In a multi-screen age, connecting with a captive audience gathered around the telly may feel like an impossible challenge. But what if you could harness both screens?

Numbers Tell the Story

Research has found that 87% of consumers said they used a second screen while watching TV, while around two-thirds of smartphone owners used their phones to research something they saw during a TV ad.

These numbers, combined with the increasing percentage of smart TVs in Australian homes, highlight the potential for marketers to connect what happens on the large screen to how people use their mobile devices.

Syncing with Smart TVs

Connected TVs can provide powerful data. Brands can identify watchers of a certain programs or TV ad at a specific moment. Individual IP addresses enable identification on a household-level. It can be done accurately and at scale.

This allows them to synchronise mobile advertising with what’s on TV. Thanks to the smart TV data, the mobile ads can be targeted on a household-level. Brands may use this to complement their own ads or as a counterpoint to their competitors.

Marketers can then tailor advertising to how consumers view content. Whether it’s scheduled free-to-air or cable TV programs to on-demand subscription services, like Stan or Netflix installed directly on the TV and or through consoles such as Apple TVs or Google Chromecast.

Target to ‘Own the Moment’

How can you do it? Companies like start-up TVadSync offer services that use real-time targeting to deliver your ads to smartphones, tables and laptops, based on what is happening on the TV.

TVadSync’s service also comes into effect the morning after a TV campaign, targeting viewer’s phones, offering digital coupons and location-based promotions.