Media CEOs look to Smartphones & Tablets for Digital Growth.

CEOs within the media and entertainment industry are leaning on social media, as well as tablets and smartphones, to encourage growth and build customer connections in the future.

Ernst & Young surveyed CEOs from global entertainment and media companies for a September 2012 study on digital growth and found that while social media has a solid position within these companies, many CEOs are more bullish on mobile and tablets for future growth.

When asked about the role social media plays within their companies, 84% of respondents said it allowed them to connect with customers, while 69% said social was a tool to build audiences. Additionally, 63% highlighted how social helped with brand building and 50% said it served as a distribution platform or channel, and also as a source of revenue.

But while social media helps businesses connect with customers and audiences, it is the mobile-based technologies that CEOs think will have the greatest effect on the media and entertainment industry in the next three years. Four-fifths (79%) of CEOs said tablets would have the greatest impact, while 62% said smartphones would also be influential. Social media came in at the bottom of the list, with only 44% of respondents citing it as likely to have a major impact on the industry.

Additionally, mobile devices topped the list when CEOs were asked about the biggest drivers of growth in content consumption over the next three years. Respondents were able to choose three growth drivers and all (100%) cited mobile devices, including smartphones and tablets. Improving broadband and mobile network infrastructure and affordability was the second-most-popular response, at a comparatively low 53%.

Social media continues to play an important part in technology advancement and content consumption within the entertainment and media industry. But mobile devices and technology will lead the way, particularly over the next three years, according to CEOs. As these two areas of technology become more intertwined, the impact mobile and social have on the media and entertainment industry, and on others as well, will continue to grow, and grow together.

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