By Scott Kelliher, Vice President and Industry Lead, Tech/Telco, Yahoo.
It wasn’t long ago that the ability to drive to your local video store to rent a movie changed entertainment. Watch any movie you want, whenever you want?! Awesome! But smartphones have changed that even further: now it’s watch what you want, when you want, where you want. And smartphones can do much more, ultimately acting as a remote control for all your entertainment programming, much of your real-world wants and desires, and connecting to all kinds of other devices. This shift has not only raised consumer expectations, but it has changed the game for tech marketers as well who need to inform consumers about these fast-changing products. In a recent study, only 24% of people claimed to own a connected device, when two out of three people actually own one — they just didn’t know it! Tech advertisers have a huge opportunity right now to better engage (and educate) consumers to influence their upcoming purchases this year.
Let’s face it.
Connected devices are everywhere, accomplishing more than people ever imagined—and this is only the beginning. There are tons of products to choose from (TVs, refrigerators, lightbulbs, and washers to name a few), decent interoperability (with plenty of room for improvement), and a wide variety of price points. But marketers face a big challenge: how do they show consumers all that their new devices can do, while making sure it’s simple enough to drive adoption?
Our study found that 65% of respondents own at least one smart/connected device. In many cases, people are not associating their smart entertainment devices with being a connected device—because why wouldn’t you be able to watch a program on your TV through the internet? This lack of awareness about the connected device market provides an opportunity for tech advertisers to educate consumers.
What’s a tech marketer to do?
Get better at storytelling. In fact, content marketing is one of the biggest areas of opportunity for these brands today. Consumers are eager for information, and tech advertisers have a chance to create compelling content that alerts potential customers to the wide range of connected device offerings and what this can mean for their everyday lives. In some cases, smart devices have become second nature, but content marketing is a great way to dive deeper and show what sets one product apart the others. Plus, 32% of consumers cited online advertising as the top way they learn about connected devices.
But great content means nothing if consumers don’t see it.
With native ads, tech brands can seamlessly distribute their content marketing to the places their customers are most likely to see it. Combine this with the abundance of data and powerful targeting now available, and advertisers have the insights needed to successfully reach their customers with the products and messages they’re most likely to relate to.
And don’t forget about measurement.
Measurement tools can lead to even greater knowledge of who is most interested your products. These insights can help inform your future content marketing or other advertising efforts.
Connected devices are becoming more prevalent, so it’s essential for tech brands to step up their efforts and find creative ways to educate consumers on the available offerings. Because, while video stores might be a thing of the past, we’re only at the beginning of the story when it comes to connected devices and consumer adoption.
About SCOTT KELLIHER, VP INDUSTRY LEAD – TECH-TELCO, YAHOO
Scott Kelliher joined Yahoo in January 2014 as Vice President and Industry Lead for the technology and telecommunications category. In this role, he is responsible for establishing and maintaining key relationships within these respective verticals while continuing the evolution and development of Yahoo’s go-to-market strategy across all digital media disciplines. These include display, video, search and mobile advertising, as well as audience buying technologies and programmatic buying platforms.
Prior to Yahoo, Kelliher worked at AOL for six years, serving as the Chief Development Officer for the company’s technology and telecommunications client vertical. In this role, he was responsible for developing, evangelizing and leading the implementation of AOL’s go-to-market strategy for the sector’s constituents. This included representing all of AOL’s core media assets, including its owned and operated sites, programmatic technologies and platforms, mobile, video, product and native formats. Prior to his role as CDO, Scott was the East region Telecom & Technology Category Sales Director, and also led AOL’s Sales Strategy Development Team for the East and Southeastern U.S.
Before joining AOL, Kelliher was the Director of Mobile Media Services for Virgin Mobile, where he oversaw the sales and development of differentiated programs available to media partners across the country, including custom content integrations, on-deck WAP banner ads, and Sugar Mama, Virgin Mobile’s platform designed to allow customers to interact with advertising in exchange for free airtime. Prior to Virgin Mobile, Kelliher was the National Director of Sales for The Lodge, one of the country’s foremost providers of original music for television commercials.
A frequent speaker on panels and at industry events, Kelliher is a graduate of Bates College.
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