Marketing Game Plan: How to Create Viral Content for Super Bowl 2014

Creating viral content takes some preparation, opportunity, and a little bit of luck. And huge TV events, like this week’s much anticipated Super Bowl XLVIII, are optimal opportunities for users to boost social media activity and conversation and for brands to get in on the action and contribute.

Last week during the Grammy’s, the team over at Arby’s took it upon themselves to prepare, discover the opportunity, and find luck and success with a tweet they made to Pharrell Williams. The shoutout received a direct response from the artist as well as retweets from other big name brands.

The Preparation:

There are few things you can do to improve the chances of your content going viral during a spectacle of this scale:

Choose the Social Platforms

Focus your efforts on a few key social media platforms for the big day on Sunday. For TV events and award shows, Facebook and Twitter are usually the platforms of choice for the majority of users. And it’s anticipated that 55.8% of users will be sharing and posting on Facebook, according to this infographic.

Craft the Cool Content

There’s no way to predict what will happen during the game or what ads will spark the most conversation. The best way to prepare is to write down a few possible posts before the game and publish them if the opportunity presents itself. The best types of posts have great timing and delivery, humor, and add in an element or surprise. If possible, add in an image to boost visibility.

Add the Hashtags

The Super Bowl hashtags this year are #superbowlxlviii #superbowl #superbowl48. To contribute to the national conversation, add in these hashtags to any posts you publish on Sunday. When it comes to hashtags, Twitter still rules, but as of last year, you can now add hashtags for Facebook thanks to the graph search. Hashtags do a great job to make it easier for users to discover your content and provide additional exposure.

Designate the Right Social Media Managers

This is the America’s biggest TV event. Which means, you’ll need to choose a trusted team that knows your brand and objectives and has the creative knack and common sense to contribute and publish content for you. And it’s as huge plus if that team loves football. The passion will make it easier to find connections and opportunities for creating relatable content.

Don’t Forget to Post Post-Game

Feel free to contribute to the conversation even after the game is over. There are still ample post-game opportunities the week after when people are analyzing the game and talking about their favorite ads of the night. It’s anticipated that 65.3% of viewers will likely post their favorite ads after the Super Bowl on social media and 62.2% of viewers will re-watch their favorite ads on the web.

No one can expect what will happen during Sunday’s game. There might be another blackout or a stunning performance at halftime. All we know is that it will definitely be cold and possibly snowy. Think about how you’d like to contribute to the the conversation ahead of time in these next few days and, who knows, you’ll be better prepared to hit the big leagues. Good luck!

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