New Study Explores Content Discovery

A new report from Conviva has found that word of mouth is the most frequent way consumers discover new content, ahead of advertising, social media and platform recommendations.

State of Streaming: Content Discovery showed content streamed for the first time was discovered in four ways: word of mouth (59 percent), advertising (52 percent), social media (49 percent) and streaming service recommendations (43 percent).

“Given the incredible amount of streaming content available today, connecting viewers with content that not only piques their interest but also resonates enough to keep them coming back for more is a significant challenge for publishers looking to identify and engage new audiences,” said Keith Zubchevich, CEO of Conviva. “By leveraging advertising, recommendations and social media to curate and promote their offerings, publishers can expose viewers to new, quality content while simultaneously increasing their reach and brand loyalty.”

Social media is key to content discovery, Conviva reports, with a direct correlation between high social media usage and high streaming video consumption. The typical consumer uses on average 3.4 social media platforms, while heavy streamers use 3.9 and non-streamers 2.3. High social media users are more than twice as likely to spend more than eight hours per day streaming.

Exploring word of mouth, Conviva says that consumers are discovering new content through friends talking about content on social media (20 percent), recommendations by a friend on social media (18 percent) and recommendations by a celebrity or influencer on social media (11 percent). In-person word of mouth, including friend or family recommendations (34 percent) and friends talking about content in person (27 percent), was also important.