More than four in 10 Irish Twitter users issued at least one tweet that referred to TV content during April 2014, according to a new report from Ireland’s official TV ratings body.
The findings, taken from a TAM Ireland and Colourtext study, reveal the growing role played by TV in stimulating social media discussion – and how TV ads drive brand-related online search – with a brand category leaderboard showing those that enjoy the highest levels of success in using TV advertising to drive web traffic to their websites.
In descending order of strong correlative effect, the research found that retail (high street and online), insurance, utilities and confectionary led the brand categories generating the bulk of website visits after the broadcast of a TV ad.
Other findings revealed that, after analysing 15.6 million tweets from almost 170,000 Irish Twitter users, sport was the most popular conversation category, followed by ‘bodies’, food and eating and then then television.
Other key topics of interest in Ireland’s Twitter community include brands (7th place) drinking (11th) and politics (12th).
Eugenia Siapera, chair of social media studies MA at Dublin City University, commented that determining a strong link between a social media outlet such as Twitter and television made sense.
“What is being tweeted is what we deal with and talk about in our everyday lives and to expect Twitter to be any different is counter-intuitive. While politics and social issues are also important they are overshadowed in social media by lighter, less serious matters.”
Access the full report here.
