In Broadcast - April 2014 - 54


I N T E R N A T I O N A L

WWW.INBROADCAST.COM | ISSUE 30 - APRIL 2014

N E W S

InTECH

Digital Media Strategies In Broadcast

There is a clear need to improve audience engagement through social media,
Web publishing and second screen applications...

By Scott Bowditch
& Jennifer Jarvis

D

54

igital media can take many
forms and can be consumed
in multiple ways, but the focal point
of distribution of digital content has
become the mobile second screen
- tablets and smart phones. For
broadcasters and television content
producers, there is a now a clear
requirement to have a digital media
strategy.
When it comes to online
consumption, the fastest growth is
on mobile platforms. Mobile data
trafﬁc has doubled each year since
2010. By the end of 2014, there
will be more connected mobile
devices on the planet than people.
And connectivity is nearly universal;
approximately 95% of the world
will have cell phone reception and
three billion people will have Internet
access by 2015.
Social media content is now so
closely linked to television that
Nielsen announced a new rating
system in the US that will track
the traction of speciﬁc television
shows on Twitter. Starting this
year, Facebook will also jump into
the television world by partnering
with networks like CNN and
BSkyB to provide access to
demographic information about the
conversations happening around
speciﬁc programming.

Digital Space

Clearly, the digital media space is
closely linked to traditional media.
In the digital space, as in traditional
content delivery, the most important

thing is to win the competition for
eyeballs. To build an audience, one
must create compelling content and
make a longer-term connection with
the consumer of content. So the
larger question becomes how does
one use digital media to increase
audience engagement?
Firstly, a strong social media
presence is critical; Twitter and
Facebook now host the modern
day water cooler conversations but
on a global scale. All companies
must keep their content in these
spaces concise and compelling,
ensuring that followers and friends
are not overwhelmed with excessive
amounts of comment. These outlets
are not channels for the distribution
of the primary product, however,
so the ability to click-through and
access the content must be front
and centre. Secondly, audience
members must be able to consume
the content provided in a manner
of their choosing, on television at
a scheduled time or by some other
method at their own convenience.
Finally, engagement can be driven
through giving an audience the
opportunity to inﬂuence the ﬂow
of the show or add commentary to
the production.
So, how does one create social
media content that is timely and
relevant to one's core message?
One could hire a team of people to
create this content in real-time, but
this approach is potentially costly.
Instead, an integrated platform
that allows users to create social

Content training at CBS 7 KOSA

content parallel to the core content
creation could be implemented.
There are many advantages to this
approach: the lack of requirement for
additional staff, a guarantee that the
message is consistent because it is
co-created and the ability to publish
the social content at just the right
moment based on the release of the
core content.
What about core content? The
ideal system would allow the
producer to simply and easily
manage multiple versions of the
same content within the same GUI.
Using the same core information,
a content producer can highlight
different areas to take advantage
of the unique beneﬁts of each social
media platform. Metadata does need
to travel with the digital content so
the system must have the ability
to support it.
But what about the money? How
can a digital strategy translate into
revenue? Social media should only
be used as a portal with which to
connect with the audience. If we
attempt to advertise to our friends
and followers, we are far more likely
to alienate them. The overall goal
must be audience engagement,
not monetisation. If the former
is achieved, the latter can take
care of itself. When a user clicks
through from a social portal to
view content, they have come to
expect advertising as part of that
experience. Advertising can be sold
here without risk of turning away the
target audience. Similarly, if a user
asks to be sent a piece of content,
this interaction can be branded, thus
allowing for additional revenue.

Social Interaction

Ross' Inception News provides tools such as social media ﬁlters and polls
that can drive on-air content

How can I use social media to
enhance my linear production
and further engage my audience?
Tweets and Facebook posts
appearing as part of a crawl or ticker
allow the producer to include the

audience in the production. Social
media data can also tell part of
the story or be the story in itself.
Trending polls can be used to gauge
the mood of the world, a nation or
even a single building on a given
topic. Directed polls can be used
to create engagement in a speciﬁc
event or programme. Both can be
used to create compelling graphical
information that connects the
audience with the content creator.
Any strategy put in place must
be able to react to the future of
social media, Web publishing and
second screen applications. There
is always a "next big thing" and
any solution that requires forklift
upgrades or massive swings in
process to address the new reality
will cost more than they can ever
return. A good strategy will be
centred on technology and workﬂow
solutions that will grow and shift as
the distribution and consumption
landscape changes.
Scott Bowditch
is a marketing
p r o d u c t
manager with
Ross Video
who specialises
in newsroom and social
media
applications
including Inception, Ross
Video's own social media
management platform.
Jennifer Jarvis
has worked for
seven year s
as a television
repor ter and
social media
manager with several different
broadcasters in the US and
UK before joining Ross Video
in 2012, where she works
as demonstration artist and
product trainer.
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/?first=Phillip&last=Izzard&search=Go https://twitter.com/inbroadcast http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpzEatLsHdE&feature=youtube_gdata_player https://www.facebook.com/InBroadcast http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/inbroadcast/id468652679?mt=8 https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.branded.inbroadcast&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDEsImNvbS5icmFuZGVkLmluYnJvYWRjYXN0Il0. http://WWW.INBROADCAST.COM http://www.cbs7kosa.com/ http://www.rossvideo.com/newsroom-control-systems/inception-news/
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