St. Patrick’s Day is upon us, and that seemed to me like a perfect excuse to bring Fun Stuff Friday to Wednesday. So, here’s a fun tip on using real world events to promote your brand and produce measurable results.
Every year in March, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) holds tournaments to decide the national champions in both men’s and women’s basketball. This is where the term March Madness comes from, of course. Last year, in March 2009, I put a spin on the phenomenon to help increase the number of user interactions on my pop culture blog, Geek Force Five.
Between March 10 and March 17 (the start of the tournament), Geek Force Five users submitted suggestions by e-mail to help determine the top 16 pop culture obsessions in four categories: Movies/TV, Games/Technology, Comics, and Music. These obsessions were then pitted against each other within four brackets, just as basketball squads are paired off in the real-life NCAA tournament. Users were asked to comment and vote to determine the eventual winner. There was a Sweet Sixteen, an Elite Eight, and, finally, a Final Four.
Over the course of those four weeks, user interactions numbered 1,534 (comments + votes). That represented a 12x increase in the number of user interactions versus the previous four-week period. To say the promotion was a success would be an understatement. Several of the more prolific commentators from that month eventually became contributors to the site, and the rise in popularity over those four weeks was one factor which led to the site being awarded a Best of NH award in 2009 from New Hampshire Magazine. And all of this was the result of a well-timed promotion.
Have you had any success using real world events or holidays to help promote your business? Leave your success stories in the comments below.
And have a Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
