Audience research

Audience research

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Audience research, Blogs

Broadcast TV Audiences Decline – What Does This Mean For Advertising?

According to a new report from Ofcom, the number of people watching broadcast TV each week has had the sharpest fall since records first began. With streaming services growing in popularity daily, public service broadcasters have seen the number of viewers each week decline from 83 percent in 2021 to 79 per cent in 2022, according to the UK’s communications regulatory body.

Ofcom’s Media Nations 2023 report also revealed that the average time spent watching broadcast TV per person per day fell from 2 hours 59 minutes in 2021 to 2 hours 38 minutes in 2022.

Public service broadcasters (PSBs) such as BBC One and ITV1 remained dominant in the most-watched list, with the research suggesting that the public recognises these channels deliver ‘broadcast events that bring the nation together for a shared viewing experience’, with England’s quarter-final match in the FIFA World Cup, the State Funeral of the Queen and the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee being the most watched programmes in the UK in 2022.

The broadcast TV watchdog’s report also noted a major shift in the broadcast TV landscape, with the decline in the number of TV programmes that attract mass audiences, and the number of shows that gained over four million viewers has more than halved in the last decade, demonstrating that there are far fewer people watching early and late evening TV news bulletins, as well as a decline in viewer figures for the UK’s most popular soaps.

According to the report, a mere 48 programmes managed to find an average audience of over four million on streaming platforms in 2022, with Netflix having the vast majority of those.

Yih-Choung Teh, group director of strategy and research at Ofcom, said: “Today’s viewers and listeners have an ‘all-you-can-eat’ buffet of broadcasting and online content to choose from, and there’s more competition for our attention than ever.”

Teh said that the UK’s traditional broadcasters have had steep declines in viewing numbers for their scheduled live programmes, particularly among what were typically loyal older audiences but he added that despite this, PSBs are still unrivalled in bringing the nation together during important cultural and sporting events.

But what does this mean for advertisers?

Declining viewing figures might sound more like a reason to start thinking about advertising elsewhere, and getting your advert aired during peak viewing times seems like an impossible task, never mind an expensive investment.

But with the average viewer watching over 2 and a half hours of commercial broadcast TV every day, broadcast TV accounts for 84 per cent of all video advertising, dominating the audio-visual market, and TV advertising is by far and away the most trusted medium, with 35 per cent of UK survey respondents placing it at the top, followed by newspaper advertising with 19 per cent.

Brands looking to advertise regionally can also leverage SkySmart to help target audiences in different locations, different ages, lifestyles, and many other demographics, by using marketing data to advertise to smaller, targeted audiences in cities, towns, or even specific postcodes.

Platforms such as Sky and Channel 4 even provide a bespoke service that can allow smaller brands to gain access to premium viewing environments, and not only broadcast television but video-on-demand (VoD) services too.

Broadcast TV adverts can’t be skipped, they run full screen, aren’t fighting for attention on a busy webpage, and aren’t subject to internet ad-blockers. TV advertising has been creating viral sensations since long before the internet age coined the term viral video and still creates discussion among people as we ask each other if we’ve seen the latest advert for a particular brand or product.

TV advertising can deliver a huge advantage to your brand, driving market share, building trust, and providing scale and reach. Brands can buy the exact number of ratings/viewers they need, and target specific audiences, whether it’s Love Island fans, or families gathered around the TV to watch Saturday evening entertainment.

The advantages of TV advertising

Reach – No other kind of media is able to provide the same reach with a single advertisement. TV advertising can reach huge audiences frequently and quickly, as much as 70 per cent of the UK population in one day. While there is a growth in people watching TV and film via tablets, computers and smartphones, none are as ubiquitous as the living room TV, and with many UK households owning more than one TV, that reach increases.
Influence – Television, compared to other video marketing platforms, has one of the highest engagement rates. According to data from the websites of organisations that use TV advertising, TV ads contribute to around 35 per cent of all visits to the number of all website visitors. TV advertising has retained an air of prestige and quality that other channels are unable to meet.
Audience targeting – Targeting a specific audience has been utilised by TV advertising for a long time. TV ads are shown at certain times of day, on certain channels, and during certain shows to ensure they are being shown to the right audience. This has become even more sophisticated with the advent of Sky AdSmart and targeted advertising has become even more integral to TV advertising.
Captive Audiences – While there is a certain amount of ad-skipping in VoD and recorded TV, and viewers are free to get up and pop the kettle on or visit the bathroom during ad breaks, the majority will stay in their seats, and even if only passively, they will be exposed to your adverts. In the case of recorded TV, if adverts are skipped, the brand will not be charged. Many VoD platforms are now including adverts before the show or film they want to watch, and some have now implanted unskippable ads that have to be watched in order to view the on-demand content.
Building trust and Legitimacy – It can take time, effort, and cost to develop a TV advert that is suitable for a wide audience, but the engagement and trust inferred by TV over other platforms provide a great ROI. TV also can establish a greater sense of legitimacy, trust, and recognition of your brand than other platforms.

Are you convinced about the power of TV advertising yet?

When it comes to video advertising, TV is the most widely viewed medium and has become home to many small and medium-sized brands, who are easily able to find a place among the traditional TV advertisers and larger brands.

If you’re looking to take advantage of TV advertising to promote your brand, product, or services, and looking for expert advice and help, talk to Tonic today!

Audience research, Blogs, Digital, Marketing Plan

Why You Should Use LinkedIn As A B2B Marketer

When marketers are considering which social media platforms to use for their businesses, many will automatically head for Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. But when it comes to generating B2B leads, then the most powerful social media platform has to be LinkedIn.

LinkedIn is possibly the most important social network for marketers to be able to reach business buyers and connect with professionals and has become one of the major social media platforms for B2B media and content marketing.

When looking at the Monthly Active Users (MAU) of the popular social networks, LinkedIn, with 310 million MAU may not be the biggest platform available, compared to 330 million MAU on Twitter, one billion MAU on Instagram, or a massive 2.7 billion on Facebook.

But the LinkedIn audience is one of the most lucrative ones for B2B marketing.

Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram can become noisy and crowded, and while LinkedIn was once much quieter, it has become busier. However, unlike Facebook, where people go to connect with friends and family, watch funny videos, or post irreverent content, LinkedIn is the place where people go to network with like-minded people within their industry.
If you are looking to drive qualitative B2B traffic to your website or blog, then LinkedIn is the platform for you. The social network allows users to build relationships, establish thought leadership, generate B2B leads, gain insights, improve a brand’s reputation, conduct market research and help to build online communities.

LinkedIn now has over 875 million members, from 200 countries all around the world, and members can interact with each other, share their views, and boost their professional profiles.

It is a powerful social media platform that allows professionals and businesses to easily connect, boost brand identity, and engage in B2B marketing, and it should be part of any comprehensive social media strategy.

Using LinkedIn for marketing can be an effective way of raising for brand or business’s profile, if it’s done right. Overly ‘salesy’ marketing methods are typically not well received, and businesses that achieve success on the platform tend to leverage their industry expertise and knowledge to set themselves up as thought leaders in their field.

What is LinkedIn marketing?

LinkedIn Marketing is the process of using the social media platform to promote businesses or individuals and draw attention to their profiles. Not only can individuals create their own profiles, but business can also establish their own company pages, and subpages for specific departments or products, on the platform, which they can use to:
Build brand awareness
Drive traffic to websites or blogs by sharing content
Create new connections or continue to develop existing business relationships.

Let’s have a look at six reasons why you should be using LinkedIn in your marketing efforts.

  1. Create awareness and improve reputation

It has been estimated that more than two professionals sign up to LinkedIn every second, meaning that businesses have an increased opportunity to be able to network with an increasing number of diverse interesting contacts. It means that LinkedIn is the ideal platform to help boost your online presence.
By making use of the different personal and group features on the platform, businesses and the people representing them can improve their visibility and credibility.

The status update functionality is an underutilised feature that should not be forgotten about, however, the latest design means that updates are more prominent on the homepage.

  1. Thought leadership and influencer marketing

Several features on LinkedIn allow users to position themselves as thought leaders. As well as providing high-quality content, you can improve your personal profile and participate in LinkedIn communities to answer questions.

The platform is ripe for thought leaders and can lead to businesses and individuals becoming trusted advisors. Leadership and reputation go hand in hand with influence, and with the main purpose of the platform being networking, it can help you to identify and engage with other influencers.

  1. Generating leads

Of all the social networking platforms, LinkedIn is probably the best for lead generation. As well as traditional marketing techniques such as providing content that potential customers can download or driving traffic to blogs and websites, LinkedIn offers personal ways of helping to identify leads, engaging with them, and converting them into customers.

This can be achieved through a combination of listening, analysing, participation, sharing information and content, networking, and responding. Finding potential customers on the platform and networking and marketing to them indirectly through LinkedIn will boost the opportunity to make sales and increase revenue.

Potential and existing customers are likely to post questions and needs. Group-related posts and questions allow B2B marketers to identify new leads, while shared and liked content will give marketers insight into what LinkedIn users find interesting.

By providing answers to questions on the platform, it is possible to demonstrate your expertise and knowledge. If your answer to a question is what a potential customer is looking for, then they will likely initiate contact.

  1. Social CRM

In a CRM (customer relations management) context, LinkedIn is ideal; it allows for a better view of prospective customers and other contacts and can be done by using Social CRM applications and other connectors such as Outlook.

While most Social CRM applications provide integration with LinkedIn, you can also set up a basic integration of your contacts as LinkedIn has support for Google Contacts.

The main benefit of using a social CRM tool is that you are then able to see what your contacts are doing on LinkedIn in real-time, which provides valuable insights and information on their behaviour and preferences.

  1. Traffic building

One of LinkedIn’s strengths, which can often be forgotten about, is its power in link building and traffic driving.

Just as with most of the other social networks, LinkedIn has a social sharing button so you are able to share content in your status updates, which are visible on the homepage, and in LinkedIn Groups – the communities of which you are a member.

This can prove particularly useful for business-related content and can lead to viral content status. Business-related content is far more likely to be shared on LinkedIn than on Facebook, for example.

  1. Listening and gaining insights

LinkedIn is the ideal place to listen, ask questions, and gain insights, which is the case for all social media marketing. Take time to engage with your contacts, ask questions as well as answer them, and pay attention to what people are saying, posting, and asking.

Need help with your LinkedIn B2B marketing?

Here at Tonic, we know the ins and outs of marketing on LinkedIn, from helping set up your business profiles to developing engaging and interesting content to helping identify leads and new customers.

If you’d like to know more about how we can help grow your business, then get in touch today.

Audience research

Know your audience

Are you looking for a simple way to define your marketing audience? You have a great product, service or business and you have some powerful messages to share. But if you are telling the wrong people in the wrong way, then you are not going to get the results that you want – and you’ll probably waste a lot of time and money in the process. 

Do you know who you are trying to target? Have you thought about who your marketing audience is? At Tonic Consultancy we can help you to define the groups of people who need to hear your message, we can help you to define that message and we can make sure that your target audience actually hears that message. 

But what do some of these target audiences look like? 

Here are some of the main target audiences you might want to consider. At Tonic Consultancy, these are the four key audiences that we are often asked about. 

Students: This is a really broad audience, but you are probably looking at an age range of 18-24 with a diverse set of social attitudes, values and an ever-shrinking appetite for more traditional marketing.

Millennials and Generation Z: This is another really broad audience – all those people born between 1981 and 2012. A diverse set of needs, looking for a diverse set of experiences with a focus on social media marketing and video content. 

Families with children: This is, unsurprisingly, a really broad audience. There really is no such thing as a standard family in 2020. This is another diverse audience but you probably want to think more about imagery, timing and impact. 

ABC1s: Or, if you’re unfamiliar with the term, the people who make up the higher socioeconomic demographic. But this is, wait for it, a really broad audience. And it’s tough to define this audience too. ABC1s can no longer be ring fenced by industry, job title, education or income and this audience could also quite easily sit in one of the other categories too.

Have you noticed a theme here?

Modern-day marketing cannot rely on broad definitions of target audience. Within each broad audience there are distinct, diverse segments; but tapping into these segments can yield powerful results. To identify your specific audience you should really consider your products, your services and your competitors. 

So how can we help you?

At Tonic Consultancy we are obsessed with audience research. We love crunching the numbers to really understand what you want to say and who you want to say it to. The marketing journey for us always starts with the audience – who are you trying to target? What are you trying to achieve? 

We apply a rigorous, scientific-led approach to define your audience. We use leading categorisation systems (like Mosaic) and technology and data services (such as TGI data) to really understand who you need to target. We are so obsessed with the data that some people might call us geeks; but we just call ourselves audience-led. 

And once you have defined your audience, we can help you to target them in a clear, effective and efficient way. We know how to target the full spectrum of audience types in the best way possible. In designing your campaign like this, we can provide you with the most effective campaign with a clear vision and minimal wastage. 

If you need help finding your audience then give us a shout – hello@tonicconsultancy.co.uk