The 2018 FIFA World Cup has kicked-off (literally) in Russia, and it doesn’t take a die-hard soccer fan to know, because chances are, you have seen it all over social media. With all of the recent coverage of the World Cup, we wanted to share how businesses can use major sporting events to leverage their own marketing strategy.
Sponsors
Every year, major companies get involved as sponsors during the World Cup. This years lineup includes Adidas, Coca-Cola, Wanda Group, Gazprom, Hyundai, Qatar Airways, and Visa. All of which are major brands that are easily recognized by name or logo. While these sponsorships cost a pretty penny, the coverage is international and runs for over a month long. Not to mention, sports have one of the highest engagement of people at a single time. The last World Cup finals garnered over one billion viewers alone. You will see all of these companies appearing in commercials, instore, and online for the next month during all of the games.
Social
If you are not a multi-million dollar corporation, there are other ways to use the coverage that won’t cost anything. I know what you are thinking, “how does soccer go with my brand?” This is when it’s time to get creative. You can run specials, integrate giveaways, and tailor all of your content towards the games. It’s also very easy and beneficial to utilize trending hashtags to gain more reach on your posts.
Here are some of the types of campaigns:
- Contests: Can you have a predict the score or predict the winner, and use a specific hashtag for entering. You could use this on multiple channels.
- Mix your product in with the watching of games. If your product is a portable workout device, ask your audience to post selfies with the device while a game is playing.
- Ask trivia about players, teams, or the competition. The first person that answers wins some of your brand swag.
By now, we hope you already have ideas brewing to utilize the 2018 World Cup. If you didn’t get a chance this time, there’s always 2022, when the next World Cup takes place. For more on social media strategy for businesses, stay connected on all of the KWSM social channels for daily posts.
