Fall: It may be known as the official season of pumpkin spice everything, but for TV networks, it’s when fall premieres start to finally rev up again. As the weather cools off, it’s time to turn up the heat and roll out some of your best programming.

Now that streaming services are picking up in popularity, it’s important for TV networks to focus on capturing their audience digitally. That doesn’t mean only focusing on the streaming war, though; with digital marketing, networks have the opportunity to zone in on their audience before their programming even hits the prime-time screen.

Here are three ways TV networks can utilize digital marketing and their data to win big in ratings this fall:

1) Engage Fans With Actionable Campaigns Pre-Premiere

It’d be foolish to expect your audience to just tune into your programming the night it premieres; instead, TV networks should be focusing on them well before the first scene plays on air. By engaging with fans well in advance of a premiere, networks have the opportunity to offer them something that will give them the “extra edge.”

Creating actionable campaigns is the best way to accomplish this. That means coming up with fun ways to promote your show that will keep your fans engaged. One great example of a TV show that accomplished a successful pre-premiere campaign is Mr. Robot. The show went beyond traditional pre-release marketing at met consumers where they are: On social media. Not only did the network provide fun Q+As on Facebook Live programming before the release, but it went beyond Facebook and also incorporated other social media platforms into its campaign. The campaign utilized Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat — and according to Sprinklr, it generated 15 million impressions and over 750,000 video views.

If you really want to turn your campaign into conversions, though, digital marketers should focus on driving prospective audiences to set their DVR prior to the fall premieres. By seeding a piece or more of content on every MVPD and vMVPD’s On Demand library, marketers can get fans to record the upcoming series with a click of their mouse (or tap of their finger) directly from an ad. Reel them in with your creativity, and then make it easy for them to hit “record.” Simple as.

2) Utilize Audience Data to its Fullest Potential

After running a successful pre-premiere campaign, digital marketers should take their first party data and make it work for them.

Take the data that would be captured from step one for instance. This data can be packaged into a custom, “DVRer” segment. These are people who have 1) shown interest in the show and 2) insinuated intention of recording that show. This is the jackpot for a TV marketer, as they can now continue to re-engage with them throughout the season and reach similar intenders via lookalikes. For TV networks that want to keep fans and pull in new one, this strategy can result in powerhouse numbers for ratings.

3) Personalize the Content Consumption Journey

The content consumption journey has changed over the years. It isn’t enough now to cater to an audience while they’re watching your programming; digital marketers should be interacting them off-screen, off hours, and right where they want to be.

How can networks do this? VuPulse’s technology has the ability to make the customer experience a seamless one, while utilizing data behind the scenes. With VuPulse’s post-click intelligence, it’s possible for marketers to reach their audiences at every digital touchpoint (think: online, email, and more) to even knowing where they prefer to watch their programming. Using this in tandem with steps one and two, and TV marketers have the opportunity to win big come fall.

Ready to enhance your viewer’s experience? Get started with VuPulse today.