Social Media Super Bowl

Last night’s Super Bowl may have not turned out the way that you were hoping.  For those that were cheering for the Giants, congrats, and for those that were cheering for the Pats, sorry.  I have been hearing people talk all day about how boring the game was.  The ending of the game sure wasn’t boring, even if most of the rest of the game was.  One thing that a lot of people were interested in this year were the Super Bowl commercials.  Being the technology and social nerd that I am, I was extremely interested in how social media was going to play into all of the ads and commercials.  One thing was for sure after watching just the first set of commercials….social media is for real.

Can you believe that there are still some social media doubters out there?

Most of the commercials last night ended with a hashtag if you did not notice.  I was hooked, I was searching for those hashtags after every commercial.  My TweetDeck had about 10-12 different tabs open.  What’s better than having your customers talking about you on a social platform so all of their friends and family can see what they are talking about.

Sure, you may not have the multi-million dollar budgets as these large corporations that advertise during the Super Bowl, but don’t worry, most people don’t.  How can you leverage some of the same advantages they do by using some of the same tactics?

First, if you do any sort of direct marketing, local TV or radio ads, add a hashtag that you may want your customers to start using.  Creating a hashtag for them can help you keep track easier as opposed to your customer base creating their own hashtag.  Either way, you create or they create, it’s still a win.

Second, you may not be able to reach the masses with your direct mailings or local tv ads, but you can reach anywhere you want with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.  Driving that conversation online can help spread your brand without having to spend the additional marketing expenses.

Third, use this opportunity to monitor your social media outlets and find out what your customers are saying about your company.  Your brand is what your customers and people say, not what you want it to be.

If you are a small business and you still are not active in social media, this should be a sign that you should be.  If you don’t have an in-house person to do it, look to outsource it.  If you have an in-house person to do, but need some help, look for consulting.  Best case scenario, you have somebody in house that knows how to get started, then get it started today.