Are The Online Marketing Efforts of TV Shows and Programs Worthwhile?

NEW YORK, March 30, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Marketers are increasingly spending time, money and creativity to reach their audiences in non-traditional ways.  A recent 24/7 Wall St./Harris Poll on Social Media and Television set out to see if these efforts are paying off.  It found that many Americans are participating in this type of interactions.  Among online U.S. adults, two in five say they have gone online or utilized social media to comment, post, watch or read

something about a television show or program (43%).  Among these 80-some million people, a third say they have done so after watching a TV show or program (33%) and fewer say they have done so either before watching (18%) or while watching (17%) a TV show or program.

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These are some of the findings of a new 24/7 Wall St./Harris Poll survey of 2,526 U.S. adults surveyed online between March 11 and 15, 2011 by Harris Interactive.

Younger online adults are much more likely to take part in these activities than are older people -- six in ten of those 18-34 say they have engaged with TV programs in this way (59%), compared to fewer adults aged 35-44 (40%), 45-54 (36%) and 55 and older (28%) who say the same.  When adults are doing these things also varies by age.  Three in ten of those 18-34 years (31%) say they have gone online to do these activities while watching a TV program, compared to very few adults 55 and older who have done the same (5%).  Adults 55 and older, on the other hand, are most likely to go online after seeing a TV program (22%) if they are going to go online at all.  

This poll also finds that:

• Half of adults who engage with TV shows or programs online (53%) do so in an individual forum such as by posting on their own or a friend's Facebook page, Twitter account or blog, 44% do so on a website or page created by the TV content provider such as a TV network's Facebook page or website, and a third (33%) do so on a separate media outlet's site, such as an entertainment or news site;
• Women are more likely than men to engage in an individual forum (57% vs. 50%), while men are more likely than women to do so on a separate media outlet's site (38% vs. 27%);
• Younger adults are more likely than those older to engage individually while older adults are somewhat more likely to do so on a site or page created by the content provider;
• Two in five online adults are a fan or a follower of a TV network, program or show on Facebook or Twitter (39%) while the same number are not (41%); one in five do not use Facebook or Twitter (20%);
• Three quarters of adults who engage with TV programs or shows online say that it provides more information, which is an important reason why they do it (76%), two thirds say the analysis or summary is important to them (68%) or it's a source of additional entertainment, which is important (67%); half say that it's important that they engage with other viewers (51%);
• All age groups are equally likely to place importance on finding additional information online (between 75% and 77%), but younger adults are more likely to place importance on engaging with other viewers (54% of those 18-34 and 56% of those 35-44 compared to 40% of those 55 and older); and,
• Among the online adults who do not comment, post, watch, view or read anything about TV programs or shows online, six in ten say it's because they don't want or need to (60%), a third say they don't think about it (34%), one in five say they don't have the time (20%) and fewer list privacy (12%) or other reasons (7%).

So What?

Many TV networks, programs and shows are investing in websites, online programming and social media outreach to further capture and engage their audiences, and, most online adults are aware of these efforts – almost six in ten say that when watching a program on television they are aware of additional material available online (57%).  However, depending on who a marketer wants to target, they might be well advised to focus their efforts accordingly since this poll makes clear that different groups sign online in different ways, and at different times.  

Methodology

This 24/7 Wall St./Harris Poll was conducted online within the United States between March 11 and 15, 2011 among 2,526 adults (aged 18 and over). Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, region and household income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. Where appropriate, this data were also weighted to reflect the composition of the adult online population. Propensity score weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' propensity to be online.

All sample surveys and polls, whether or not they use probability sampling, are subject to multiple sources of error which are most often not possible to quantify or estimate, including sampling error, coverage error, error associated with nonresponse, error associated with question wording and response options, and post-survey weighting and adjustments. Therefore, Harris Interactive avoids the words "margin of error" as they are misleading. All that can be calculated are different possible sampling errors with different probabilities for pure, unweighted, random samples with 100% response rates. These are only theoretical because no published polls come close to this ideal.

Respondents for this survey were selected from among those who have agreed to participate in Harris Interactive surveys. The data have been weighted to reflect the composition of the adult population. Because the sample is based on those who agreed to participate in the Harris Interactive panel, no estimates of theoretical sampling error can be calculated.

These statements conform to the principles of disclosure of the National Council on Public Polls.

The results of this Harris Poll may not be used in advertising, marketing or promotion without the prior written permission of Harris Interactive.

The Harris Poll^® #43, March 30, 2011

By Samantha Braverman, Senior Project Researcher, Harris Interactive

About Harris Interactive

Harris Interactive is one of the world's leading custom market research firms, leveraging research, technology, and business acumen to transform relevant insight into actionable foresight. Known widely for the Harris Poll and for pioneering innovative research methodologies, Harris offers expertise in a wide range of industries including healthcare, technology, public affairs, energy, telecommunications, financial services, insurance, media, retail, restaurant, and consumer package goods. Serving clients in over 215 countries and territories through our North American, European, and Asian offices and a network of independent market research firms, Harris specializes in delivering research solutions that help us – and our clients – stay ahead of what's next. For more information, please visit www.harrisinteractive.com.

About 24/7 Wall St.

24/7 Wall St. is a leading independent financial news and opinion website focused on the U.S. and global equity markets.  The site publishes over 20 original articles a day on topics ranging from stock and sector news and market commentary to financial analysis and industry research.  Through syndication partnerships, 24/7 Wall St.'s articles are republished by the leading financial networks and the largest news websites, including Dow Jones Marketwatch, The Street, AOL's Daily Finance, The Huffington Post, Yahoo! Finance, The Atlantic, and Comcast.net. For more information, please visit www.247wallst.com.

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SOURCE Harris Interactive