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Tag: Facebook

Get Real ROI on Facebook with Sponsored Stories
Many, including big brands, are convinced that Facebook Ads are a waste of money. Under their assumptions, even high rates of fan interaction don’t correlate to new business. However, it’s clear that promoting strong organic posts beyond the natural reach of a page drives the expected post interaction and page likes, while delivering real, money-making conversions.

By focusing on the psychographics, i.e. interest groups, who might be interested in each individual post, a marketer not only saves time and energy by merging organic and paid advertising campaigns, but also leverages the better position and higher click-through rate of Sponsored Stories to expand the business’s reach among its target groups.

If a business is regularly posting good content, a marketer will have no problem finding enough material on which to base his psychographics. Every post, even one somewhat unrelated to the business, has an inherent audience. When we noticed we could do more for one of our low-spending fanbuilding clients, we moved them over to a Sponsored Story-only advertising strategy.

Marketplace Ads for Like-Building

In most cases, Facebook ad campaigns center around “Marketplace” ads, traditional display ads that link to a website or Facebook page. These ads compete with retargeted FBX. On average, 1 of every 2000 to 2500 impressions will lead to a click, where the landing page experience takes over to call the user to action. That means that for a campaign that targets 100,000 people who see the ad 4 times each, an average advertiser only has 160 to 200 chances to get a like from a user.

Despite low interaction rates, Marketplace ads are still an effective generator of Likes. For our client, one of every thousand impressions led to a click, doubling the average rate, and one of every 625 targeted users Liked the page.

Sponsored Stories for Engagement-Building

Sponsored Stories, with both their prominent placement in the sidebar and their engaging display in the news feed for both mobile and desktop users, are by comparison click magnets. Like quality content marketing, Sponsored Stories seek mostly to increase user engagement; however, with the granular interest targeting available in Facebook’s ad platform, marketers can laser-target their content to people who are nearly guaranteed to actually enjoy the content and want more of it in their feed. It’s not uncommon to see 1 of every 100 impressions lead to a click, and many Sponsored Stories can attain a 10% click-through rate from significant audiences of brand-unaware people.

Facebook Actions, the measurement for engagement on the platform, is a major factor in the EdgeRank algorithm that drives placement in the News Feed. By paying for actions at a cost of less than $20 for 1000, marketers create social views for content and boost the overall page’s quality in Facebook’s eyes.

Sponsored Stories can be 95% cheaper per click than Marketplace Ads…

Even though most Sponsored Stories use a Cost per Thousand Impressions bid, Costs per Click are usually significantly lower, likely due to a less competitive auction and stronger bid effects from EdgeRank than in the Marketplace. However, it’s important to understand what a Sponsored Story Click really measures: content views, as opposed to Page or Tab views for Marketplace ads.

Campaign Strategy: Which is Best?

Changing a campaign strategy can obviously radically alter the way users interact with whatever ads are displayed to them. In the case of pivoting from Marketplace to Sponsored Story ads, the shift from page to content views ensures the need to slightly change metrics and goals. Comparing the Reach, Actions, and Page Likes allows a marketer to understand what strategy is best.

Reach is largely unaffected by type of campaign when spends are equal.

Reach gives a marketer a basis on which to judge all other metrics – on Facebook, Reach trumps impressions because the target is users, not something like search terms. Sponsored Stories and Marketplace ads have about the same overall reach at the same spend; however, it’s important to understand that typical Sponsored Story campaigns run more ads at once, reducing the overall Frequency of each individual ad.

Sponsored Stories drastically reduce Frequency of individual ads.

This has a twofold effect: users don’t feel overwhelmed with ads from one company, while the ads can more reasonably masquerade as organic content. As we look at all metrics, remember that the same amount of people are seeing ads and the same cost constraints were in effect.

Sponsored Stories can boost Actions by over 500%!

As mentioned earlier, Sponsored Stories are Action magnets, and switching to a campaign strategy focusing on those kinds of ads will rapidly ramp up measured Actions. For Sponsored Stories showing in the news feed, this is a pretty clear metric; however, Actions includes “Photo Views,” which is simply clicking on the ad if the ad is showing at the top of the sidebar. Regardless, that this interaction is considered an Action hints that simply opening images increases the overall EdgeRank of the post, providing value from even low-engagement users.

These Actions are key to understanding the true value of Sponsored Stories. Such ads are well-equipped to introduce both brand and content to a new user. Extending ideas from eBay’s recent research on paid search, these new users are most likely the ones who will respond to an ad. If a user enjoys the sponsored post, it would follow that they would enjoy more posts in their feed and would then Like the page.

Due to the more labyrinthine path to conversion, Sponsored Stories generate less Page Likes.

Regardless of marketers’ dreams and well-formed theories, that’s not always the case. Since Sponsored Stories campaigns are largely focused around EdgeRank curation through interactions and the current implementation of Sponsored Stories requires a multi-step process for converting to a Like, Sponsored Stories do somewhat worse at creating Likes for a brand on Facebook. The new display of sponsored stories may change this, as a Like button is significantly more prominent.

Sponsored Stories for Driving Real Business

What is the value of interaction if the user won’t Like the page? It’s easy to talk about social proof, exposing your brand and content to others through their friends, and other strengths of Social Media Marketing in general that won’t directly affect anyone’s bottom line.
The real value of these interactions comes from the ability for a user to get in touch with a page in a conversational way about business transactions. Though Facebook has recently implemented conversion tracking – a godsend for Marketplace Ads – there is little way to automatically count the conversions from increased reach and conversions.

Client 1’s Leads from Facebook skyrocket after switching to Sponsored Stories.

In this graph, we counted forms and calls resulting from Facebook referrals and combined those on-site conversion metrics with business-focused Facebook messages and Wall Posts. While certainly each conversion type isn’t equally valuable, all of these interactions give businesses new leads and ultimately paying customers.

Shooting Your Lead Generation in the Foot

The chart above might make it seem that Sponsored Stories are a consistently great way to drive online conversions to a business.
In short: you have to be good at organic social media to be good at paid social media.
Until we talked about leads, we showed two clients in our graphs. Here is the graph of conversions by campaign strategy:

Comparing Clients 1 & 2 paints two radically different pictures of Lead Generation with Sponsored Stories.

Why did Client 2 fail to produce leads, when it followed Client 1 in every other metric? If you’re used to social media marketing, the answers shouldn’t surprise you.

Client 2:
- Posted far too often, sometimes more than 8 times a day. This didn’t allow any organic engagement on the posts and made it less inviting to talk to the business.
- Blocked users from posting on the Wall. This cut off communication from existing clients or potential customers and forced the conversation to be one-way and unsocial.
- Self-promotional posts were often only of interest to current customers, instead of showing off services to people who might not know the face behind the company.
These three factors are not the only conversion-killers, and may not be an albatross in every case; however, they outline the main tenets of getting ROI on Facebook: transparency, community, and openness.

How to Win at Facebook and Alienate Competitors

Any advertising campaign should ultimately be about one thing: new customers. Sponsored Stories, which demonstrates the added value to the user that Liking the page would bring, can also demonstrate the added value of the user patronizing the business. By maintaining a strong organic presence on Facebook, you boost your paid efforts while maintaining the relationships with your existing Fans. The Actions magnet, Sponsored Stories, is now an amplifier of your Facebook presence.

The Key to Real ROI on Facebook
1. Combine organic and paid social media campaigns into one unified strategy.
2. Foster a comfortable social community where your business seems responsive to client and potential client needs.
3. Focus on real metrics that not only affect Facebook, but your business’s bottom line.
April 1, 2013
5 for Friday — Links, Stories, & Posts for Your Weekend

1. Who is Winning the Apple vs. Google iPhone Driving Directions Battle? Too Close to Call — Mike Blumenthal

Even if you don’t keep up with the war between Apple and Google, you’re probably familiar with Apple Maps and it’s not-so-impressive emergence last fall. Well, since then, the app’s gotten its ducks in a row, and I know quite a few people that use it as their primary navigation tool. But how does it compare to Google Maps? Mike Blumenthal decided to find out. Check out this blog post to see how the two compare now that Apple Maps has matured a bit. I assumed that Google Maps was still the outright leader and was surprised by the results. Who knows, maybe I need to switch over to Apple Maps!

2. The Woman’s Guide to Having it All — Outspoken Media

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the role of women in SEO and the tech industry in general. It amazes me how few women there are, and I often wonder how we can change that. There are several active initiatives to get girls interested in technology, and I truly hope that they can change the future demographics of the tech world. But how do we get women noticed right now? In this blog post, Rhea Drysdal discusses her idea of what it means to be a successful female in the industry and what she thinks needs to change. Drydal is currently pregnant, which adds an interesting twist to her view on the situation.

3. How To Protect Your Home Business From A Natural Disaster — Graywolf’s SEO Blog

Living in New Orleans, disaster preparedness is a necessary part of life. Most people have a plan for storms, whether it involves evacuation routes or a cabinet full of MREs and batteries. While life necessities are obviously the first priority when it comes to hurricanes or any other disasters, business owners must have a disaster readiness plan in place just in case. I once heard Chris Slaughter, WWL-TV’s former executive news director, speak on what he learned about disaster preparedness from Katrina, and I was surprised by what I learned. There are so many small details that are easy to forget when you’re not actually in the situation. I recently came across this blog post from Michael Gray that touches on the subject. It’s filled with some great tips on how to protect your home business when Mother Nature strikes.

4. Zynga relaunches gaming site, loosens Facebook ties — Reuters

Zynga and Facebook. What a tragic love story. It seems that the divorce process continues, as game publisher Zynga relaunched its website on Thursday after previously relying wholly on Facebook for online play. Users no longer have to login through their Facebook accounts, proving further division of the two companies. By the end of the month, Zynga and Facebook will officially just be friends again. Alas, not all relationships are meant to be! And it seems that Zynga might not need Facebook after all. In this article, Reuters’ Gerry Shih gives a report on what led to this shift and what it means for the two companies.

5. Facebook Begins Rolling Out New, Customizable Timeline — AllFacebook

I’m sure all of you savvy Facebook users are aware of the new changes taking place on your News Feed, but just in case you haven’t heard—or if you just want to learn more about the shift—AllFacebook, the Unofficial Facebook Blog, has you covered. Facebook’s spokespeople say the change makes for a cleaner page with less clutter, but what do you think? I like the new bigger images, but there’s not that much else that I’ve noticed really affecting my use. I’m also a little wary of the advertising suddenly melded into my feed. I guess only time will tell what this change means for users.

March 22, 2013
New Orleans: A Growing Tech City
For those of you who don’t know, before Hurricane Katrina ripped through the Gulf South, New Orleans was on a steady rate of decline. However, the city we love to call home here at Search Influence is in the middle of a major renaissance. News sources across the nation have reported New Orleans is the fastest growing city in America.
- Population in April 2010: 343,829
- Population in July of 2011: 360,740
- Change in population: 4.9 percent (national average 0.73%)
- Unemployment rate May 2012: 7.2%
- Unemployment rate December 2012: 6.8 % (national average 7.8%)
With all of these growth changes and increase in jobs, New Orleans has also become a hub of entrepreneurial activity. Forbes recently said New Orleans is one of the biggest brain magnets in the country, attracting young, innovative minds. It is reported that 427 out of every 100,000 adults started up a new business in the New Orleans metro area, which is 40% above the national average.

Many of these entrepreneurial efforts are tech-based. Companies such as Idea Village and LaunchPad have helped young tech and digital media entrepreneurs start their businesses, giving them advice, a place to work, and grants. Marketing firms, apps, and software are all being developed in this city, which is quite shocking considering this has always been a city known for being 10 years behind everyone else. Kickboard, started by Jennifer Medbery after teaching at a charter school, is software that provides a centralized location for teachers to record their students’ progress.

Even Search Influence was founded during Katrina’s aftermath, and along with this city, we have grown at a rapid rate. In 2011 we made it on Inc. 500’s list of fastest growing companies, and we are now the largest online marketing firm in New Orleans. Digital media has many different facets, and we are proud to offer SEO, social media, and paid search services.

New Orleans institutions such as the Audubon Institute, Naked Pizza, and Southern Costume Company have integrated the digital space into their marketing efforts. Naked Pizza tweets on a regular basis, and they have truly embraced pop-culture (I strongly encourage you to watch their Harlem Shake video).

The Audubon Institute and Southern Costume Company have opened their marketing efforts to include social media promotions and building their brand on Facebook.

Digital Media, online marketing, and social media have become vital factors for today’s businesses to succeed. It’s all about the conversation and being transparent with your customers. We are so happy to report that our city and businesses are flourishing due to technology and media advancements.
March 13, 2013
The New Facebook News Feed – What Brands and Users Need to Know

Facebook announced a new look to their News Feed yesterday, which aims to streamline its appearance and cut down on irrelevant stories. In fact, the tagline on their announcement reads “Goodbye Clutter… Hello bright, beautiful stories.” The new version will focus on images, and they will appear much larger and richer than they had previously. To many reviewers, the updated feed looks like a cross between Google+ and the Facebook Mobile app. For the first time, the platform will look virtually the same across different devices. This leaves just one big question for both Facebook users and brands… Where will the ads go?

Never fear, Facebook advertisers, this update looks poised to deliver even larger and more effective ads than those that are available on the current version of News Feed. The three column design of the new layout allows for larger images and stories from your friends, but also allows for richer, more striking sponsored stories from advertisers. And in the end, isn’t that what Facebook shareholders are demanding? The new update downplays and shrinks the traditional right side bar ads, which seems designed to push brands to utilize creative content and sponsored stories to target potential fans.

The updated News Feed may impact businesses’ organic reach significantly. And truthfully, this may be a deliberate plan to get more brands to utilize sponsored stories in order to reach a wider audience. Facebook quietly released a “Pages” feed several months ago, which has been popping up more and more on my News Feed in the last few weeks to highlight brands I rarely click on. With the new update comes an “All Friends” feed, which allows you to only see people you are friends with in real life on your News Feed. Although Facebook claims the News Feed algorithm will not be changing, its not hard to imagine many users will be clicking “All Friends” rather than viewing their entire feed.

Mashable has some great tips on some ways brands and publishers can get a jump start on succeeding in the new News Feed, many of which are as simple as updating your brand’s cover photo. The biggest takeaway from Facebook’s new look is that brands need to focus more intently on sharable, high quality images, videos, and links rather than plain text updates. For some this might take a bit of adjustment, but it has been a known fact for some time that posts with photos or links get far more interaction on the social media network than text-only statuses.

For the average user, this update seems like an overall positive design change. The look of the News Feed hasn’t been updated in over two years, and quite frankly seems overrun by apps and useless stories. Personally, if the top story on my News Feed is never about “Candy Crush Saga” again (a game I don’t play, for the record) I will be one happy girl. With this redesign, Facebook seems to be getting back to what matters, content from people you actually care about. In the end, isn’t that the point of social media?

March 8, 2013
5 for Friday — Links, Stories, & Posts for Your Weekend

1. The High Cost of Missing Listings: $10 Billion (or More) – Screenwerk

Have you ever wondered about the real cost of erroneous or missing business contact information for local businesses on the web? A research firm has studied the issue, and you might be surprised how big the numbers are. An estimated 43 percent of listings have some kind of error — often in the business name, phone number, or address — and it’s having a big effect on commerce.

2. How Ads Look in the New News Feed Layout – Inside Facebook

There was a lot of chatter this week about the unveiling of Facebook’s updated design for News Feed. While everyone immediately noted the larger photos and individual story modules, internet marketers looked for differences in the new ad design. This article compares some page post ads before and after the update.

3. Google for Mobile: How Google Makes Money from Mobile – Wordstream

While many thought Google would be doomed by the inevitable shift to a web environment where mobile rules, it’s beginning to look like the search giant is in the process of successfully transforming into a mobile-first company. In this excellent blog and infographic, you can delve deeper into all their entire mobile portfolio to answer the question, “How does Google make money from mobile?”

4. Top 5 Google Analytics Changes You Might Have Missed – Search Engine Watch

Have you been keeping up with all the changes in Google Analytics? This blogger takes a look at five recent additions to the toolbox that can help you save time and find the data that means the most to your site.

5. When It Comes to Analytics, Are You Doing Enough? -SEOmoz

Sometimes online marketers forget that descriptive analytics is only one-third of the data researching pie. By focusing equally on predictive and prescriptive analytics, this author argues, your team will be empowered to find the story in the data, formulate reliable predictions, and operationalize your findings.

March 8, 2013
5 For Friday — Links, Stories & Posts For Your Weekend

1. How does social media affect your SEO? – Search Engine Journal
Does Google really pay attention to social signals? As more and more users share content through social networks, Google is taking note to what gets shared and has even trying to capitalize on that by starting Google+. Some users may use social media to see what is newsworthy, but you definitely have to watch how your company manages its social presence. How are you taking advantage of social media for your business?

2. Google’s Algorithms – How does it all work? – Search Engine Land
Did you know that the web is made up of over 30 trillion individual pages? Take a look at Google’s most recent infographic on “How Search Works.” The graphic is divided into three parts: crawling and indexing, algorithms, fighting spam. Check it out.

3. Google releases change history in Google Analytics – Search Engine Watch
If you logged into your Google Analytics recently, you will notice a new change. Google has added Change History in Google Analytics, which allows you to see what historical edits were made to the account. This is pretty neat and helps you keep track of what changes were made if you work with multiple admins.

4. Groupon fires its CEO Andrew Mason – Social Media Today
Andrew Mason, CEO of Groupon, was let go this week after board members were questioning his role in the company. As the daily deal market becomes more competitive and oversaturated, Groupon saw its stock decline since its initial public offering in 2011. Did Groupon make the right decision to go public? What does this mean for future IPOs?

5. Will Pinterest help Nars generate meaningful leads? – Mashable
Nars launched an interesting social media campaign last month on Facebook to promote their new Andy Warhol-inspired collection. Now they are launching a new campaign on Pinterest to see if they can generate actual sales from the popular site. Partnering with three popular Pinterest users, these pinners will develop their own boards on each of their accounts to offer early access to its new Satin Lip Pencil collection. Nars is stepping up their social media plans. Will others follow suit?

March 1, 2013
WTF Facebook?

On Friday, I received an email from Facebook regarding their Page Insights. My initial reactions were “Great! They’ve finally realized how horrible their reporting system is and are making changes!” Boy, was I wrong. The email in its entirety is below, but the man gist is that they have been incorrectly reporting on the number of total, organic, and paid impressions and reach as reported through their Page Insights. Supposedly, the Ad Insights and Billing Data reporting tools are not affected, not that those are great anyway.

They promise that these issues will be fixed by today and “moving forward, your impressions and reach numbers in Page Insights will reflect these updates.”

The real kicker however, is that these issues impacted their “logging system,” so they will not be able to provide accurate historical data for organic and paid reach and impressions (in Page Insights). I mean, come on! Not only is Facebook’s reporting platform not intuitive, but your historical data is now inaccurate or missing.

Facebook’s reporting platforms have continued to disappoint, and this is no exception. It would be great if they spent some time gathering data about what their users want and need, and how best to display that data. I guess I have to give them some props for admitting their mistake and fixing it ASAP, although I was hoping for more.

What data would you find interesting for Facebook to report on? Let us know!

March 1, 2013
5 for Friday — Links, Stories & Posts For Your Weekend

Google AdWords Announces Enhanced Campaigns -Search Engine Watch
Google announced Enhanced Campaigns this month, much to the dismay of some and delight of most. The Enhanced Campaigns work to simplify mobile marketing – sounds good, right? So why are some advertisers viewing this update negatively? Check out our blog post by resident Google AdWords Expert to learn why.

The Ultimate Guide for Monitoring your Reputation Online -Search Engine Journal
Here’s an infographic Beyonce might be interested in. We’ve all had unflattering or embarrassing photos taken. Reputation monitoring is something we all need to think about in these days of hyped-up connectivity online. This infographic explains the steps businesses and individuals need to take to protect their image online.

A Glimpse into Facebook Graph Search -Search Engine Journal
A step-by-step tutorial explaining the new features of Facebook Graph Search. Options to search include: My friends, Photos of my friends, Restaurants nearby, Games my friends play, Music my friends like, and Photos I have liked. Different filters will help you hone down the results even further, based on things like ‘Employer’, ‘Likes’, ‘Following’, and ‘Married to’. Want to find people in your area who are interested in the things you like? Here’s your chance.

40 Important Local Search Questions Answered -SEOmoz
Local search is increasingly playing a bigger part in search engine optimization. The takeaway from this piece? “Even though local has arrived, it’s still a mess.” In an attempt to de-mystify this genuinely confusing piece of the puzzle, Mike Ramsey has kindly compiled the 40 most important questions and their answers concerning Local Search.

How Unique Does Content Need to Be to Perform Well in Search Engines? -SEOmoz
Here’s a great questions we’ve been running into a lot lately: “What is meant by duplicate content and how unique do I have to be?” First, let’s qualify that navigation, ads, footer, sidebars, etc., don’t count. This leaves us with the on-page content. Copying internal or external sources can be a problem – but as long as you’re adding unique value it’s not duplicative.

February 15, 2013
TV’s Next Social Media Superstar Is…
In 2012, the number of people using social media grew to 1.43 billion users. This stark increase in tweeting, posting, and pinning has grabbed the attention of traditional marketers – most notably: Television. TV shows are not only leveraging social to increase brand awareness and interactions but to increase ratings. While some shows are “duh, winning”, there have been some shows that are just doing it all wrong. This post is going to take a look at my winner and loser of TV social media in 2012.

Winner: RuPaul’s Drag Race

Before everyone started mopping their marketing, THE BEST REALITY SHOW EVER, RuPaul’s Drag Race, realized the importance of social media. In 2011, they started watermarking the Twitter hash tag #DragRace during the show. This humble hash tab would eventually birth such memorable hash tags as:
#SnatchGame
#TheLibraryIsOpen
#RuPocalypse
#RuPologize

And my personal favorite…

“That’s #InDaButtRu”

Drag Race’s use of hash tags is genius because it encourages interesting conversations between fans and generates social buzz in real-time.

But of course like any good lover, RuPaul’s Drag Race is versatile. The show encouraged viewers to vote on Twitter and Facebook who would be the winner at the end of the season. By including viewers on multiple social media platforms in the decision making process, Drag Race season 4 finale was up 33% the previous year’s.

In a sentence: RuPaul’s Drag Race really know how to burn rubber get the most out of its social media MPG and leave others in the dust.

I apologize for the racing puns…

Loser: America’s Next Top Model

RuPaul isn’t the only supermodel of the world using social media. In an attempt to generate its former success, America’s Next Top Model decided to include a “social media score” in their 19th cycle. While I’m not sure how one averages catty comments about terrible makeovers and catalog poses, ANTM has managed to get its ~~remaining~~ audience more involved. Unfortunately Top Model saw their ratings take a tumblr (urgh more puns) down to 1.22 million viewers.

It’s not surprising that ANTM’s attempts at social media went so poorly. If you are going to declare the new judge is “social media”, it should actually be social media. You know, Twitter, Facebook, etc. Instead Ty-Ty put together a small select group of viewers and passed this off as social media. This bothers me (and about 1.22 million teenage girls) for three reasons:
1. Being selective on whose opinions matter isn’t social, its fascist. Not that I expect Tyra to know the difference, you can bank on that (oh god another pun).
2. The comments from social media were filled with so many Tyra-isms you would think they were excerpts from Modelland and instead of real people.
3. A numeric voting system used to vote on physical appearance isn’t social media, it’s hotornot.com
Also Bryanboy was a poor choice to present “results”. His delivery was Sahara (RIP). The numero uno rule of social is to be sharable (i.e. fun, interesting, and outlandish) which BB simply was not. This media boner could have actually worked if you had one of the Jays – it would have at least been entertaining to watch.

I think calling it social media was Tyra’s way to continue to live in her fantasy world that her show is relevant and people are still hopeful it will produce a supermodel.

Hate to do this Tyra but here is what social media is really saying about your show:

I think the lesson TV shows should learn is social media is like ballroom culture. If you are serving “realness,” the children will live and you will be legendary. You can’t make grandiose claims about the viewer having control over programming when in reality the show has been taped, shipped, and ready for airing months before the premiere. Good or bad, encouraging discussion on social media will reward your show and organically grow your audience, just look at GLEE.
February 4, 2013
Super Bowl Social Media: A Touchdown Pass for National Brands

Super Bowl advertising spots are one of the most sought after 30 seconds in television each year. With the event having an estimated viewership of well over 110 million, many national companies view the hefty $4 million dollar price tag as money well spent. In fact, the New York Times reported that the ad spots were already sold out on January 8th, almost a full month before the big event. In recent years many companies have amped up their traditional television campaigns to include YouTube sneak peeks, dedicated websites, hashtags, Facebook campaigns, and apps designed to garner appeal and catch their audience’s attention on the second screen. Social media is a growing factor in many major corporation’s 2013 Super Bowl advertising campaigns, which is a huge change from the surprise element and secretive campaigns of years past.

The YouTube teaser video is a popular move by many major national brands. This year, one of the most viral involves model Kate Upton “washing” a Mercedes-Benz, a clip that has already been viewed by over 5 million people. The video directs the audience to the Mercedes USA Facebook page, where more teaser clips of their Super Bowl promo are linked. This method of social integration leads to viewers interacting with the brand on several different forms of media, all well before the Super Bowl kickoff, and creates a great deal of buzz for the 30 second ad spot.

Coca-Cola was the first brand to launch their Super Bowl campaign this year, which features a gamified “choose your own ending” storyline that asks viewers to vote on the official Super Bowl commercial. Like the Mercedes campaign, Coke has also expanded the storyline on their Facebook page. With polls, character bios, additional video clips and more posted on their Timeline, Coca-Cola also seeks to engage with their audience in an unpaid, organic manner. The use of polls and competition between the three video endings adds an additional level of interaction and has fans gunning for their favorites.

Other companies have taken a social approach to the entire advertising process. Popular deodorant company Speed Stick ran a contest through its Twitter profile with the hashtag #handleit to solicit pitches for its very first Super Bowl spot. The winning tweets are all already up on Tongal and lead to a funny and viral campaign for an everyday product. They’ve tied the campaign in to their Youtube Channel, which features dozens of “Handle It” moments. It’s definitely a nontraditional move to release a full Super Bowl ad ahead of the big weekend, but it works for Speed Stick’s entirely social campaign.

Major corporations’ Super Bowl social media campaigns extend their advertising buzz well beyond the big game. By harnessing organic user interest on multiple channels, the expense of a 30 second ad spot seems almost worth it. Do you like the modern trend of brands releasing their Super Bowl commercials ahead of the big game? Let us know in the comments!

February 1, 2013