Sweeney Sweeney

March Madness: Basketball, Brackets and Marketing

Rachel Lowe

Screen Shot 2016-03-14 at 2.52.45 PMCue the brackets, loss of productivity, and lots and lots of basketball. March Madness is upon us, let the games begin.

More importantly, let the marketing games begin.

March Madness has turned March into one of the best months for marketing opportunities, especially when it comes to social media.

According to CNN Money, in 2015 March Madness had 350 million impressions across Facebook and Twitter, a noticeable 45% increase from 2014. Not to mention mobile activity is extremely high during the tournament, with 69% of people using their mobile phones during the games.

These numbers mean one thing for businesses: opportunity.

Opportunity to stay relevant, opportunity for social media engagement, opportunity to connect to customers, and most of all opportunity for building brand awareness.

It’s always interesting to see brands engage in the basketball madness. Last year Oreo, KFC, Buffalo Wild Wings and AT&T were recognized as having slam dunk March Madness engagement.

As for this year, it’s anyone’s game. Throw on your jerseys, or in the case of marketers, button up your dress shirts… it’s game time.

Rachel Lowe

Digital Marketing Manager

Rachel is a young veteran in the marketing industry with expertise in both digital and traditional marketing. She currently leads the agency's digital services with experience supporting numerous brands, including Bruegger’s Bagels, The Container Store, JOANN Stores, Mr. Chicken, San Diego Lighting Association and more. Rachel holds certificates in HubSpot, Email Marketing, SEO/SEM, Google AdWords, Google Analytics, Sprout Social and Video Advertising. She is also a member of the PRSA Cleveland board of directors and is the VP of Communications on the executive committee. Most recently she received the PRSA Rising Star Award, recognizing and honoring an outstanding professional with seven or fewer years of experience. A proud graduate of The Ohio State University, she holds a bachelor’s in strategic communication, and minors in fashion and retail studies and professional writing. Rachel is also certified in Digital Marketing Strategies Data, Automation, AI & Analytics from Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management Executive Education program.

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