Why every client should be always on

Super Bowl Sunday is quite possibly the single biggest day for marketing of the year. Buzz surrounding which brands will do what during their coveted 30-second spots is just as loud as which team will score the winning touchdown.

As much as we can all dream about producing a full-scale Super Bowl spot one day, the reality is that most of the brands and organizations we work with have somewhat more modest budgets. But that doesn’t mean Super Bowl Sunday—and other moments in pop culture—are strictly for those with the deepest pockets.

As Oreo proved during the 2013 Super Bowl, you don’t need to have a big budget to make a big impact. By creating timely, engaging, and relevant content at the right time, your brand or organization can be part of the conversation (or in Oreo’s case, dominate it).

Oreo may have been the one to really kick this notion into high gear, but it’s not the only one doing it. Brands and organizations of all shapes and sizes have recognized the value of participating in pop-culture moments by creating relevant, engaging and interesting content.

We talk a lot about this type of Always On marketing with our clients. In a broad sense, Always On is the notion of filling the gaps between campaign cycles with other content. This allows our clients to remain top of mind—and stay in social feeds—even when they’re not actively in market with a full campaign.

More specifically, Always On content comes in two forms:

1. Pre-planned content like long-form articles, videos and social media posts that is discussed and mapped out in advance in a 12-month editorial calendar view.
2. Current events and trend-based content that is done quickly and efficiently based on what’s trending and opportunities we identify.

And while it can sometimes be difficult to see the link between, say, cookies and the Super Bowl, there is immense value in being part of the conversation.

By leveraging and participating in conversations that are already happening online, brands can show relevance by providing entertaining content. Because after all, the biggest reason why people use social media is for entertainment.

Recently, our client Atlantic Credit Unions has seen the benefits of creating timely, trend-based content. As a smaller financial institution, it simply can’t compete with the big banks in terms of media spend. The only way to cut through the noise and huge budgets of its competitors is by being fast, nimble and constantly engaged.

We’ve worked with them to create fun and engaging content to celebrate the release of the new Gilmore Girls, the new Star Wars movie, and yes, even the Super Bowl (see video below).

We put modest paid dollars behind the posts to boost them, and the results have been impressive. Engagement rates with these pieces of content have been extremely high, demonstrating the value of being part of the conversation, and being entertaining, too.

So while I can still dream about flying to a remote tropical location to shoot a big-budget, full-scale TV commercial with a Hollywood A-lister to be aired at halftime during the 2018 Super Bowl, I’m still happy to be helping our clients be part of the conversation right here in snowy Halifax.