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8/8/22, 10:00 AM Why Do Big Companies Still Advertise On TV Instead Of Social Media?

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Why Do Big Companies Still Advertise

On TV Instead Of Social Media?

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Mar 1, 2019, 06:06pm EST

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8/8/22, 10:00 AM Why Do Big Companies Still Advertise On TV Instead Of Social Media?

https://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2019/03/01/why-do-big-companies-still-advertise-on-tv-instead-of-social-media/?sh=7ea785afdd41 2/8

Why do big companies still advertise on TV instead of social media? originally appeared

on Quora: the place to gain and share knowledge, empowering people to learn from

others and better understand the world.

Answer by Laurence Shanet, Director of Commercials, on Quora:

Why do big companies still advertise on TV instead of social media?

There’s a saying used by a number of us here on Quora: Before you ask why, you

must ask if. And in this case, I also think you must ask “instead of or in addition to?”

Very few large public-facing companies these days advertise only in one medium.

Chances are that any large company you’re thinking of also advertises in some form on

social media in addition to any television advertising that it is doing. You just may not

have noticed it. There are a number of other possible reasons for your perception that

“big companies still advertise on TV instead of social media”:

1. It works. In some ways, your question may answer itself. I can think of no better

proof of effectiveness than the fact that you’re aware of their TV advertising and

not of their social media advertising.

2. It’s part of a larger, so-called 360 campaign. Often television advertising is

part of an overall advertising and marketing plan. And television’s role in that is

8/8/22, 10:00 AM Why Do Big Companies Still Advertise On TV Instead Of Social Media?

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very specific. Television is still an excellent way to generate large numbers in terms

of reach (see next item) and brand awareness, while social media is often used in

different strategic ways. They are both specific tools with specific applications and

benefits in a much wider arsenal.

3. TV has greater reach. Reach is the measure of how many different people a

communication is seen by. It is complemented by frequency, which is the number

of times the average person sees the message. As of 2018, the US had 304.5 million

television viewers, which represents a 0.9% increase over 2017. And in 2017, the

301.7 million television viewers was an increase of 1.6% over 2016. So despite

rumors to the contrary, TV viewership isn’t dying. It’s still growing. And the the

percentage of U.S. homes with televisions receiving traditional TV signals on a TV

set is currently at a whopping 96.5%. That was also an increase of 0.5% over 2018.

US social media users were estimated at roughly 209 million, and they estimate

about 70–77% of the population accessed the internet at all, only some of which

was for social media. So while social media penetration is huge, TV is quite a bit

bigger. So more people can see the message.

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4. People watch TV primarily at home or during leisure time. This means

that they can focus on the message and take it in, rather than having to divide their

attention with their work at the same time. While 70+% of people in the US can

access the internet, as stated above, a significant percentage of this is based on

access at work. That is much less of a factor in television viewing.

5. Television advertisers provide an immediate benefit/reward for

viewing. Paid advertising supports the programs that it is surrounded by. This

means not only that the viewer is likely to stick around through the ad or come

back to the station afterward, but that they are aware of getting something they

want (a show) in return for watching the ad. While viewers complain that they

don’t like commercials, research shows that many people actually choose to watch

them and enjoy them. And at the very least they understand the deal they are

making for getting the programming they want for free in return. Although some

social media advertising also provides entertainment or a benefit, it is not part of

the “covenant” and the viewer really has less reason to stay and watch or return.

8/8/22, 10:00 AM Why Do Big Companies Still Advertise On TV Instead Of Social Media?

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Social media advertising therefore doesn’t promise to provide anything in return

for viewing and really only benefits the advertiser.

6. Television advertising confers legitimacy and prestige. Because of its

higher cost and visibility, television immediately confers an element of prestige

and legitimacy on the advertiser. It’s an unspoken endorsement for the company

just to be there. By contrast, social media advertising can be done at a

smaller/cheaper scale and with lower investments in production costs. This is the

same reason that some companies have been known to blow their entire

advertising budget on one Super Bowl ad.

7. There’s less noise. While there seems to be a lot of advertising on TV, in reality

there are usually only 1–3 other ads running in a given commercial break

alongside a company’s TV commercial. Meanwhile, on social media, there is a

constant slew of ads populating most people’s feeds, numbering in the dozens

every few minutes.

8. It’s a captive/passive audience. If a viewer is watching a show, there’s only

one thing going on at any given moment on the TV. It’s either the show or the ad.

On social media, a user’s feed is a collection of dozens of items that the user can

engage with or ignore. The social media user has to choose to engage with your ad,

while the TV viewer just sits there and sees it in isolation without having to opt in.

9. They have different demographics (and the television audience can be

older/richer). While social media is renowned for its ability to target the

younger target, television has the best penetration with older, wealthier targets,

many of whom are very desirable to big companies as potential customers.

8/8/22, 10:00 AM Why Do Big Companies Still Advertise On TV Instead Of Social Media?

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10. Effectiveness means cost-effectiveness. Many large advertisers were lured

into moving large amounts of their advertising budgets into social media based on

fear of not being there. And also based on the misperception that it would cost

them less. A lot of this was based on exciting presentations made by ad agencies

and media sales organizations. But in the end, television advertising has a very

good rate of converting viewers to users. In many cases, more so than social media

does. So they get more for their dollars even if they’re higher.

11. They can tell the story they want to. For some kinds of products and

messages, the freedom of making a short film (which is what commercials really

are) about the product or service is a better way to convey the message and

meaning a company wants to. In many cases, on social media, the advertiser either

has to use a more static print-style format or find some way to ensure that the user

actually clicks through to see their video. While a television advertiser can just be

promotional to their captive audience, social media advertisers have to entertain

users first and convince them to select the ad for viewing if they want to show an

actual filmed piece.

12. Television and social media have different rules and restrictions.

Depending on what is being advertised, and what the rules are for that particular

category or genre, advertisers may be able to say things on television that they

can’t on social media. The message sometimes determines the medium.

13. Television is a one way street. While the interactive aspect of social media can

be very useful and powerful, it can also be risky. Many advertisers want to be able

to say their message without having to deal with every comment that any random

user wants to make about it. On social media, they can’t always control acts of

8/8/22, 10:00 AM Why Do Big Companies Still Advertise On TV Instead Of Social Media?

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anger, vandalism, or random irrelevance that social media can generate. Often

they don’t want their message to appear alongside other messages they can’t

control. Just because companies sometimes want to hear from you doesn’t mean

they always do. Nor do they want to hand over control of their brand’s image to the

general public.

Bottom line: It’s actually fairly unlikely that the large companies you’re thinking of are

actually advertising on TV instead of social media. They are probably doing it in

addition to social media. And the reason they are doing that is that it is very effective

for them, and works much better than social media alone for all of the reasons stated

above. So much so that you have noticed their television advertising more than their

other forms.

This question originally appeared on Quora - the place to gain and share knowledge,

empowering people to learn from others and better understand the world. You can follow

Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions:

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