The Social Influence on the Entertainment Industry
With the rise of social platforms like YouTube and Facebook, entertainment brands are investing in social media for promotions and to engage with audiences.
Thismoment’s research on how social media has revolutionized the movie/TV-watching experience unearthed some interesting findings:
- According to a poll conducted by Penn Schoen Berland, 72% of respondents posted about movies on social sites while watching them.
- A study by eMarketer shows that 19% of viewers were influenced by social media to start watching a TV show.
- The viral nature of social media means people across the globe will discuss movies/shows much before the official launch in their countries.
What This Means for Entertainment Brands
Social media gives audiences the free reign to discuss and form opinions about films, TV shows etc. What people say on social sites greatly influences the behavior of their followers and can determine the success of shows. This makes it imperative for entertainment brands to integrate social media with the overall promotional strategy.
Marketing in the Social Space
From film studios like Lionsgate, to makers of video games like EB Games, when it comes to social promotions, entertainment brands are throwing the kitchen sink at it. While there isn’t a single magical formula for winning, here are some suggestions that can help these brands get closer to social success.
- Plan Your Social Tool Kit: Despite the availability of numerous social channels, for entertainment brands, we suggest including YouTube and Facebook in the ‘must-haves’ list.
- YouTube: Considering how users want to visually connect with a film or show, it’s unsurprising to see why most studios and brands are on YouTube. YouTube, with its archive-like quality and simplicity of use, is perfect for those promotional videos and trailers.
- Facebook: The interactive nature of Facebook makes it great for staying connected with fans. Entertainment brands can use Facebook to respond to queries about show-timings, feature movie photos, sell tickets online etc.
…Don’t forget mobile: According to eMarketer, by 2016, 33.5% of the US population will watch videos on their mobile devices at least once a month. These videos can include everything from informative clips to commercials and trailers; which is why entertainment brands should optimize their content for mobile viewing.
- Featuring Contests/Polls: When it comes to promoting in the social space, nothing works better than contests and polls. This holds true for entertainment brands as well. With eager fans looking to connect with their favorite movie or show, contests/polls are the perfect opportunity to engage and build pre-launch buzz.
To build buzz for their series, Don’t Trust The B—- in Apt.23, ABC launched a UGC contest asking users to submit a video, photo or description of their funniest roommate story. The strategy paid off, with ABC improving engagement and generating significant hype before the show’s launch.
- Deploying & Managing Campaigns: From featuring contests and polls to engaging with fans, managing social presence across multiple channels can be a daunting experience for entertainment brands.
How does Thismoment’s Distributed Engagement Channel (DEC) help?
Using DEC, brands can:
- Create a global channel for multiple brands: Lionsgate’s YouTube channel, for instance, functions as a single platform that allows the studio to launch promotions for various films. Fans can browse through the studio’s channel to check out promotional content for various films such as The Hunger Games, The Expendables 2 etc. What’s unique is whenever Lionsgate releases a film, all they have to do update the DEC with the individual movie channel. Perfect for Enterprises.
- Launch individual, time-specific campaigns: Besides being featured on the Lionsgate global channel, The Hunger Games film has its individual DEC. This is perfect for brands looking to launch time-specific campaigns or promote a single film/show.
The Road Ahead…
The social influence on the entertainment business is such that every film or show’s launch is almost always preceded by massive social media push. While the likes of Lionsgate and 20th Century Fox have successfully integrated social media with their overall marketing strategy, we expect the smaller players to focus on social promotions over the next few years. Also, the fact that people start watching a TV show/film because of reviews posted on networking sites means entertainment brands will increase focus on social engagement in the future. From polls to movie-ticket giveaways, entertainment execs will ensure their shows are a “social” success even before they are officially launched.
- Shama Ahmed
Thismoment
