SportsBattle Cover

Just a few weeks ago was one of the biggest sporting events in the US, the Super Bowl. Heading into March, we are approaching another cultural phenomenon with the NCAA College Basketball Tournament. According to Facebook, 650 million people are connected to a sports page on Facebook and 165 million people follow a sports account on Instagram. With this number of sports enthusiasts on social media, no matter what your company does, there is no reason not to engage and use social media tactics for big events.

1.) Show Your Pride

If it is an event such as the Olympics or the World Cup, this is a perfect time for your company to be patriotic. Create positive energy about the team with pictures of the flag at the office or how your employees are supporting the team. You can even create real time promotions based on the success of the team. If your team advances, provide a discount on a product to celebrate their success.

2.) Build Anticipation

It is only days away until the big game and you want to create a campaign centered on the game. With over 65 million people posting on Facebook during the Super Bowl, it can be hard to make your content stand out from the rest. This is why it is always smart to create a campaign based around the week or days leading up to a sporting event. If you are a food related business, post unique recipes each day using your product. Maybe provide your audience with fun facts leading up to the event. Whatever you do, be creative and create content that you believe your audience will engage with.

3.) Competitions/Promotions

With sports and big events, everyone loves a little competition. This becomes very prominent for the NCAA basketball tournament and people filling out their brackets. If your company sells different products, you can make it fun and incorporate this bracket method with your products. Each day have two of your products go head to head with a vote until there is a champion.

Another idea is to have your customers engaging with your product to win a prize. Have them comment which team they think will win or have them send the best picture of them showing their team spirit. This is an easy way to create conversation and engage with your audience. With any ideas that you may have, make sure that you are following the Facebook Promotion Guidelines. Also be careful what words and logos you use. For example, you need to be an official sponsor to use the Olympic Rings like in the post below.

4.) Incorporate Event Hashtags

With big TV events, hashtags have been used a lot the last few years and can even be seen as a watermark at the bottom of the TV screen. Use this hashtag for your posts to reach a wider audience of people trying to find updates and information. This will increase your reach and also give your post more of a chance to be shared. If you are doing your own promotion, make a unique hashtag and use it with all of your posts

5.) Friendly Debate

With every sporting event comes a little debate on which team everyone wants to win. Create a conversation with your audience and get your audience engaging with each other. Maybe create a poll on who they think will win. This will be a good way to learn more about your audience and build excitement about the event.

Even if your company has no connection to sports – with over 265 millions shares, likes and comments during the Super Bowl – this is a great way to gain exposure and connect with your customers. Each company is different and requires different tactics. Work with Roundpeg to plan your strategy for the next big sporting event.

Curious about the inner workings of the NCAA social media program? About a year ago, Lorraine had a chance to talk to the people who manage the 31 social media accounts. 

READ MORE