Sep 20, 2010 Posted in Marketing Ideas

Google TV and What it Means to Marketing

Have  you heard about Google TV yet?  It is Google’s response to Apple TV and it is pretty cool.  Basically, it will allow users to integrate their TV, DVR and the Internet so we’ll be able to do everything through our HD TVs.  Rather than going into all the details I’ve included Google’s YouTube video and below that, I share my thoughts on how I feel this may influence marketing efforts.

The bottom line is that people spend far too much time in-front of their TVs as it is and this will only extend that time.  The difference is that we’ll be able to switch between what we’re watching on TV and anything that pops into our heads.

So what opportunties or challenges does Google TV pose for marketers?  Well, first of all, we can reach TV viewers without having to pay for network time.  Remember, viewers will be able to simultaneously watch TV and browse the web.  Obviously, we need to have a Web presence of some sort for our business but that should go without saying.

We’ll also want to add video to our sites.  Video accounts for more than 50% of web traffic now and that number is only going to increase.  I can’t imagine that surfers will stick around a text-ladened site after coming from an HD channel so it will be imperative that we incorporate some kind of video on our sites.

Social media will also play a bigger role moving forward.  As someone is researching our business it is very likely that they’ll turn to Twitter, FaceBook or a news feed to see what other people are saying about us.  We can’t control these conversations but we will need to be involved so we can influence them. In fact, just through the act of participating and interacting through these channels we’ll be able to show potential customers that we care – and that is the most important thing when it comes to keeping customers.