We have screens in front of us almost 24/7. The modern age consumer is exposed to thousands of messages on the most attractive of screens practically every single waking minute. They have made communication easy. They have also turned watching videos on a single screen obsolete. According to independent studies, the factor that seems to be the primary driver of this trend are the millennials. The younger and more educated lot has become more habitual of and prefers to engage in digital consumption than any other medium.
We’ve moved on from television sets to mobile phones, smartphones and tablets and laptops. Webinars are being held in the place of live events. As marketers, we have a lot of messages and a lot of things to convey to our audience, and this makes the hours we already have in a day insufficient in more ways than one. We just can’t cram that amount of media on one screen. This is what gave birth to multi-screen advertising. Today we see Millennials engage with a wide and ever-expanding mesh of media and devices across platforms. If you give webinars, you should choose one of the best webinar platforms and go for multi-screen advertising.
This trend is quickly catching up with people of all age groups and if we go a little country specific, we can take the example of the UK, where 67 % of their total population consumes content on their phones of which 91 percent are millennials. Consumers from all walks of life and backgrounds are actively engaging in digital content consumption and seamlessly so, on multiple devices at once. As a marketer, one needs to reshape their strategy so they can engage with them on all fronts.
The Rise Of Multi-Screens Phenomenon
Why did the numbers of multi-screen advertising company rise to such heights? Yes, why are we seeing such inclination towards this medium of advertising? The Multi-Screen Phenomenon can be effectively justified by the fact that currently, in the digital age that we are right now, we have an attention span of mere 2 seconds! We just can’t focus on one thing longer than that and that has its bad and good effects on both us and the marketing gurus that aim to grab our attention. This has given rise and more push to multi-screening marketing. It has become more prolific over the years. Multi-screening uses multiple digital devices at the same time. Sequential screening can be achieved by moving the content between devices, and simultaneous screening is when the marketer uses two devices at the same time.
Some Relevant Stats
Our old televisions have almost become outdated with the advent of smartphones and android TVs and other smart devices that can be accessed from remote locations and connected with other peripherals through the internet. Viewers today use their mobiles, tablets or laptops more frequently and also studies by Google suggest that 77% of television viewers use some other device at the same time. The study pointed out some other interesting insights:
- Close to 90% of our media interactions happen with screen-based devices namely televisions, mobiles, tablets and computers
- An average consumer is exposed to or uses around 3 different screen combinations each day
- Among social media, internet browsing and emailing, we also use digital media for gaming purposes, work-related activities and watching entertainment videos
- A major contributor to online search queries are television shows and advertisements are (on smartphones and tablets)
Have You Ever Taken Your Screen Inventory?
We have the internet-of-things in our home. Almost everything has a screen attached to it. Should we continue to turn a blind eye to the massive impact screens have on our lives? Following are some devices that are most commonly seen with your audience and it is time to take them into account among many other things:
- Television sets
- Desktop computers / personal computers
- Laptops
- Tablet or calling tablets or phablets
- Smartphones
- SmartWatches
Needless to mention, we are already in awe of technologies that haven’t even made their way to mainstream market such as the smart glasses, foldable mobile phones and screens, and next-gen wearable tech.
According to Tom Fishburne, “Arguably the biggest shift in consumer behavior in the last few years has been the explosion of devices and the number of screens in a consumer’s life. That has a major impact on media consumption and how marketers reach consumers.”
Multi-screen marketing spells a “near-mainstream” trend and it is going to continue to expand in the future to become the primary way we consume media. According to recent independent studies multi-screen advertising campaigns will expand from their current budget of 20% to 50% in the next 3 years.
What Should Marketers Do From This Point On To Make The Most Of It?
- As advertisers, you will have to make efforts to understand your audience better
- Find out how they use different digital channels and platforms
- Come with more personalized content that has been specifically tailored for enhanced viewing
- Understand why your users prefer one specific device over others
- Create relevant context so that your users can be kept engaged
- Your digital marketing strategy needs to complement television presence
- E-commerce needs to be simplified and buying a product needs to be easy and streamlined for the consumer
Don’t ignore mobile marketing either. Now close to 40% of our daily media interactions happen on a smartphone. As a business head, you need to optimize content for mobiles and make them easily discoverable when searched for.
Final Words
You will have to implement effective marketing campaigns, and for that, you will need to integrate cross-channel marketing. Make it a point to understand audience behaviour and their digital usage. Keep them entertained, and keep them glued to your brand with multi-screen marketing.
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