One in 9.2 quintillion—that’s the odds of filling out a perfect March Madness bracket. But that doesn’t stop the 40 million or so Americans who place a collective $10.4 billion betting on the NCAA tournament. Even Warren Buffett is offering a prize of $1 million a year for life to any Berkshire-Hathaway employee who makes it past the Sweet 16 round.
Fortunately for marketers, the chances of hitting it big on social media this March Madness season aren’t as slim. To help tilt the odds in your own social media campaign’s favor, this post draws some concrete ideas from March Madness marketing initiatives in the B2B space.
But first, you need to find out if it really makes sense for your B2B brand to piggyback on the March Madness craze. You don’t want to end up on the long list of embarrassing social media fails by brands that seemed a little too eager to jump on the NCAA tournament bandwagon. Chief Marketer suggests going over a quick 3-point checklist to help you decide:
- Does the content reflect your brand? (Reaching a bigger audience won’t mean much if it doesn’t generate engagement.)
- Can you tailor your campaign to fit the right platforms? (The message and delivery need to adapt to each platform’s unique attributes.)
- Does the campaign benefit your audience? (Again, it’s all about engagement, not just reach.)
If your answer to each item is an emphatic yes, then it’s time to get cracking. Here’s a list of practical ideas drawn from B2B companies that pulled off successful March Madness-themed social media campaigns:
#1 Capital One #RoadToOne (cross-platform promotion, the right way)
Capital One’s comprehensive #RoadToOne campaign successfully created a seamless brand experience for the target audience across different social media platforms and marketing channels. The #RoadToOne campaign shared Charles Barkley, Samuel L. Jackson and Spike Lee’s road trip to the 2016 Final Four via an integrated social, TV, and digital experience for fans.
The campaign garnered some impressive engagement numbers: 7,600 mentions, 20 million people reached, 10,000 fan contest entries, and 42% usage rate for its event-specific Snapchat filter. Forbes later named #RoadToOne as the March Madness marketing winner for…
