The Found Gen

Marketing That Works.

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A Case Study in Digital Marketing: The Super Bowl

One of the cornerstones of our mission at The Found Gen is to help clients build a community around their brand. A community engages with a brand, feels passionate about it, shows loyalty toward it…and financially supports it. That’s the end goal.

Consumer engagement comes in many forms and via many digital platforms. And once a year, an event takes place that serves as a showcase for some of the most successful and creative consumer marketing strategies out there: The Super Bowl. In honor of the big game on today, let’s take a look at a couple effective examples of online brand-consumer engagement happening around this hyper-commercialized sporting event.

The Way to a Consumer’s Heart Is Through…

Who reading has not at some point Googled for dip recipes for a Super Bowl party? Food is a major passion point, so it’s a surefire way to reach people looking for ideas online. If your business is in any way related to the food, beverage, health, lifestyle, or entertaining sectors, recipes are a natural fit to engage with your consumers.

For example, a local cheese shop could write blog posts about recipes featuring the cheeses it sells, just as Whole Foods does. A wine boutique could blog about which varietals to pair with hot wings and guacamole.

If your business is building a successful presence on Pinterest, the home chef’s paradise, start a board for Super Bowl foods, like furniture company Raymour & Flanigan or Solo brand cups or Natural Delights Medjool Dates. Or go bigger and host a food competition among consumers, like the cooking contest PepsiCo is hosting this year among chefs (of course, on a scale that works with your size and budget).

Challenge Consumers to Be Creative

Speaking of competitions, one super successful campaign this year has been Doritos’ “Crash the Super Bowl” ad challenge, hosted in conjunction with Universal Pictures. The snack-food brand challenged people to create their own ads and upload them for several rounds of online voting. The two winning ads will air during the big game, and one winner receives $1,000,000 and a job opportunity with Universal (talk about incentives).

Smaller businesses can also engage with customers through online competitions that encourage creativity or spark a dialogue—oftentimes, just a small prize from your brand is motivation enough! Conduct a giveaway on your blog (and publicize it through your social media accounts—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram), encouraging followers to enter through the comments, like the Pioneer Woman’s KitchenAid contests. Or invite consumers to show their creativity on Pinterest by curating a board on a certain theme, like sewing brand McCall did last fall.

Different engagement tactics work for different businesses, of course. So take a serious look at your existing consumers—and your target consumers—and consider their online behavior. What motivates them to engage? And then try something out. Maybe your giveaway will get only 30 participants this month, but next month it might be 50! Online momentum builds with time and energy, so what are you waiting for? Get in the game!

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Why Blogging Can Make Or Break Your Business

When the blogging first came into our everyday jargon, it was hard to believe that the concept would become something substantial.

Now, while most of us have accepted that blogging is here to stay (at least for a little while longer), it seems almost impossible for businesses to accept that the simple act of blogging may be the factor that generates the most traction for their business.

The reason behind the reluctancy isn’t rocket science. To most businesses, blogging seems more like a waste of time than a money-generator. It takes the focus of your business away from your business. Right? Well, sure. If you spend more time blogging than researching in the lab, or prepping for court, or reviewing patient histories–that might not be the best alley for your business.

But then, why are you spending more than 20 minutes to an hour doing that? Or better yet, why haven’t you hired out?

ALLOW ME TO MAKE MY CASE

Just to throw in the three letters that most people dread these days when it comes to their websites, social media and more–let’s talk about SEO. SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is what most people will tell you that your website and blog posts need to adhere to in order for you to see results with blogging. Those people are…relatively right.

Sure, when you blog you want Google and Bing to register your post and list it first. That way, when people google “Realtor, South Florida,” your beautiful three-page website pops up first on the list. But see, with a sea as big as the real estate industry in South Florida–what’s a three page website chock-full of SEO keywords going to do for you?

Now, when you blog, each post gains a new page. Each new page expands your site. With each content-rich post (notice the key word there), you can exponentially increase your reach.

With over 434% more indexed pages on a site with a regular business blog versus a site of a business who neglects to blog, the 80% of consumers who find businesses via the internet will find you first. And to top that off, they will have a wealth of information that solidifies your role as a source of information and expertise in the field.

CROWDED SOAPBOX

Many people and clients have come up to me asking why they should blog given the fact that there is already so much noise in the internet realm. What’s one more useless blog, right?

Wrong.

Yes, there is a great deal of useless chatter and by joining the fray you will be competing for consumer attention, but when did a little competition stop you before? Whether it is running your own business, providing your own service or selling your own product–all of which, I guarantee you, come with a competitor trying to offer the same service and usually at a lower price.

The deciding factor is content. You remember the age-old saying, “Content is King.” Clichéd, perhaps. But the phrase didn’t stick around this long because it was inaccurate.

Regularly creating and delivering content-rich posts will not only set your business apart from competitors and raise you a foot above the slough, it will generate more leads and drive more follow-through business to your company.