Although the second screen apps are used by TV viewers, it’s the companies that benefit the most from the concept. People may get to skip their TV scheduled ads with the help of apps, but with the same specially conceived programs, marketers have endless access to viewers via the same ad blockers they are relying on. Most things are done by logging in and by connecting to one device and one platform with an account which holds a lot of valuable information. These pieces of information can easily be quantified and turned into the key points of action for personalized marketing strategies.
TV-viewers may have the possibility to skip through the ads your company is paying big money to have broadcast, but there is a great advantage to no longer depend on the TV network’s prime time schedules: you no longer put all of your eggs in one basket and pay big money for them to be broadcast in front of a very big group of people. Instead, second screen marketing offers a better targeted access to exactly the group of people most likely to purchase specific products and services.
More and more second screen advertising campaigns are drafted keeping in mind the fact that the regular people are no longer focused on one screen but on several screens. Some viewers even go as far as to keep a laptop or tablet AND a smartphone near-by while watching TV. To marketers, this means about three ways of getting a message across. What is more, they can do it better, without having the viewer feeling like he is being bombarded with other tons of information he does not want at all.
Including your ad and your offer in a block of commercials means to risk having yours go unnoticed by the viewer. How much are you willing to pay for those few seconds in prime time and still not have the certainty that the ad will be effective? This is the question second screen marketing specialists are trying to ask companies which are still reluctant in preparing for the big switch expected on the entertainment market. Because, let’s face it, as we have already learnt from past experiences, once people get a hold of how cool a new technology is, how much can be done with it and how much more room for development and change it has, they keep wanting more.
Chances are that demands for this type of technology will keep increasing and they will turn traditional TV, TV watching and everything TV related into a completely new experience. And this will not only be the case for TV viewers alone, but for every company sponsoring a TV show or advertising on TV. Comparing with the way in which smartphones took over the communication market and revolutionized it, we can say that the chances for people to keep to traditional TV viewing are very slim. And, in the long run, second screen advertising may even be more appealing to them as well.
