Nowadays, with so many “second screens” out there, any network and marketing team will tell you that social TV strategies are top of mind.

The question is: Which of those strategies will actually bring results? Which can truly monetize that second screen, and what social marketing ideas end up with more eyes on your show?

In The Conference session “PromaxBDA Innovations Committee Presents: Driving Viewers and Revenue with Creative Social TV Strategies,” moderator Andy Batkin, CEO of Social Summits, hopes to make some sense out of the many social strategies out there – the good, the bad and the most successful.

First of all, according to Batkin, “This is a totally consumer-driven phenomenon” – no executive board sat down to decide that the 18-34 demographic should sit down at primetime with Facebook open on their smartphones. This began with the viewer and much of the time, networks are just trying to catch up.

When asked who in the TV environment has got social TV down, Batkin said, “USA Network is probably doing it the best.” He says this is partly because “viewers are show-specific. They don’t watch networks anymore. They watch their TV shows, wherever they are.” And in USA Network’s social strategies, the network reaches each show’s niche audience as unique – the cable net has defined its audience well and continues tailoring their experiences accordingly.

Batkin also says that one misconception he plans to address in the session is that not all social engagement is true viewer engagement – “Judging the amount of tweets you’re getting doesn’t always equal the amount of true engagement.” What matters is that from those tweets, how many people are actually watching the show, or following along online, or advocating your network to their friends.

One major issue with social TV today is ratings. According to Batkin, while Nelsen remains the currency in metrics, he thinks the future lies in combining on-air ratings with social metrics in order to learn the true value in programming.

Don’t miss Batkin’s session at The Conference, “PromaxBDA Innovations Committee Presents: Driving Viewers and Revenue with Creative Social TV Strategies,” at 9:00 a.m. on Wednesday, June 19.

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