March is known as one of the biggest sports events in the country, March Madness! Filling out brackets for the tournament is something virtually everyone takes part in. Whether it’s because your company’s employee bracket pool or seeing who knows the most about the sport between your friends, it’s a highly anticipated event. In 2017, there were over 70 million brackets filled out online! That is a lot of people who are taking at least some interest in the tournament.
So how can brands use March Madness to their advantage? We put together a couple of contests that your brand can leverage during the tourney for content and engagement!
Complete Tournament Bracket Contest
Many companies promote bracket contests every year. That’s because it works! People who follow their favorite brands tend to participate in the contests or sweepstakes they promote. Why not use the March Madness challenge too?
Create a Round By Round Contest
Filling out brackets for the tournament can be a lot of fun….until the two teams you picked to go to the championship game both lose in the first round. Many participants stop paying as much attention after their teams have been eliminated or there is virtually zero chance they can win their pool. Build a contest where participants have the chance to win a prize for each round. For example, if they bomb the first round, they can join the next contest and fill out a bracket for the next round with the teams that have made it. This gives everyone a chance to win something each round but it also keeps them coming back to your social media pages or website to engage.
Tournament Winner Contest
Even though there are millions of people who fill multiple brackets out every year, there comes a point where people don’t want to spend more time continuing to complete additional ones. Promoting a contest that allows for your brand loyalists to guess the tourney winner would be an effective way to reach those who have already filled out multiple brackets. This could also be something that people who follow your brand but who aren’t as interested in the tournament may participate in just for fun.
March Madness has always been a popular event that allows anyone to participate. It is also a great tool to generate buzz for your brand and increase engagement with your social media and website. Need help with content ideas? Give us a shout!
