We are now a world of multi-screen consumers. People not only spend most of their media time in front of a screen – mobile phones, tablets, computers and TV; but now also juggle more frequently between multiple devices.
According to Think with Google, there are two major modes of multi-screening:
- Sequential Screening: Where people shift their attention between devices.
- Simultaneous Screening: Where multiple devices are used at the same time. Users who engage in simultaneous screening do so in either of two ways:
- Meshing: Using a second screen to consume related content to enhance one’s experience. For instance, watching a football match and commenting on it on Twitter simultaneously or when Nigerians were tweeting while watching BBN 3 Finale.
- Stacking: Using a second screen to conduct an unrelated task while watching TV. For instance; watching a TV show and browsing through Instagram simultaneously.
These multi-screen habits have not only affected how we consume content but also, it has affected the buyer’s journey. Now, people become aware of their needs/wants on one channel, research using one device and then complete the transaction on another device entirely.
How can Marketers make this Habits Work For Them?
- More Interactive Content: As a marketer, you want two things; to break the stacking habit and to enhance meshing; and to achieve this, an emphasis has to be put on creating compelling and highly engaging content. Content that makes your target audience pause, do something else then resume rather than do something else while your content is up there on another screen. Content that is engaging enough to get people sharing and talking about it across different channels and platforms.
- Integrate: Understand all the ways that your target audience consume media and tailor strategies to each channel, each device & fit for every kind of buying habit. Figure out how your marketing can interact engagingly across screens and how your messaging can still be consistent across the different channels available to your consumers. Also, marketers need to ensure that their websites can be easily accessed across all screen sizes and very importantly, that users can save their information seamlessly and continue from where they stopped at any other time and on any of their other devices.
- Update Conversion Goals: Every device is different. They all have their sweet spots and consumers use them differently. For instance, consumers are more likely to use their smartphones for fun activities likes chatting & watching videos while they use their tablets for shopping and computers for more complex tasks. Therefore, it will be somewhat unwise to have a consistent conversion goal across all channels. Marketers need to adjust their goals to account for different devices and be able to track cross-device conversions.
- Think Mobile First: Mobile is taking over as the first screen in the multi-screen buying journey. Use mobile-friendly shareable content for your marketing or adapt your other content to mobile-friendly formats. Also, leverage on search as it is the common bridge across devices.
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