Brief:

• Business texting firm Zipwhip partnered with audience engagement platform Tagboard to let broadcasters engage with viewers by showing their text messages and photos on-air. The partnership combines Zipwhip's dynamic texting for business with Tagboard's platform to connect media properties with real-time social content, per an announcement shared with Mobile Marketer.
• Seattle's KING 5, an NBC affiliate, debuted viewer texting on its millennial-focused talk show "Take 5" and then added the feature to all news programs, per the announcement. KING 5 viewers posted 1,300 texts during a recent snowstorm in Seattle.
• Professional sports franchises, internal communications teams and retail stores are using Zipwhip and Tagboard, the companies said.

Insight:

Zipwhip and Tagboard are combining their efforts as texting becomes an effective way for businesses to communicate with their customers and audiences. More than three-fourths (76%) of consumers receive texts from businesses, per Zipwhip’s 2019 State of Texting report. Enterprise-level texting can help TV stations receive, direct and monetize those texts and consumer interactions more effectively.

Letting viewers text to TV stations may help some broadcasters retain audiences lost to social media platforms and to boost their mobile presence. Traditional media channels like TV, radio and print that have a mobile presence also have an opportunity to sell targeted ads, Celine Matthiessen, vice president of analysis and insights at advisory firm BIA, said in a report last week. Most local advertisers nationwide will maintain relatively stable total ad spend and media allocations in 2019, BIA said.

The engagement of mobile users during TV broadcasts is good news for mobile marketers. Consumers are most receptive to mobile ads when they're at home relaxing, such as while watching TV or getting ready for bed, according to a survey by mobile marketing firm Aki. Almost two-thirds (59%) of consumers are receptive to mobile ads while watching TV.

Local TV stations are working to reach viewers by setting up broadcasts on platforms like Facebook Live, the social network's real-time streaming platform. Broadcasters of all sizes, from cable news networks to local affiliates, can use Facebook Live to tease regular programming or to stream content not shown on the air, according to streaming tech firm Wowza Media Systems. The company said encouraging viewer participation is the No. 1 reason to stream videos on Facebook Live.