On your marks. Get set. Go!
The Rio Olympics are just around the corner. If you think Usain Bolt is going to take it easy on you because you haven’t warmed up or tied your shoelaces properly with your lucky triple-knot, you’re wrong. The time is now.
Including references to seasonal events is a great tip for marketers. The Rio Olympics kick off on the 5th August and, with a predicted audience of 3.6 million viewers worldwide, it doesn’t get much better than this.
Want to give the Games a go? Here are five email campaign ideas to help you win the Olympics marketing race.
Add an Olympics Countdown
With less than 10 days to go before this gets real. Rio will soon be all over the news, everyone will be an expert in unpronounceable foreign names and we’ll all be ready to show off our Olympic knowledge with random facts that wouldn’t even help us win Trivial Pursuit.
Get hyped! Integrate countdown clocks into your emails and website, and run special offers that only last during the Games. Sales with a deadline create a sense of urgency, because who knows when I’ll be able to buy that amazing tablet again for such a great price?
Offer deals based on medals
With so many sports, your country’s bound to be good at something.
Why not run an Olympic Medal Offer, with special discounts every time your country wins? You can even define different tiers depending on what medal you win.
Is your country just too good? Worried too many medals could lead your business to bankruptcy? Pick a couple of sports or focus on Gold only.
Send a first email, letting your customers know about your upcoming deal and give them ideas on what to buy. Then, send a second one after the competition, urging them to take advantage of the promo codes. Want more? Personalize your emails based on your customers’ browsing behavior, to send them messages they just can’t resist.
Run a sweepstake
There are many ways you can run a sweepstake during the Olympics, but they all have something in common: they drive customer engagement. Your customers can guess the number of medals your country will win or you can pick the top sports and ask them about results, scores, podium positions or even record-breaking performances.
Segment your lists to target your customers better. A recent research showed that both males and females are equally interested in athletics, but women prefer gymnastics while men are most interested in soccer. Understanding what sports drive more engagement and which age groups are most likely to have a positive reaction to your emails will allow you to design a winning campaign that targets your customers better.
Go Social
London 2012 was the first social media Olympics, with journalists, athletes and the public reporting and sharing their experiences in real time on social media. Well, Rio might have been picked as a base for the 2016 Olympics, but the real action is going to be taking place on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat.
With 85% of the viewers predicted to be using a second device whilst watching the Games, integrating your email marketing and social media strategies could be a great way to grow your followers and ensure your brand gets the promotion it deserves.
Encourage customers to share their Olympic-inspired pictures and stories on social media, and then email out a collection of the funniest, most creative and original photos or tweets. It will give your company a human aspect and increase brand awareness.
Embrace the Olympic spirit
We all know how healthy hamburgers are. They’re up there with doughnuts and deep-fried Mars bars. That’s probably what the McDonald’s Marketing team thought when coming up with their campaigns for London 2012. How’s a Big Mac going to get me spinning on that vault like McKayla Maroney?
So with half the world trying to improve their health and fitness levels, what’s better than to create a Favorites Under 400 Calories menu? Because, let’s be real, it’s easier to cope with exercise if we can reward ourselves with some nice, tasty chicken nuggets (just 280 calories, people!).
If you have a vegetarian food delivery service or a sportswear e-commerce site, running a campaign to encourage healthy lifestyles is a no-brainer. But what about other types of businesses?
Ask yourself, how does your company embrace the Olympic spirit? Create amazing Olympics-inspired content that shows your commitment to the Olympic values (respect, excellence, courage, determination…) and use email marketing to tell your brand’s story.
Not sure the Games are the perfect fit for you? That’s fine. You can still benefit from the hype by adding Olympics references and emojis to your subject lines and email messages. With over two weeks of sports and competitions (plus the Paralympics Games in September), you have plenty of opportunities to A/B test different ideas.
Mark and Spencer’s campaign for London 2012, by Sinergy.
But remember! No matter what campaign you’re running, be sure to read and follow the Olympics marketing and branding guidelines carefully to avoid any legal problems.
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