radha Subramanyam (CBS Chief Research & Analytics Officer) acknowledged “We fundamentally believe in the power of broadcast television…and viewers demand to be able to watch what they want, when they want to, and on whatever device they want to watch it on.”
TV has figured out ways to monetize recording and delayed viewing, but how do marketers really embrace it in the digital ecosystem? A simple way is to make it clear, easy, and personalized for each and every viewer to DVR no matter who or where they are. It could be as basic as including a “DVR” or “Record Now” CTA on a digital ad or in your Facebook post. But the power that yields is tremendous. VuPulse is working with several TV marketers to activate their websites and advertising for driving L +3 and L +7 ratings.
Automate viewer choice
Advanced Ad Summit made it clear that consumer choice for viewing content matters. From platform and device to location and destination, giving viewers the ability to consuming content is paramount to staying relevant. Laura Nathanson, EVP Client and Audience Solutions at Disney ABC Television Group, professed that when it comes to watching video content “if you don’t give them choice and control, they’ll watch somewhere else.” The giants recognize the importance of giving control. Which means it’s time to be automated.
Nathanson predicted, “Technology is going to change in ways that we don’t actually know, but it’s going to change what people do. What’s not going to change is the appetite for premium content which companies like ours provide many hours of each year.” By automating the personalized viewer journey, it keeps networks ahead of the curve while improving ratings and ad revenue.
Seek actionable data
The above takeaways yield tons of data. TONS. And the most important part of the data mentioned is that it’s transparent and actionable. You’ll understand exactly what the data is, what it means, and you can easily apply it to your marketing, advertising, and content strategies. Audience and viewership data is vital to the health of any programmer, so layering on where and how they want to consume your content is the missing link. It gives another level of viewer intelligence that will be a differentiator in winning the digital content war.
NYC TV Week was truly helpful to VuPulse. We are a small team of industry vets who firmly believe that our product helps TV marketers succeed across a variety of fronts and these events reinforced that. Our solutions make your marketing and advertising efforts performance-driven, automate and personalize the viewing journey, and output a treasure trove of insights that can help inform your business.
What’s next? Well for you it’s to learn more about getting started with us.