Did You #SharkWeek? – Shark Week Marketing

One of the largest annual television events began Sunday, August 10. That’s right, Shark Week from Discovery Channel kicked off its 27^th year! In 2013, nearly 29 million people tuned in at some point to watch part of the great event¹. It was the highest-rated franchise among 18-to-49-year-old guys at the time, even beating NFL Sunday night preseason football¹. It is no wonder this event has trended each year since the dawn of social media.

Where does this leave you? What does #SharkWeek have to do with your business? Everything. A study in January 2014, 89% of 18-29-year-olds and 82% of 30-49-year-olds used social media, the two largest age groups². Reaching this group of people is essential to the average business. The best way to reach this crowd is to capitalize on big trends on social media. While not everything on that does trend is predictable, there are some things that can be seen in advanced, such as award shows, season premieres, and even events like Shark Week. Jumping on to Shark Week in some way can get your business seen by thousands of potential clients that might have never heard of you before.

Now for the hard question: how do you use #SharkWeek appropriately? There are innumerable ways to use these events, even if they don’t relate to your business. Let’s say you own an HVAC company. Sharks and air conditioning? There is not a lot of relationship between the two. However, it could be simpler than you think to relate the two. For a bit of comic relief, you can find a funny joke or comic with a shark that could relate to your business in some way (even if it is a small reach, its great for a Monday or Friday). When it comes to promoting your services, you could take advantage of the subject in such a great way. For example, you could tweet

• Does #SharkWeek have you gasping for air? Breathe easy knowing your ducts were cleaned by ABC Heating & Air.
• “It’s the time of year for #SharkWeek, which means it’s also the time of year to get your heating checked.Be sure your house will be as warm as those tropical waters this fall by getting a tune up today!”

With ease, you get to take advantage of the big trends while still promoting your business.

Are you interested in learning more about how to use upcoming trends to promote your business? Contact us today to learn more about our social media services.

¹http://deadline.com/2013/08/shark-week-snaps-up-ratings-records-for-discovery-channel-563354/

²http://www.pewinternet.org/fact-sheets/social-networking-fact-sheet/