We’re multi screening more than ever

October 3, 2018

A recent Facebook study using eye-tracking and device-tracking has found that TV viewers are also looking at their smartphones 31% of the time, most often at a social app. More than half of participants’ mobile time was devoted to Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

There are several reasons for multi-screening, sometimes it’s ad-fatigue during a live TV show, sometimes the frustration of being stuck enduring four and a half minutes, unable to skip when VOD viewing – and increasingly people are turning to social media to join the conversation about a TV show, political standpoint or news item.

Predictably, the study in question revealed that younger participants (18-24) more than over 45’s are checking their phones during TV ads on commercial channels – interestingly when non-commercial viewing takes place there’s no difference between the generations. In the UK, the average time on mobile during TV ad breaks is 52.9%.

The trouble with the multi-screening trend is that we’re in an attention economy… and if we’re already fighting through the noise of other advertisers, when multi-screening occurs, we’ve got to fight even harder to stop a users’ thumb as they half-blindly scroll past mediocre or irrelevant content.

So, exactly how boring is your social creative?

How often are you updating your strategy with new formats and creative treatments?

Are you playing to the audience by making the post relevant to them – because of course, it’s more about finding what matters to them, than promoting what matters to you which will generate engagement and brand resonance?

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