My favorite time of the year is only days away. It’s the day that the New England Patriots add another Lombardi Trophy to their collection. I’m kidding (not really). I’m talking about the Super Bowl!
If it wasn’t obvious above, I’m pulling for the Patriots when Super Bowl Sunday rolls around in the coming days. My passion for New England rivals my passion for media and marketing. Why? Because that is where my passion developed.
If it wasn’t for falling in love with the Patriots and the quarterback play of Tom Brady when I was younger, I probably wouldn’t be doing what I’m doing right now. My interests developed and evolved like one big domino effect: It started with the Patriots; then to all of football; then to the information and media involving football; then to sports journalism; then to journalism; finally ending up in the digital marketing field. That’s how I got to this platform.
But back to the most exciting game of the year. The Super Bowl is not only the day that a football champion is crowned but a day that advertisers and marketers spend months planning and preparing for. It’s not just a football game, it’s a worldwide platform for EVERYTHING.
Each year, the big game consistently ranks as the most watched television event in the United States. The top five most-watched television broadcasts in U.S. history are all Super Bowls. I’m watching no matter who plays in the game. In fact, the only television broadcast event in the top twenty that is not a Super Bowl is the finale of “M.A.S.H.”
Last year’s game had 111.3 million viewers. From a fan’s perspective, it was the wildest game I had ever seen. The Patriots came back from the biggest deficit in Super Bowl history, 28 – 3, to defeat the Atlanta Falcons, 34 – 28. It took me an entire week to come to the realization that the Patriots had won. It’s still hard to wrap my mind around.
One would think that last year’s game would have been the most-watched event of all-time, but the Super Bowl that occurred two years ago was the most-watched television broadcast of all-time with 114.4 million viewers. So, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the upcoming game, Super Bowl LII, ranked near the top of the list when it’s all said and done.
Now you can see why the Super Bowl is like Christmas Day for advertisers and marketers. It’s the biggest and best opportunity for brands to show off their products and services to the biggest audience in one single instance. Why do you think so many people care about the commercials? Here is my favorite commercial from last year.
If your business is interested in advertising with a TV network during the Super Bowl, you should keep in mind the average cost of producing a 30-second ad is $5 million. That boils down to $166,667 per second.
If your business is willing to drop that kind of cash, then we have provided some lessons you should keep in mind when preparing your marketing strategy for the big game:
- Understand your target audience
- Research, research, research!
- Consider teasing your advertisement or campaign
- Opportunity to present new products or services
- Promote until you’re blue in the face
- Keep your customers involved
- Use your competitor’s weakness to your advantage
- Implementation is the key to everything!
I’m not going to break down all of the points from above, but rather talk about a few that are imperative to your potential strategy.
Understand Your Target Audience
The one thing that you might think is different compared to other advertising events is having the ability to target everyone during the Super Bowl. While that is a nice idea, it’s not a strategy you should attempt to implement as with any campaign you are thinking about starting. You should think about the fans of the two teams that are playing, the interests they have, and the demographics that are common to your audience.
We will even get you started in the right direction. Most of the viewers who are watching the Super Bowl are 18 to 34 years old and savvy with the latest trends and digital technology.
Keep Your Customers Involved
This seems like a no-brainer too, but let’s dive a little deeper into customer engagement during the big game.
It’s 2018, so most people are using their smartphones or tablets in some capacity while watching television. Advertisers and marketers should really consider linking their ads to social networks in order capitalize on audience engagement. Here’s a statistic from the leader in television data analytics, Nielsen:
- People who engage with Twitter while watching television ads are more favorable towards a certain brand they interact with. There opinion about the brand increases by 157%, while the intent to purchase a product or service increases by 88%.
Social media advertising is the key to perfecting your Super Bowl marketing strategy.
Using Your Competitor’s Weakness to Your Advantage
When it becomes time to set your path to success for your Super Bowl marketing campaign, it’s important to understand your competitors inside and out. You must monitor how their campaigns succeed and fail. This will ultimately benefit your strategy going into the big game.
Don’t try to imitate their successes of the past, rather innovate upon them with the future in mind. Your rivals will be doing the same thing when it becomes time to start their marketing campaigns. The information you find about your competitor should tell you whether there are gaps in your target market which could be exploited.
Let ENX2 Marketing Take You to the Top
Until a football champion is crowned next week, the only winning I care about is taking the ENX2 Marketing clients to the top of the digital marketing mountain.
You might not get the enormous and shiny diamond championship ring from us, but you will get something better. Our dedication and hard work of taking your business to the top. If your business is in need of a digital marketing upgrade, contact our experts today!
