Advertising agencies can now blame TV shows when a new spot doesn't quite get the attention they think it deserves—at least sort of.
According to a new study by Twitter, Starcom and social TV analytics company Canvs, programming where an audience had high emotions often led them to have higher ad recall. In fact, a survey of 3,500 Twitter users and non-users found that viewers were 48 percent more likely to recall an ad they saw the day before.
"Not all TV audiences are created equal: we've long believed that viewers respond differently to commercials depending on how they feel about what they're watching," Heather O'Shea, Twitter's global agency research and data strategy lead, wrote in a blog post. "And when it comes to getting a pulse on people's emotional reactions during live TV, now we know that Twitter can drive even stronger results for brands."
Based on the results, O'Shea offered three tips for marketers hoping to harness the double-screen world:
1. Target TV programs that are more likely to elicit emotionally driven tweets
"Find the kind of programming that resonates emotionally with the audience you are seeking to reach, and then use Twitter targeting to align your campaigns with these shows," according to O'Shea.
2. Sync TV ad campaigns with promoted tweets to reinforce messaging
"TV advertisers running concurrent Twitter ad campaigns experienced an average 9 percent lift in ad recall, compared to campaigns that did not run promoted tweets," O'Shea said. "Adding video to your tweets can further enrich a multichannel campaign, letting you start the story on TV and give people an opportunity to participate on Twitter. "
3. Create campaign content that taps into audience emotions
"Link your creative to show content as it unfolds. Dramatic moments such as voting, cliffhangers, and the final minutes of a close game are all great opportunities to spark further conversation," O'Shea said.
Here are some stats from the results of the study:
