Digital media strategies are important for broadcasters to engage audiences across platforms and generate new revenue. Social media is a key tool if used properly to drive engagement without overwhelming users. Content should be accessible across devices to meet user preferences. Polls and user-generated content can enhance engagement by involving the audience. Monetization comes from driving clicks from social media to view ads with content. Any strategy needs flexibility to adapt to changing technologies and consumption patterns.

1. Digital Media
Strategies in
BroadcastImproving Audience
Engagement Through
Social Media

2. Broadcasters are responding to changing
viewing habits with content specifically de-
signed for digital distribution or additional
content to complement and enhance the
original programming. What is less clear to
broadcasters is how to use social media as a
tool to proactively drive viewer engagement
and how to translate increased engagement,
social media traffic and dialogue into new rev-
enue streams. In this paper, Scott Bowditch
and Jennifer Jarvis discuss the importance of
a digital media strategy and examine how to
get viewers both talking and spending.
Digital media can take many forms including
corporate websites, streaming, video posting to
third party sites and social media. It can be con-
sumed in multiple ways, but the focal point of dis-
tribution of digital content has become the mo-
bile second screen – tablets and smart phones.
Some content producers create programming
specifically for digital outlets. For broadcasters
and producers of content for television, there is
a now a clear requirement to have a digital me-
dia strategy. But how does one determine what
that strategy should be? A first step in creating
a strategy is to understand the business of the
digital space.
The key to social media participation is access.
When it comes to online consumption, the fast-
est growth is on mobile platforms. The low cost
of mobile devices - tablets and smartphones
- combined with increasing accessibility has
helped double mobile data traffic each year
over the past four years. By the end of 2013, it’s
estimated there will be more connected mobile
devices on the planet than people. And connec-
tivity is nearly universal; it’s estimated that 95
percent of the world will have cell phone recep-
tion and 3 billion people will have Internet ac-
cess by next year.
This connectivity is fueling media consumption
and conversations. A number of surveys in the
U.S. and U.K. show 70-80 percent of viewers
also use a second device while watching TV.
And these devices are often used to post social
content about what they are watching on televi-
sion. Facebook now has more than 1 billion us-
ers across more than 200 countries. In the final
match of the Euro 2012 football tournament, a
new record was set on Twitter with more than
15,000 tweets per second when the final goal
was scored.

3. Social media content is so closely linked to television that Nielsen announced a new rating
system in the U.S. 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.
These data points clearly show that the digital media space is growing rapidly and is closely
linked to traditional media. Therefore, a strategy needs to be created not just for the require-
ments of today, but for the larger model that is sure to be required tomorrow. So, where do
we start? In the digital space, as in traditional content delivery, the most important thing is to
win the competition for eyeballs. Business models for digital require the sale of advertising to
generate revenue and the value of sales inventory is determined directly by the size of the au-
dience. To build an audience, one must not only create compelling content, but 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?

4. There are a number of things
that a content creator can do to
increase audience engagement.
First and foremost is to create a strong presence in
social media. Twitter and Facebook have become the
modern day water cooler conversation points but on
a global scale. All companies must strive to keep their
content in these spaces concise and compelling while
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, be that on television at a sched-
uled time or by some other method at their own
convenience.
Finally, engagement can be driven through
giving an audience the opportunity to be
a part of the content by influencing the flow
of the show or adding commentary to the
production.

5. [How can I use social media to enhance my linear
production and further engage my audience?]
Again, there are a number of ways to accomplish this. Almost universally, people like to be famous.
Even if a tweet only appears for 5 seconds as part of a crawl or ticker, including social media content
in a linear stream allows the producer to include the audience in the production, thus giving the indi-
vidual audience member that fleeting moment of fame that they crave. Social media data can also tell
part of the story or be the story in itself. Tools that make polling data available are essential for tying
1st and 2nd screen experiences together. 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 program. Both can be used to create compelling graphical information that con-
nects the audience with the content creator.
So, how does one create social media content that is timely and
relevant to one’s core message? There are a number of ways to
approach this. One could hire a team of people who can be con-
nected to the creative process for the core content and create so-
cial content in real time. Given the potential cost of this option, it
may not be the best solution. Instead, an integrated platform that
allows users to create social content in parallel to the core content
creation could be implemented. There are many advantages to
this approach, most notably 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?]
Ideally, most of it would be repackaged across platforms to avoid incurring additional production
costs. 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?]
Perhaps the most challenging aspect of developing a digital strategy is determining how that strategy
can translate to revenue. Again, many companies encounter a significant challenge when attempt-
ing to monetize their social media presence. 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, especially when it comes to younger consumers. The overall goal must be
audience engagement, not monetization. If the former is achieved, the latter can take care of itself; it
is the second level of engagement that provides the avenue for realising revenue. When a user clicks
through from a social portal to view video or text content, they have come to expect advertising as
part of that experience. It is here that advertising can be sold 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.

6. 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.
Here at Ross, we have created a solution to the technology and workflow portion of your social me-
dia, Web and digital distribution strategy. It’s called Inception. We have built the modern newsroom
control system (NRCS) from the ground up as an integrated scripting, social media management
and Web publishing tool that forms the spine of any digital media strategy. Not only does Inception
provide all of the necessary elements of a traditional NRCS – timing engines, scripting, schedul-
ing and so on – it also allows the user to repurpose video and text content for publication to social
media and the Web. As you would expect, Inception currently interfaces with Twitter, Facebook,
YouTube, Brightcove, Flickr, Wordpress and Mass Relevance, and the list grows with each new
release. We have also included Inception Polls in the package: a comprehensive polling system that
allows users to generate, through trending or directed polls, relevant statistical information for use in
research and for the creation of compelling graphical content for a programmer. Inception Playlist
provides a means for the aggregation and moderation of social media content for use in the linear
stream. Most importantly, Inception allows the user to manage all of this content in a single envi-
ronment with full editorial control and approval processes; an important consideration for content
providers juggling multiple workflows and content streams.
Scott Bowditch and Jennifer Jarvis
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