Finding a new audience for a TV show can be a difficult task, as the right angle needs to be found in terms of advertising. However, one medium that a lot of networks seem to be using as of late is Google’s YouTube channel, which is an ideal spot for a secondary programming angle that could easily appeal to possible viewers for its shows, says Adage.

Google actually invited ABC into workshops that help provide such details as to how YouTube could be utilized to draw in viewers, especially younger ones who consistently use cell phones and tablets for entertainment.

“Our overall digital strategy was to make things from scratch, not reuse promos,” said Ben Blatt, exec director-digital strategy, ABC Entertainment. “It requires more money and more time, but we did this for every show. Every piece of content was custom.”

There’s a trick to it, though. TV requires advertising, and YouTube utilizes a system in some cases where an ad can be skipped in around five seconds to get to the desired video – something ABC wants to resolve. “Just putting a TV spot on YouTube won’t work,” said Rebecca Mall, head of industry at Google, who serves as a consultant for the network. “The way TV networks typically market shows on traditional platforms doesn’t necessarily work on YouTube.”

As a result, ABC did some reconfiguring for certain tie-ins with shows, some of which can be seen below.

 

 

For the show How To Get Away With Murder, quick introductions of each of the characters is put into the first few seconds of the clip, including such types as “doucheface,” “idealist” and “the puppy,” amongst others. It’s an ideal way to get to know the characters better – even “doucheface.”

 

The comedy show Selfie focuses on a woman trying to develop a social life outside of digital means, but the YouTube tie-in actually encourages people to “tag” selfies that relate to the show.

 

As part of its work on Selfie, ABC even went as far as to utilize YouTube stars, like CutiePieMarzia, to take part in the “selfie” promotion.

The campaign has been a bit of a success, with Black-ish gaining 200 percent lift with the campaign, and How To Get Away With Murder showing a 170 percent lift. As a result, both campaigns have managed to land in the top five percent of all TV and movie campaigns, as YouTube reported.

“I expect we will see at least three out of the five broadcasters do similar approaches next season based on what ABC did this year,” said Mall.