Get Your Brand Off the Bench: Media During the Super Bowl

As many folks know and everyone could guess, Super Bowl Sunday is the most watched television event of the year.

Get Your Brand Off the Bench

As many folks know and everyone could guess, Super Bowl Sunday is the most watched television event of the year. The 2019 Super Bowl had 98.2 million viewers and garnered a more than 32.2 million social media interactions. While many people tune in for football, the ads played during commercial breaks are often just as exciting. This cultural phenomenon has continued to grow over the last several years and many companies have already released their ads ahead of this year’s game in an effort to get a running start (which hasn’t been banned by the marketing industry, unlike it was in football).

In such a competitive climate, how can smaller brands expect to stand out? A 30-second TV spot costs millions, and even then, companies are all vying for the audience’s attention alongside other big brand players – and snack breaks. For smaller companies who don’t have the budget for multi-million-dollar spots, you can still use the Super Bowl buzz to your advantage.

Digital advertising typically has a lower cost of entry and can be a great way to generate awareness or drive conversions. Highly targeted digital ads can help you reach target audiences for less money and well-tailored messaging can often lead to better metrics as opposed to mass media exposure. Your message can relate to the Super Bowl in some way, like a promotional discount, but you only need to spend enough to target sports fans that are highly likely to make the purchase and complete the conversion. This could mean targeting a few hundred people as opposed to millions, but you’re more likely to get a return on your much smaller investment.

With 80 percent of Americans using smartphones, social media should be considered part of the mix, too. If you can’t afford to pay to play, social media offers still offers a number of organic engagement opportunities. Get involved in the online conversation around the Super Bowl and add your brand to the mix. What’s trending on Instagram? What hashtags are blowing up on Twitter?

Regardless of what platforms might be the most popular, you should never invest any of your hard-earned profits on a campaign without first developing a strategic approach. At Hirons, we never head onto the field without a strong game plan in place and we make sure we’re ready to react – AKA optimize our clients’ campaigns – to anything that comes at us.