Running an ad during the Super Bowl used to be the height of American marketing; however, over the years the viewership has dropped and even the devoted viewers are dividing their attention between the game and the discussion about the game on social media. Appealing to the web has become more important than a 30-second TV ad. Brands know this, which is why each year, Super Bowl “commercials” look less like traditional advertisements and more like viral campaigns that do best and live longest on the web.
Moving toward the Internet offers brands more than just a less expensive way to reach people–there’s more data too. For example, if Taco Bell runs a televised ad, they can’t track how many people went out and bought Taco Bell. An online presence is more targeted and every click moves consumers down the channel to purchase.
With that being said, here are Seven Super Bowl Marketing Strategies for your brand:
- Incorporate more video
- Avoid basic pics to stop-scroll and get peoples’ attention
- Make the product pic absolutely beautiful
- Collaborate with creative influencers
- Gear your marketing toward the day after (despite low real-time viewing numbers, a mass number of people view commercials before and after the game)
- Create sales and discount codes
- Geo target your campaigns
Check out some of these past Super Bowl social media ads:
- Oreos “You can still dunk in the dark” posted during the blackout in 2013
- Over 14k Retweets and 6.8k likes
- This post worked so well because it was in real-time and Oreo was creatively unique.
- Budweiser’s “Born The Hard Way” features an immigrant arriving in the United States in 1857.
- “This story celebrates Adolphus Busch’s American dream and the bold vision to brew the best beer in the world,” said Peter Kraemer, Budweiser’s fifth generation master brewer. “While everyone knows Budweiser, they don’t necessarily know our story and how we came to be brewed the hard way.”
- Earned 435k shares on game day and is the most shared ad.
- This ad worked so well for Budweiser because it tells a true story and connects consumers to the history of the brand.
- Airbnb’s “We accept” ad showcasing people of different sex, age, gender, ethnic background, etc. and promoting acceptance.
- This performed so well because it speaks to everyone.
- On Twitter, #weaccept was the #1 used advertiser hashtag during the 2017 Super Bowl, as Airbnb generated over 33k tweets during the first half of the game, more than any other advertiser, with overwhelmingly positive sentiment. Reactions to the overall campaign were 85% positive.
- It was shared more than 90,000 times and received over 500k likes on FB and IG.
- T-Mobile’s “Unlimited Moves” featuring Justin Bieber and celebrating moves over the years.
- This worked for T-Mobile because they used a popular figure like Justin Bieber, related it to football, and made it silly!
- Came in at approx. 155.070 total social shares.
- 84 Lumbers “The Entire Journey” showcases a mother and daughter’s journey from Mexico to the US. It was both beautiful and provocative and got a lot of people talking. Their man goal was to educate people on who they were and entice people into coming to work for them.
- This ad raised some controversy between some and left others confused, however it got people talking.
- 84 Lumber made it known that their only goal was to “highlight the type of person we’re looking for at 84 Lumber.”
Contact us today to see how we can help take your brand to the next level—on the field and off!
