Emerging technology and portable devices are rapidly changing the way in which Americans watch videos. Whether it is a television sitcom, full-length movies, or short video clip about cats, we are using different devices in multiple locations.

Nielsen commissioned YuMe to study and report on the impact of multi-screen usage across the varying demographic segments. Although there were some pieces of information that I had expected to see, there were also a few surprises.

  1. More households own a computer than owned a television set.
  2. While the average adult owns an average of 2.6 devices, teenagers own an average 3.2. For this study, devices can include a computer (any), television, smartphone, game console, tablet, Blue-Ray/DVD player, Smart TV, or OTT (audio, video, or other content delivered over the internet).
  3. More often than not, while watching television, we are distracted by our smartphone (80%), laptop (75%), tablet (73%), or a desktop computer (45%).
  4. The report states that Millennials are on a connected device 92% of the time that they are also watching television. A powerful fact is that 47% of them accessed information related to the content they were viewing on the TV.

video infographic

So what does this mean for you as a small business owner and marketer? Good news, really. You have more opportunity to educate, engage, and entertain potential buyers than ever before – often times with better targeting and at the same or lower cost.

The report states that shifting as little as 20% of your television/cable budgets into online media will result in a 8.2% lift in campaign reach and could result in as much as a 50% higher brand impact. Adding digital media into your marketing mix provides significant incremental lift in the consumer’s perceptions of the brand in information sought, trustworthiness, innovation, and overall positive impression.

As television viewership decline and costs continue to increase, now is the time to diversify your marketing mix and maximize the impact of your advertising budgets.