​Entertainment marketers need to look to social platforms as vehicles for cultivating some of the most committed—and inexpensive—brand ambassadors who can drive engagement and help bring the narrative of the show into the digital conversation.

That was the message from a panel of Social TV experts speaking Wednesday at the Digital Entertainment World conference in Los Angeles.

“The trick is to find people [who are] doing the most already, and then give them more power,” said Mick Darling, founder and CEO of Tomorrowish, which bills itself as the first “social media DVR.”

Those people aren’t just taking the “slacktivist” approach with their fandom—for example, just liking a show—they’re engaging in meaningful social conversation that helps convert more viewers.

Series and networks that can help cultivate those brand ambassador by retweeting them or offering them a something experiential can realize a relatively cheap way to generate social buzz. And they don’t even necessarily have to be power users with huge followers, they just have to show a level of dedication and understanding about the show.

The panel cautioned against stunt events and contests to generate more social-media likes and followers, since those tend to attract “the slacktivist” type who will just disappear when the prize or stunt you’re offering is kaput.

“It’s great to have a stunt,” said Terry City, BuzzFeed’s West Coast veep. “It’s great to bring awareness to your product or brand. But after that particular stunt is over, what’s next? How else do you engage these people who liked your page or tweeted out your initiative?”

Israel Niezen, Telescope’s SVP of business strategy and development, suggested four key ways to drive meaningful engagement via social TV.

“The ability to win something is one of them. But when you give away money, you attract the contest freaks,” said Niezen.

Instead Niezen suggested the first driver of engagement is giving away experiential prizes.

It’s also important to give fans the ability to impact a show about which they are passionate.

You can always play to everyone’s desire for fifteen minutes of fame by featuring a particular fan or incorporating UGC into a campaign.

And the fourth driver: access to exclusive content.

“Leveraging that social buzz and social conversation from our brand advocates, and making it more real time and interactive is going to be the big change over next year,” Niezen said.

Brief Take: The social-media ecosystem has matured beyond metrics such as Facebook “likes” and Twitter followers. Entertainment marketers need to shift to cultivating meaningful engagement and conversation that turns fans into brand ambassadors.

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