Super Bowl 51

On February 5, 2017, Super Bowl 51 will be played in Houston Texas, featuring the New England Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons. In 2016, more than 111.9 million viewers watched the Super Bowl in the United States. The Super Bowl consistently stands as one of the most watched sporting events in the world. Whether you truly like watching football or not, most viewers enjoy watching the Super Bowl every year for one reason.

Why? 

The commercial advertisements.

According to USA Today, in 2016, the television network, CBS, charged $5 million per advertisement, which is $166,666 per second, for just 30 seconds! Brands use a significant portion of their marketing budgets to display advertisements during the Super Bowl, because it is an unusual time where viewers are looking forward to the commercials, as opposed to being cynical about advertisements. With the increasing importance of social media, brands use platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, and even Snapchat to strengthen, or weaken, their campaigns digitally. It is imperative that brands engage with the audience via social media to have a successful campaign during the Super Bowl.

Always keep in mind that your campaign should be shared effectively through social media. Last Super Bowl, T-Mobile's advertisement, featuring Drake dancing to Hotline Bling, generated about 80,000 shares on social media using the hashtag #YouGotCarriered, before the game even began!

For 2017, social media today offers a "gameplan" to make the most out of the Super Bowl 51. First, brands should post their advertisements before the game begins to get more viewers. Second, brand should engage more online during the first and second quarters of the game, when viewers are searching for the advertisements more on the internet. Finally, use other forms of media and applications to boost awareness to your ads, for example, banner ads on Facebook.