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Watching television is no longer a single screen event for many people. As people are faced with greater content choices, in more formats and across more platforms, attention within digital platforms is becoming increasingly fragmented.
Digital is experiencing new levels of complexity which often impacts marketers ability to ensure the effectiveness of their spending. As audiences continue to disperse, it is becoming increasingly necessary to optimise for consumption behaviour across a wider range of media.
Because of this, it is becoming increasingly important to move away from pitching channels against each other. Instead there is a tangible need to find complementary combinations that reach consumers across contextual content environments and devices. Against this backdrop, cross-media campaigns are proving again to be the solution to fragmented audiences.
It is well known within Media Precinct, that digital media combined with traditional media maximises reach and significantly improves campaign effectiveness.
Greater impact and reach
An example of the increased effectiveness of cross-media campaigns has been established recently through global digital giant Facebook.
Facebook's global in-home study recently found participants focus on the television screen just 53% of the time when commercials are on and 94% of people studied keep a smartphone on hand while watching television.
This multi-screening behaviour increases during advertising breaks. When people disengage from television content, 75% of the time they turn to their smartphones.
An analysis of the behaviour of 1,000,000 people in America, who indicated they were viewing a premiere of a popular TV drama, found that usage of Facebook consistently spiked during advertising breaks, sometimes 3x or more.
Given that audiences are dividing their attention between television and digital platforms, it makes sense that multi-screen media strategies are proving effective in increasing impact. Research giant, Nielsen, undertook a meta-analysis of 29 campaigns across television and Facebook, and they found that dual-exposure leads to a higher lift in ad recall compared with either channel alone.
Adding more media to the mix has always had the ability to increase the impact of campaigns. With multi-tasking television viewers, it helps advertisers reach audiences more effectively. The Advertising Research Foundation found adding print to TV increased ROI by 19%, adding radio increased ROI by 20% and adding digital increased effect with a 60% higher ROI.
More difficult to measure
Ironically, media fragmentation makes cross-media measurement harder because it contributes to double counting and introduces attribution complexities between platforms.
While today’s tools may not be perfect, they still provide essential insights in this quickly-changing landscape. Any issues are being addressed by the industry with new developments released on what feels like a daily basis.
As attention continues to fragment, cross-media strategies will continue to grow in importance and complexity. Ultimately, ongoing and improved measurement will enable advertisers to develop the sorts of sophisticated, multi-channel campaigns needed to effectively reach audiences both today and into the future.
Brad Smallwood is the VP of Marketing Science, Facebook and the original author of the full article elements of this article was taken from. Brad's article first appeared on WARC.