Social media has grown drastically over the past few years; so much that TV shows have integrated social media in their broadcasts to jumpstart discussions while the show is airing. Some TV shows take social media even farther than the simple hashtag to encourage audience participation and promotion while airing. Interested in discovering how these shows find success through this technique?
1. Dancing With the Stars
Dancing With the Stars has taken a modern approach to social media over the last few seasons. The show shares live Tweets on-screen after each performance. What's more, they've partnered with Facebook to show real-time data regarding which dancers are generating the most buzz in the online community. This simple technique pushes more viewers to join in the conversation and to add their votes to the data.
2. The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang Theory uses social media in a way that helps promote the show and get fans actively involved. Here are just a few examples of how they do this.
- The producers use Facebook to display teasers for upcoming episodes to get the fans psyched. Once the show airs, they repost the photo with the dialogue from the show to promote even more fan engagement.
- The show uses the GetGlue app so that fans can check in and let their friends know they're watching.
- Fans can also earn rewards for liking, sharing, and following the show, a tactic that effectively promotes the series.
- These simple methods of involving the audience push viewers to watch the show, engage in conversation, and promote each episode.
3. Bones
Bones has taken a new approach to solving crimes. Today, fans engage in online conversations during the show to help solve the mystery. Using Twitter as their main platform, the show's social media gurus reply to Tweets while maintaining an open dialogue. Fans can vote for their favorite moment, get extra material, and help solve the crime via social media. This is a successful technique of getting audience members interested not only in each episode's mystery but in the series itself.
4. The X Factor
The X Factor uses social media to engage their audience in several ways.
- They allow fans to vote via Twitter.
- They use real-time social data on-air.
- They utilize social media on their social hub website.
- The X Factor has seen incredible success through these social media efforts. After integrating hashtags and social media data on air, their Twitter activity shot up 600 percent, which earned them 3,667 Tweets per minute.
5. Person of Interest
The producers of CBS's Person of Interest have taken their social media tactics to a whole new level, encouraging fans to submit their photos via Facebook for a chance to see their photo appear on the show. Even if your photo doesn't end up on the show, you can still have fun with the app since it delivers a "threat level" score. This fun app gets fans more interested in the series by fueling their love for the show off-screen.
6. Face-off
Syfy's Face-off takes a unique approach to using social media as a marketing technique. Instead of featuring live Tweets during the show, they monitor the Tweets during the first run of the episode. An hour later for the rerun, they feature Tweets from the fans. This gets the fans to watch the episode again to see if their Tweet shows up, and they call this tactic a "Tweet-peat."
Masterclass : "Give TV Programmes a New Life with Social Media" - Mediarte
TV programme producers can use social media to increase audience interest in their programmes. How can you plan your social media content to reach new audiences?
The production set up and format of your programme, from live magazine show to a pre-recorded documentary, are key criteria in delivering your social media strategy.
You will consider all of the key elements that contribute to successful social media activity, putting together a strategy for either a real or imaginary project.