Four Strategies to
Succeed in a
MultiScreen World
Read on for strategies, insights and
takeaways to help your business keep
up with today’s lightning-fast shifts in
consumer behavior.
Four Strategies to Succeed in a MultiScreen World
Executive Summary
As marketers, we’re constantly fighting for attention in a world of shiny objects, but the reality is that today’s modern
consumer will always have a deficit of attention. The only successful way forward is to go beyond passive advertising
and create meaningful interactions with consumers. These interactions are now occurring across multiple devices
and multiple screens. Users will choose a particular device based on their location, timing, goals and attitude.
We’ve crafted four strategies, along with insights and takeaways, to help your business keep up with today’s
lightning-fast shifts in consumer behavior.
In this guide, find out more on how to:
• Define the goals of your customers.
• Identify and understand which screens your customers prefer.
• Determine how multiple screens help your customers achieve their goals.
• Locate where your customers are using their devices.
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Introduction
Along with the introduction of new technologies and
tools, consumer behavior is also evolving, reflecting
these advances. Brands are challenged with attempting
to mirror consumer behavior moving at lightning
pace. Unfortunately, most marketing and advertising
strategies evolve on their own timelines rather than
what’s relevant to today’s consumer. That being said, the
marketing strategies you’re currently executing may be
outdated. If they’re not, they will be soon.
Many still create strategies based on segments and
buzzwords like “digital,” “traditional” and “mobile.”
Buzzwords do not accurately speak to modern
consumer behavior. Consumers have already leaped
beyond digital and mobile. We are a nation of
multimedia, multitaskers and multi-screeners.
Consumer Screens
Most media consumption today occurs in front of
screens, most commonly a computer, smartphone
tablet and/or TV.
Compared to the 18-to-64-year-old general population,
multi-screen consumers:
• Have both a higher discretionary income and a higher
mean household income.
• Are more educated and more likely to have attended
college.
• Are slightly more likely to be employed.
As marketers, we’re constantly fighting for attention in
a world of shiny objects, but the reality is that today’s
modern consumer will always have a deficit of attention.
They are tweeting during television shows. They are
listening to Pandora while they watch Hulu. They are
watching HBO GO on their iPad, while they text their
friends on mobile phones, while they work on laptops
at Starbucks. They are 15, 20, 30, 40 and 50. They
are men and women. They are moms, dads, sons and
daughters. They are students and professionals. They
are connected 24/7 and they demand utility.
• 77 percent of TV viewers are interacting with another
device at the same time.
The only successful way forward is to go beyond passive
advertising and create meaningful interactions with
consumers. These interactions are now occurring across
multiple devices and multiple screens. Users will choose
a particular device based on their location, timing, goals
and attitude. Your objective is to offer them experiences
optimized for each device.
Why This Matters
Questions to Ask Yourself
Multi-screen usage is increasingly impacting brands.
• What screens are your customers using?
• According to a report by Videology, brands
implementing multi-screen marketing will be recalled
nine times higher.
• How are your customers using multiple screens to
accomplish tasks?
• Ninety percent of media interactions are screen-based.
• Consumers spend 4.4 hours of leisure time in
front of screens each day.
• An eMarketer study of multi-device video found that
brands achieve a 7 percent increase in reach when
utilizing a multi-screen approach.
• What are your customers’ motivations for choosing the
screens they do?
• Where are they using these screens?
• A Google and Nielson research report found multiscreen users have 17 percent more ad recall.
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As marketers, we’re constantly
fighting for attention in a
world of shiny objects, but the
reality is that today’s modern
consumer will always have a
deficit of attention.
STRATEGY 1
Define the Goals of Your Customers
What do your customers want from the media they consume? What
experiences are they currently receiving? Are they searching for information?
Are they using their screens for entertainment? Are they seeking
complementary content on an alternate screen? Do they want to make a
purchase? It’s vital to understand what your customers’ motivations and
goals are with the devices they choose.
Insights
TAKEAWAY
A successful multi-screen
strategy means that brands
understand their customers’
motivations and are actively
creating utility to fulfill goals.
Every screen is now a potential
vehicle for awareness, interaction
and purchase. Every screen offers
an experience.
Differing Screen Motivations
Different devices are utilized with varying motivations.
PC: 40 percent use for finding information.
Smartphones: 54 percent use for communication and 33 percent for entertainment.
Tablets: 63 percent of use for entertainment and 32 percent for communication.
By Age Groups
Although the age gap is shrinking, different age demographics use their
devices differently.
Use Their Device to Learn About Brands, Products and Services
Age 18-34: 81 percent computer, 92 percent smartphone.
Age 35-64: 37 percent computer, 36 percent smartphone.
Use Their Device to Pass Along Information
Age 18-34: 74 percent computer, 88 percent smartphone.
Age 35-64: 69 percent computer, 78 percent smartphone.
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STRATEGY 2
Identify and Understand Which Screens
Your Customers Prefer
Consumers today own multiple devices and move seamlessly between each
of them throughout their day. It’s important to understand which screens
this includes within your audience. How do your customers currently
consume media? This will help identify what areas you need to be investing
in and which experiences are most relevant. Consumers require relevance
and utility – brands must understand how to help consumers accomplish
their goals and which devices they use to achieve them.
Insights
We use an average of three different screen combinations each day, but
smartphones have become the foundation of our daily media interactions.
They have become the device with the highest number of user interactions
per day and serve as the most common starting point for activities across
multiple screens.
Percentage of Daily Media Interactions
PC: 24 percent.
TAKEAWAY
Consumers turn to their devices
in various contexts. Marketing
strategies should reflect the
needs of a consumer on a
specific screen, and differences
in experiences need to be
accommodated with each device.
Any multi-screen strategy should
incorporate smartphones, but
it’s important to understand your
specific targeted consumer and
what they’re trying to achieve –
plus, which screen and device
best accommodates that. 34 percent
of consumers use the device
that’s closest to them when
looking for information, so while
smartphones offer this solution
most frequently today, devices
like tablets will increase in the
amount of utility they offer.
Smartphones: 38 percent.
Tablets: Nine percent.
Average Time Spent per Interaction
Smartphone: 17 minutes.
Tablet: 30 minutes.
PC/Laptop: 39 minutes.
TV: 43 minutes.
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STRATEGY 3
Determine How Multiple Screens Help
Your Customers Achieve Their Goals
Activities on one screen impact another. Screens cannot be segmented into
a tablet thing or a smartphone thing. Just because devices can complete
the same task, doesn’t mean that is how users are interacting. Laptops,
smartphones and tablets all have the option of internet access, but those
devices don’t offer the same customer experience. 65 percent of smartphone
users say it’s very common that sites don’t work well on their devices. The
same pattern can be applied to video, search, shopping and so on.
Insights
There are two consumer modes of multi-screen use: sequential usage and
simultaneous usage.
Sequential Usage – Moving from one device to another at different times to
accomplish the same task.
Sequential usage is more common than simultaneous and most users are
likely to complete their tasks within a day. 90 percent of multi-screen consumers
use sequential screening to accomplish a task. 98 percent accomplish that task
that same day.
TAKEAWAY
Acknowledging the importance
of the user experience across
screens is vitally important for
your strategy. Your customers are
seeking a seamless path across
their devices. It’s important
for marketers to understand
a seamless user experience
applies to completing a task or
goal, not duplicating content. In
regards to content, what works
well on one screen, such as TV,
does not work well for all, like
smartphones.
If brands are able to create
experiences that logically flow
from one screen to another,
consumers will get what they
want, when they want it and
wherever they are.
Top Activities Performed of Sequential Usage
Browsing the internet: 81 percent.
Social networking: 72 percent.
Shopping: 67 percent.
Simultaneous Usage – Using more than one device at the same time, multitasking towards a related or an unrelated activity.
Top Activities Performed of Simultaneous Usage
Emailing: 60 percent.
Browsing the internet: 44 percent.
Social networking: 42 percent.
Devices Usage for Tasks
Smartphone to PC to Tablet for most common online activities.
PC to Smartphone to Tablet for complex activities.
Tablet to smartphone to PC Shopping.
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STRATEGY 4
Locate Where Your Customers Are
Using Their Devices
Where are your consumers physically using their devices to access your
content? Are they walking around a store looking for better prices or more
product information? Are they at home on the couch supplementing their TV
viewing?
Insights
Not all smartphones users are on the go and some tablet users are
interacting out of home. Where your customers are interacting may surprise
you – it’s worth checking out.
TAKEAWAY
Understand the consumption
habits of your audience in order
to maximize each device channel.
As the location changes, so do
the goals of your consumers.
Reaching them in the right
place at the right time is key
for effective strategy. Give
them utility wherever they are
and you’ll quickly gain new
customers.
69 percent of PC/laptop use occurs at home, 31 percent occurs out of home.
60 percent of smartphone use occurs at home, 40 percent occurs out of the home.
79 percent of tablet use occurs at home, 21 percent occurs out of the home.
Conclusion
The era of the connected consumer is here. It’s a world where media is
fragmented, where people use multiple devices separately and together to
consume content and complete tasks. Strategists need to work to reflect
the world consumers are living in. Consumers desire cohesive, connected
experiences that extend across the screens they use every day. The
multi-screen world translates to every customer interaction with a
brand taking a different path, with each screen playing a different role.
In order to succeed, marketers must now adapt brand strategies to fit
the needs of the multi-tasking, multi-screening consumer before the
competition does it first.
References
eMarketer Daily
Videology Video Convergence
Google – The New MultiScreen World
Microsoft Advertising – MultiScreen White Papers
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agency of dreamers, innovators
and creators working to connect
people and brands. The agency
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Phenomblue is a leading member
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Engagement group about working
with us, or to hear more about our
approach to innovation and utility,
please drop us a line at
[email protected].
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We are a brand experience agency
of dreamers, innovators and creators
working to connect people and brands.
phenomblue.com
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