Three in four people think that hashtags are searched for on Twitter because they have been seen on TV, according to new research from Twitter and Thinkbox.
‘#TVTwitter: how advertisers get closer to conversation’, launched today at Advertising Week Europe, reveals how and why the UK is increasingly using Twitter while watching TV – and how advertisers can be a part of conversations.
The research found that hashtags are often used as a creative and funny way to sign off a tweet about a TV show, as well as being used to categorise conversations and find new content associated with a particular programme.
“Users search for a hashtag to learn more, so brands need to make sure they have additional content ready and waiting,” the report states.
The research also reveals the importance of retweets, with 76% of tweeters thinking that other users made sure that their tweets about TV were funny so they would be retweeted.
The importance of proximity to celebrities also came out strongly, with 69% claiming to like seeing celebrities talk about TV shows on Twitter.
Twitter and Thinkbox suggest that advertisers can plan for TV and Twitter by considering three levels of integration between the two mediums, depending on a brand’s market and aims:
Integration: where a TV campaign is planned and executed with specific Twitter content and activity built in and around it from the outset.
Anticipation: being more thoughtful of how Twitter and TV will work together in a brand strategy. Brands need to plan ahead for TV moments and prepare content to take advantage of it. They need to include hashtags on their TV ads but have a clear purpose to them, such as driving people to a Promoted Trend to find out more information about a product and move consumers along the purchase journey.
Association: at the simplest level, if a brand is not advertising on TV, it can still be associated with it as its customers will be watching TV and there is an opportunity to contribute.
“TV has always been a social medium and sparked an enormous amount of conversation both in and out of the living room,” said Neil Mortensen, research and planning director at Thinkbox.
“Twitter has introduced another way of doing what comes naturally to us as humans – sharing and conversing – and for that reason is for many people becoming an important part of the TV experience. This research will help advertisers understand more about and get the most out of this blossoming relationship.”
