Super Bowl television ads get a lot of eyes, and while some people are coming for the football, others are there for the ads. Whatever the reason, it’s likely that people are also looking for those ads prior to, during, and after the big game on digital channels.
For this reason, brands that are able and willing to spend $5-6 million dollars on a short television ad should also consider incorporating a strong digital media marketing mix, including display, video, and paid social efforts, to supplement this investment. Here are five key digital media areas that brands should focus on.
1) Align Your Digital Creative with the Television Ad
Brands should be developing digital media ads that either complement their Super Bowl ads or show some contextual relevance to the Super Bowl. Specialized ad creative will grab the attention of the digital user more effectively than standard evergreen ads.
2) Prepare to Take Advantage of Increased Web Traffic
Brands can capitalize on the incremental web traffic created by Super Bowl interest by implementing platform pixels for both display and paid social retargeting on their main website and/or any specialized Super Bowl landing pages. Through these pixels, brands are setting themselves up to re-engage users that have visited their site with retargeting ads and drive them to take action - usually at a more efficient cost.
3) Leverage High-Impact or Strategic Display Tactics
While brands prepare retargeting campaigns using all of their new web traffic, another way to leverage display to support Super Bowl television ads is to invest in high-impact placements. For a small fraction of the cost of a Super Bowl television ad, an advertiser can buy prominent site takeover ads on premium sports publishers such as ESPN.com, CBSSports.com, etc., resulting in high reach and viewability.
4) Release and Promote Video Content Online
Consumers are increasingly streaming content online. This allows brands the opportunity to repurpose their commercials for video content placements across the web. Online in-stream video ads are a cheap way to supplement commercials on both YouTube and on miscellaneous sites that feature video content. Additionally, brands who tease their Super Bowl ad prior to the game can build retargeting audiences based on video engagement.
5) Sign On for Social
Social isn’t going away. A lot of Super Bowl game chatter will occur on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat, and brands should prepare their mix of digital media purchases with that in mind. In addition to the standard paid social ad units, it will be interesting to see if and how brands will tap into newer ad formats such as Facebook Instant Articles, Twitter Conversation Ads, and Snapchat Sponsored Lenses to tap into the conversation from the game.
