What advertisers can learn from IPL?

As the world’s largest T20 tournament, the IPL provides enormous potential for advertising and businesses wishing to reach a large number of people. IPL has shattered the viewing record in 2021 through Digital Platforms as well as Television, and it is expected that the viewership figure would climb further in 2022. The Indian Premier League (IPL) is one of the most important sporting events in India each year. It is also a fantastic opportunity for companies and advertising to reach a large prospective audience. In 2021, an estimated 850 million people watched IPL, including over 400 million watching on Disney+ Hotstar.

The role of constant association with the target audience is the first thing an advertiser can learn from IPL. For the next 2 months, the phrase IPL will be repeated thousands of times. It will be all over social media, newspapers, and news outlets. In 2020, the growth of cricket-related phrases increased exponentially. Advertisers must take advantage of this chance to add related search phrases in their advertising, since event-related ads increase visibility. Obviously, any brand would want such widespread exposure. Therefore as advertisers can learn, sponsoring the right event at the right moment can take a brand’s recognition from zero to hero.

Timing:

It is critical that if you want your audience to accomplish something, it should happen at their convenience. IPL matches are a prime illustration of this. The play times are retained in the evenings at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. so that everyone may go to the stadium or at the very least watch the action on television and the internet. This is ideal scheduling since by evening, everyone has finished their office duties and can easily watch the live action. The search for Satellite TV subscriptions has also increased as people looked for these services weeks before the start of the IPL.

You must consider the audience’s convenience. Nobody is going to watch a match if it is scheduled at 2 p.m. As an advertiser, you must understand when the best moment is to engage your audience. And IPL does it flawlessly.

Connect with your audience:

It is critical to establish a connection with the audience. It is pointless if you are not engaging with them and are only advertising your brand. Surprisingly, search traffic for IPL sponsor brands appeared to increase by a huge margin. This increases the curiosity in the minds of customers and they often search for the brand and their offerings to understand their products and services. It’s an opportunity for brands to leverage the search wave and connect with their audiences. In this scenario, you must learn the secret from the IPL teams and brands in terms of how they engage with their fans. Currently, the teams are releasing their material, particularly videos in Hindi, English, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, and Kannada.

This is due to the fact that the teams are from various parts of the country. So, if a KKR fan hears a remark or the anchor speaks to the supporters in Bengali, they should contact the team. So experiment with strategies that can help your audience connect with your brand more rapidly.

More Organic:

On each IPL team’s social media page, you can discover live coverage of their behind-the-scenes stories. People are interested in what players do before and after a game. When we look at every squad, we can see that they have a Facebook live every time they leave for the stadium and when they return to the hotel after the game. Using real-time analytics brands can recognise loyal viewers and can engage with them and use this chance to achieve their advertising objectives.

Posting real-time photos and appealing creativity also keep the audience thinking about the company all the time. As a result, as an advertiser, you must realise that real-time images and videos are quite popular with your target audience.

Organising numerous competitions:

Different brands are now running a daily predict and win contest. All you have to do is guess who will win, and if you are correct, you will receive a monetary bonus. As a result, the sponsors engaged in the IPL, each one of them are holding some sort of contest. It is vital to note that while watching cricket matches, a large number of Indian customers have their phones in their hands. To have a greater impact, brands must interact with their smartphone-savvy consumers and try to involve them in such contests for maximum reach and brands can boost the efficacy of their campaigns.

As an advertiser, you should be aware that executing appealing campaigns will not only engage clients but will also assist you in creating a large number of consumers.

IPL is now the ideal place for advertisers to learn. The tournament has always been a major hit, the IPL players usually come up with something new to make it more popular among the audience. They perform a variety of stunts that are always well received by the audience. The way each IPL franchise markets itself and its players has a profound effect on the public on a whole new level. So, when you’re watching this season of IPL, enjoy yourself while learning, there is a lot to take and learn from it.

About the author:

Arun Fernandes, CEO, Hotstuff medialabs