The 2015 Super Bowl set a U.S. television record with 114.4 million viewers, igniting a social media wildfire of user-generated posts. According to NBC, there were over 28 million tweets and 65 million Facebook users engaging in posts, likes, and comments.
You can imagine every business owner is licking their chops to take advantage of the colossal numbers of last year’s event, and assuming Super Bowl 50, headlined by our very own Carolina Panthers, will reach more viewers and engagement through social media, advertising during pivotal moments of the event can stir business immensely.
As for options for marketing your company, aside from the $5 million tab you would receive for a televised 30-second ad, here are a few tips to hop on the bandwagon into the social advertising frenzy we call the Super Bowl:
1. Target popular trends on Facebook and Twitter
Search bars are accessible through both platforms to find the most used hashtags, keywords, and player names relevant to the game. The official Super Bowl hashtag is #SB50, but be creative when incorporating these texts in your posts to reach the most broad audience. Also, creating Facebook groups specific to Super Bowl 50 can create conversation within the members.
- Popular hashtags include: #SB50 – #SuperBowl – #Broncos – #Panthers – and of course #KeepPounding
2.Utilize user-generated content
Let the fans on social media be the center of conversation instead of your business’ advertising. Hold contests or create polls to incentivize user engagement while marketing your company.
3. Cater to the mobile-device
During the 2015 Super Bowl, 80 percent of viewers also accessed social media platforms, also known as ‘second-screeners.’ Knowing this, advertising should be clear, concise, and to the point at which users are not focused in too long. Create images or video’s that incorporate the Super Bowl with your company to engage people looking away from their television screens.
- In an article featured on CNBC, Matt Idema, a marketing executive at Facebook said, “Eighty percent of our revenue is mobile. The reach that mobile devices have, and the fact that Facebook and Instagram are two of the most important mobile platforms, means you can get a lot of reach and engagement on mobile even if you’re not buying a Super Bowl ad.”
With that said, take advantage of the opportunity to gain more exposure for your brand via social media during the Superbowl. Oreo did a great job in 2013 by harnessing the power outage as an opportunity to engage with followers when the game was delayed.
Super Bowl 50 will presumably set record numbers in viewership and social engagement as past Super Bowls have, creating a whirlwind of options for your business’ advertising presence on social media platforms. With the big event just days away, who are you picking? #KeepPounding – just sayin.’
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Many social media marketing tools — blogs, social networks or media sharing sites, for example — have similar functionality, such as providing for conversations between users, interaction within communities, collaboration and sharing. Many of these tools and allow users to set up a profile to establish their identity and interests, and to connect with others — friends, fans, followers, subscribers, contacts — and to interact with those connections.