Go for the Gold: 4 promotion ideas for the Summer Games

Posted

Matt Coen

900 million people tuned in for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Games in London. That's more than the entire population of the U.S., Brazil, Russia, Japan, France and the United Kingdom combined.

During the two-week span of the 2016 Games and the weeks leading up to it, this will be one of the most covered topics across the pages of newspapers – spanning much more than the sports section.

What's great about the Summer Games is that even people who aren't normally focused on sports find themselves drawn in by the thrill of the competition – meaning you have a huge target audience.

Advertisers want to be a part of this excitement and will be anxious to partner with you for a chance to gain increased branding and drive qualified leads.

It's time to start planning now for this highly anticipated event. Here are four gold medal promotion ideas to run around the Summer Games:

1. Quizzes

Leverage the competitive aspect of the Summer Games with quizzes. Quizzes are ideal for driving big engagement numbers and are highly shareable on social media. Even non-traditional sports fans are passionate about the Summer Games and will take the time to take a fun quiz and to share it with their friends.


*Gold Medal Tip – The Summer Games sets up a big opportunity for you to leverage a quiz bundle. With many topics to choose from, it's easy to build a set of three to five similar-themed quizzes. Plus, selling your entire quiz bundle to one advertiser can simplify your sales process too.

2. Instagram Hashtag Photo Contests

Across the country, everyone's going to be gathering with friends to watch the events. A great way to capitalize on this is by running an Instagram hashtag photo sweepstakes asking people to show off their Summer Game fan spirit!



*Gold Medal Tip – Be sure to pick the right hashtag for your contest. The best hashtag should be one that's unique, and not already being utilized on Instagram. But, also one that's simple enough that people remember it!

3. Ballots

A Summer Games ballot is a fun way to engage your community with a promotion that runs over a long period. Not sure how to begin? Take a look at these examples of categories from a "Best of the Summer Games" ballot you could run in your community.


*Gold Medal Tip – When you create your ballot, incorporate a variety of sponsorship opportunities for advertisers. A combination of sponsorship tiers – like a title sponsorship, category sponsorships and upgraded listings – can dramatically increase the revenue opportunity for your media company.

4. Sweepstakes

A sweepstakes focusing on the Summer Games allows your media company to leverage this big audience. Plus, since these are so easy for you to set-up and run, sweepstakes are a quick way to build your email list and keep your audience engaged.


*Gold Medal Tip – Sweepstakes are one of the quickest ways to grow an email database, so be sure to include an email opt-in on your registration form. With an opt-in, you and your advertiser can harness the big engagement numbers of sweepstakes and leverage them for future marketing campaigns.

Looking for even more ideas? The Second Street Summer Survival Guide has an entire chapter dedicated to your Summer Games Action Plan – expanding on all the ideas you've seen here.


To download the free Summer Survival Guide, visit the Second Street Lab

Now is the time to start planning your Summer Games promotions and to start securing your sponsorships. This can be a perfect time to reenergize a relationship with an existing partner or a great way to connect with a new advertising opportunity. Make sure you're ready to go for the gold this summer.

Matt Coen is the president and co-founder of Second Street, a leading provider of private-label online promotions platforms and partner success services for media companies based in St. Louis, Mo. He can be reached at (314) 880-4902 or matt@secondstreet.com.

Second Street, Coen, promotions, Summer Games
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