• march madness marketing

March Madness is finally here. Three weeks of pools, brackets, and heart-stopping buzzer beaters. The excitement is visible everywhere — especially if you spend time on any of the major social networks. Chances are, your potential customers and future prospects are chatting away about this year’s Big Dance. So your social media plan should include talking about it, too.

In higher education it’s a well-known fact that NCAA Cinderella wins (shocking upsets) help colleges boost admissions. The “Flutie Effect” originated after Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie threw a Hail Mary pass to beat Miami in the last seconds of a 1984 football game. This huge win began a two-year jump in application rates for BC.  Since then, national advertisers and local marketers of all industries have been hopping on the bandwagon.

So what can small businesses and their marketing teams do to capitalize on March Madness buzz? While most can’t afford national ad campaigns, they can implement smart social media strategies, leveraging the huge audience that will be watching (and live tweeting) every single game.

Using March Madness Hashtags

Find the #hashtags your company cares about and start tweeting! You’ll grow your follower base while gaining exposure. The official tournament hashtag is #MarchMadness, but if you want to engage more local prospects or otherwise fine-tune your message, here are 100 Twitter hashtags to follow during March Madness.

BKLast year, Burger King created their own hashtag in connection with the tournament and saw huge success with this simple, but cleverly timed post they used the day that the brackets were released. See – Relevant and well timed can get you gold.

Remember to always use hashtags in moderation and context. Don’t just tweet your company’s latest news followed by eight random team tags. Try to align your message with something going on in the tournament. Or write a blog post like this one, combining your professional knowledge with an aspect of b-ball competition. That way you’re participating in the fandom, not just hijacking it.

Here’s a good example from a corporate law firm:

 

Post with Photos and a Relevant Connection

Tweets and Posts with media like photos and videos get an estimated 120% more engagement than posts without. Use your products, your staff in their favorite schools shirt, or even the local school that’s playing that night. Here’s an excellent example of being relevant and timely from social media giant Oreo:

Create March Madness Social Promotions

Get your customers and followers to share their March Madness enthusiasm on your social media accounts. People are already excited about their brackets; so give them another place to play. Depending on your business’ tone and message, you could create a promotion for the alums of participating schools, a giveaway to bracket winners, or even a discount like the one below:

 

Just keep in mind all of the law that go along with social media contests. If your brand is represented on an image-based social media network like Instagram or Pinterest, for example, collecting #MarchMadness related photos may be a fun idea.  But be careful about requiring that entrants must upload an image, or deciding contest winners based on likes/retweets.

Build Community Engagement

Local businesses have a huge opportunity to build camaraderie during March Madness — especially if there’s a local team moving on to the next round or even just making the field of 68. Just about any company can quickly and easily post a cheer for the nearby college, and in many cases, showing your audience that you follow local teams is enough to foster an initial connection.

Again, if you’re going to give shout-outs, do it with context and sincerity. Share your social comment sometime between tipoff and game end. Make mention of any mutual ground, i.e. if someone in your company attended the school that’s competing. Remember: above all, social media marketing is a tool that helps brands and businesses become more relevant and more human, so do just that: Be more human.

Topics: Social Media Marketing

 

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March Madness is finally here. Three weeks of pools, brackets, and heart-stopping buzzer beaters. The excitement is visible everywhere — especially if you spend time on any of the major social networks. Chances are, your potential customers and future prospects are chatting away about this year’s Big Dance. So your social media plan should include talking about it, too.

In higher education it’s a well-known fact that NCAA Cinderella wins (shocking upsets) help colleges boost admissions. The “Flutie Effect” originated after Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie threw a Hail Mary pass to beat Miami in the last seconds of a 1984 football game. This huge win began a two-year jump in application rates for BC.  Since then, national advertisers and local marketers of all industries have been hopping on the bandwagon.

So what can small businesses and their marketing teams do to capitalize on March Madness buzz? While most can’t afford national ad campaigns, they can implement smart social media strategies, leveraging the huge audience that will be watching (and live tweeting) every single game.

Using March Madness Hashtags

Find the #hashtags your company cares about and start tweeting! You’ll grow your follower base while gaining exposure. The official tournament hashtag is #MarchMadness, but if you want to engage more local prospects or otherwise fine-tune your message, here are 100 Twitter hashtags to follow during March Madness.

BKLast year, Burger King created their own hashtag in connection with the tournament and saw huge success with this simple, but cleverly timed post they used the day that the brackets were released. See – Relevant and well timed can get you gold.

Remember to always use hashtags in moderation and context. Don’t just tweet your company’s latest news followed by eight random team tags. Try to align your message with something going on in the tournament. Or write a blog post like this one, combining your professional knowledge with an aspect of b-ball competition. That way you’re participating in the fandom, not just hijacking it.

Here’s a good example from a corporate law firm:

 

Post with Photos and a Relevant Connection

Tweets and Posts with media like photos and videos get an estimated 120% more engagement than posts without. Use your products, your staff in their favorite schools shirt, or even the local school that’s playing that night. Here’s an excellent example of being relevant and timely from social media giant Oreo:

Create March Madness Social Promotions

Get your customers and followers to share their March Madness enthusiasm on your social media accounts. People are already excited about their brackets; so give them another place to play. Depending on your business’ tone and message, you could create a promotion for the alums of participating schools, a giveaway to bracket winners, or even a discount like the one below:

 

Just keep in mind all of the law that go along with social media contests. If your brand is represented on an image-based social media network like Instagram or Pinterest, for example, collecting #MarchMadness related photos may be a fun idea.  But be careful about requiring that entrants must upload an image, or deciding contest winners based on likes/retweets.

Build Community Engagement

Local businesses have a huge opportunity to build camaraderie during March Madness — especially if there’s a local team moving on to the next round or even just making the field of 68. Just about any company can quickly and easily post a cheer for the nearby college, and in many cases, showing your audience that you follow local teams is enough to foster an initial connection.

Again, if you’re going to give shout-outs, do it with context and sincerity. Share your social comment sometime between tipoff and game end. Make mention of any mutual ground, i.e. if someone in your company attended the school that’s competing. Remember: above all, social media marketing is a tool that helps brands and businesses become more relevant and more human, so do just that: Be more human.

Topics: Social Media Marketing

 

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