We’ve written about the importance of company-wide digital guidelines and social media training before on this blog. Though with the invention of IPhones and an ever increasingly impressive technology on mobile phones and laptops, it’s rare that we are ever that long separated from the internet – so this is a theme worth revisiting…. I for one admit that I am attached to my phone and feel like it’s become almost like my third hand. I check Twitter an uncountable number of times in one day and am often logged in to Facebook when I am supposed to be doing other things…
We are now all so used to getting a quick social network fix while at home or at work that we have become a nation of multi-taskers without even noticing. If we don’t have internet access at work, then chances are we have a phone or laptop that can hook us up and feed the addiction.
A popular leisure activity that goes hand in hand with social media is watching television and it appears that we are doing both simultaneously. It’s not just the young that are taking to the Internet to have their say. The Social TV Trends Report suggested “43% of British adults commented on or discussed TV shows they were watching using Twitter, Facebook, other websites and mobile phones”. New inventions, such as Zeebox allow consumers to link television and social media with ease. They are also developing technology that will benefit businesses by allowing viewers to buy products in adverts through its app. Founder Anthony Rose says: “We’ll be using video recognition to recognise ads on TV, so for something like Nike you’ll be able to buy the product from your second screen with a few clicks. But this can apply to the songs playing on TV, and links to catch-up content”.
It seems that during this winter the UK are hibernating on the weekend to watch TV shows where not only can they control the outcome of the programme by voting for the winner, but they can engage with other viewers and express their own opinions via posting on social media. A large proportion of the public no longer wait to discuss that weekend’s TV in the office on Monday morning, and voice their views online as they watch. According to Twitter analysis carried out by Diffusion for the BBC News website: “X Factor is the programme shown in the UK that attracted the most tweets written in English over a period of 30 days”. I’m sure we’ve all noticed the Tweets and Facebook status updates on Saturday nights and even partaken in a few ourselves, even if it is just to say “X Factor is rubbish, stop tweeting”.
This current popular trend could be used to a company’s advantage. Why not get involved and use it as a PR tool? Businesses looking for ways to engage with their audience could check the TV guide for the week ahead and plan a few Tweets or updates around the week ahead. If your products appear on a popular TV show, it could be the perfect opportunity to Tweet your followers and get them to look out for them being used by celebrities. If you’re unsure of social media etiquette or how get started why not get in touch with Bluewood and take some social media training. We can get you up and running on all you need to know for the social media world. There couldn’t be a simpler way to stay topical and interact with the general public.
Written by Megan – www.bluewoodtraining.co.uk – December 2011