Maintaining Brand Momentum Post-Super Bowl

Whether you are thrilled or crushed with the outcome of Sunday’s game, the real winners are the marketers who executed clever campaigns that motivated consumers to buy.

The biggest brand winners aren’t necessarily the ones that spent over $4 million dollars on 30 seconds of airtime. Brands that engage on other, less costly channels have as good a chance of standing out. After all, marketers and consumers still remember Oreo’s big Twitter moment two years ago. To achieve Oreo-level of brand awareness, brands will need to continue these off-air activities well beyond the final whistle this week.

Sure, companies that spent big bucks likely saw a spike in brand awareness on Sunday, but interest generated by ads is often fleeting. Conversation about the brands and engagement with marketing activities tend to decrease during the week after the Super Bowl and trail back down to normal within a few weeks.

Don’t let this happen to your brand. Maintain the momentum you earned from your Super Bowl campaign well into spring with the tips below.

Continue Using Triggered Emails

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, triggered emails are one of the best ways to engage with customers in real-time. By using triggers, you’ll reach them when their minds and their wallets are open. Major sports events like Sunday’s game are an ideal time to do this. With a large portion of your audience watching the event — and many just tuning in to watch commercials — you have a captive audience.

The benefits of triggered emails for these major cultural events extend beyond the four hours of the event. For example, on the day of the parade in the winning team’s hometown, consider sending an offer for 25 percent off the home team’s apparel.

The key is to make the content of these emails specific to the recipient. We know that marketing campaigns around the Super Bowl can be generic and plentiful in nature. Marketers who are willing to try something new and cut through the noise should try this avenue.

Engage In A Continuous Conversation With Customers

A savvy brand likely sent emails to their customers before, during and after Sunday’s event. That level of communication with customers should not drop off after the game. Use the knowledge gained from those Super Bowl engagements in email campaigns throughout 2015.

You may have learned more than you think. Consider which subscribers responded to which emails sent on Sunday. Did they share a banner of their home team your brand created? Did they order pizza during the first quarter?

By analyzing these engagements, brands learn where their subscribers live, which teams they support and what kinds of offers they respond to. Even if subscribers don’t view these emails during the game, that is still valuable information for brands. There’s no sense in emailing a time-sensitive offer to a subscriber who won’t view it in time. Apply your newfound knowledge of your subscribers to email marketing campaigns throughout the year.

Consider Your Customers’ Next Steps

As with any marketing campaign, when planning an email strategy, marketers need to consider the call-to-action. Extending the momentum in engagement from Sunday’s game is no different. Whether marketers want subscribers to make a purchase, log into a mobile app or visit your store, make sure that “ask” is clear.

One interesting way I’ve seen this play out is to encourage subscribers to share offers from email with their social networks. This is a great way to amplify the momentum from Super Bowl campaigns since subscribers, or fans in this case, love cheering for their team publicly. For example, create a congratulatory banner for the winning team and email it to subscribers in that hometown. This is something subscribers will want to share with their networks and extends your campaign beyond Sunday. When creating this content, keep in mind what makes something sharable – a notable offer, creative content and relevant to their audience.

Marketing during the Super Bowl is easy. A large portion of consumers are watching, and they actually want to interact with brands. Maintaining that level of awareness and engagement after the final whistle blows is much more difficult. Thinking strategically and using email activities intelligently can help brands achieve that goal.