If you’re a business owner, I’m sure when you were watching the Super Bowl, you weren’t thinking of all the things that you could learn from the commercials.
1. If your message is good, they will come. As soon as the Dockers commercial aired (you know, the one with the men running without pants in the middle of the field), viewers flocked to their website. Many found that Dockers.com had not prepared for the influx of traffic, and the site crashed within 20 seconds of the ad airing. There are two things we can take from this. If your marketing plan includes a strategy to send millions of people to your website, make sure your site can handle the traffic. The second lesson is that a good message will bring customers to you. Always make sure that your marketing plan includes a strong message … a message that will make people want to be your next customer.
2. Simplicity can be powerful.
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3. Don’t be afraid to use humor. Never underestimate the power of good writing.
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4. If you’re going to air your local commercial during the Super Bowl, it better be good. Your ad is competing with big companies, who spend an incredible amount of money with a team of people that conceptualize, shoot, and edit their ads. But you don’t have to spend millions on your commercial for it to be well-produced and effective. Get the best actors you can find. Don’t use your cousin. Use a good production company.
Nationally, the Super Bowl brings in about 150 million viewers. So locally, you can expect to have a lot of eyes on your commercial. Season premieres and finales of popular television shows also bring in many viewers. So if you plan to air your commercial during these times, make sure the quality is good and the message is effective.