Brands looking to piggyback off the awards season high must consider developing an awards season digital marketing strategy.
An awards season plan focusing on digital marketing is key to driving consumers down the sales funnel and increasing your lead-generation efforts. Like all other types of content, awards shows have shifted to online.
Currently, audiences consume awards show content, like online red carpet interviews, recaps, fan discussions, the show itself, etc., on digital platforms like social media or streaming sites.
According to Ad Week, two out of three awards show fanatics consume content about nominees before the show, while three out of four seek recap photos, videos, and articles online.
Marketers must develop campaigns that allude to this season to capitalize on the awards show craze to capture consumers’ attention. To learn more about awards season marketing, keep reading this post.
What is Awards Season marketing?
Let’s define awards season to help marketers understand the significance of this retail period. In the U.S., awards season usually spans November through February, when most prominent film and television awards are awarded.
To produce a highly effective awards-centric campaign, marketers must know when each awards ceremony will take place to time their brand campaigns. The significant awards ceremonies are The Golden Globes, The Grammys, Screen Actor’s Guild Awards, and the Oscars or Academy Awards. The Oscars is the most prestigious award ceremony and most popular with viewers.
So, why is awards season so important to brands, marketers, and advertisers? This time of year offers brands a huge advertising opportunity to promote their products by incorporating Hollywood and the awards season into their product or service narrative. In doing so, marketers capture audiences’ attention by creating fun, inspirational campaigns that relate to this highly influential season.
Awards season is part of the American cultural zeitgeist. Even if a consumer is not a huge film buff, this season will still resonate with them because it’s embedded in American pop culture. When marketers reference a celebrity, film, or television show in their advertising, most Americans will understand it.
Building on cultural references is crucial for brand awareness and developing consumer relationships. According to market research, a brand’s cultural involvement makes up a full 25% of a consumer’s purchase decision.
Consumers, especially younger demographics, want brands to be culturally relevant by aligning cultural events, promoting trends, and supporting social issues. When brands integrate cultural references into their marketing campaigns, consumers will resonate with your brand and become loyal customers.
The awards season in the U.S. is a major cultural event encompassing everything from glamour to social issues to the development of new trends. So, marketers should not let this time in pop culture pass them by without developing awards-centric content.
Here are three award-season-worthy marketing strategies to implement during this award season.
Suppose your brand wants to capitalize on the Hollywood awards season fun by building film and television-centric marketing campaigns. In that case, we at Skyline Studio have curated some marketing strategies to ease into this season.
Below are three award-season-worthy marketing strategies to implement during Hollywood’s busiest time of the year:
1. Develop award-worthy content.
The awards season is long; during this time, awards shows can provide marketers with advertising gold through trends, news, or memes. So, marketers should pay attention to what is trending during this season. It’s also an excellent time to highlight the standout achievements within your brand.
If a trend emerges from an awards show during the season, marketers should quickly develop content that references it to capitalize on it and increase website traffic and brand awareness. Brands that build on the momentum of awards shows can create campaigns that reach new audiences and pique the interests of recurring customers.
View this post on Instagram
Marketers can also develop campaigns that showcase their products or services positively, share customer success stories, or build their own “nominations” list. By addressing the theme of accomplishments, brands show customers that their products or services are the best and separate them from the competition.
2. Behind-the-scenes moments
Audiences love to see behind-the-scenes (BTS) footage of their favorite movies, television shows, and concerts, and social media users like getting a glimpse of pre-red carpet glamour with get-ready-with-me content.
View this post on Instagram
Marketers can develop social media content to capitalize on this awards season trend. Social media content to consider:
- Highlighting the BTS of a marketing campaign video production.
- Teasers depicting your marketing team getting ready to launch a new campaign.
- Showcasing employee milestone videos.
BTS content humanizes your brand, helping to connect with audiences and generate organic traffic to your website.
3. Influencer spotlights
Use local celebrities or micro and nano influencers to generate inspirational content during the awards cycle. Influencer marketing campaigns can significantly enhance your audience’s reach and increase your brand’s online presence because influencers or local celebrities tend to have loyal followings.
@beis New Barbie The Movie x BÉIS collection drops July 19th 💕
♬ Lovely Day Austin Millz Remix – Austin Millz
Running social media marketing campaigns that leverage well-known influencers to promote your brand’s products and services is an effective way to reach your target demographic.
Marketers must integrate an influencer seamlessly into their brand narrative to produce successful influencer marketing campaigns. The right influencer can help build brand authenticity and trust with audiences, which is necessary for generating conversions and fostering customer loyalty.
Partner with Skyline Studio to develop awards season-inspired marketing campaigns.
Book a quick strategy call with our marketing experts!