Social Media Learnings from IPL T20

Forget the sad serials and ignore those loud reality shows. The " target="_blank">manoranjan ka baap is here!

Yes, it's IPL time! And even Social Samosa couldn't help but catch the IPL fever. However, let me tell you right at the outset that this article is not about the social media strategies used by the marketing wizards at IPL – it has already been covered.

This article is about what you can learn, as a social media marketer, from the exciting cricket being played in the IPL.

Read on to know what these cricketers in colorful clothes can teach you:

Start With A Bang

In T20 cricket, the success of any team depends on how they start their innings. The aim is to make as many runs as possible in the first 6 overs. This explosive opening ensures that the team ends up with a score which is hard to beat. But a misfired opening results in a poor score and most likely leads to a loss.

Similarly, make sure that your social media marketing efforts are anything but meek and muted. If you're launching your new product, you must try to utilize all your resources and ensure that it gets maximum traction on the web.

Don't just focus on Facebook, tap into other social networks like Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest as well. Try to deliver your content in multiple formats such as PPTs, videos, infographics, podcasts etc. And also see if your offline efforts can be integrated with your online campaigns.

In short, try everything to widen your reach. A great opening will create a momentum that will help you reap rich rewards later.

If you would like to know more about how to go all out launching a product, I would suggest that you read this post by Guy Kawasaki on Mashable.

Be Innovative

The demands of T20 cricket has lead cricketers to be innovative on the field. Be it playing the scoop shot, opening with a spin bowler or the unorthodox field placements, T20 cricket is very different from Tests and ODIs.

Similarly, the conventional marketing tricks are not that effective on social media platforms. You need to think out of the box and come up with campaigns that are not only interesting, but also different.

Your interaction with the audience, the content you publish, the contests you launch, everything must be different and catchy. You need to think hatke and stand out from the rest of your competition.

Be innovative. Be remarkable.

Foxy Moron's "Bring BQC Back" is a great example of thinking differently.

Keep it Short and Simple

The huge popularity held by T20 cricket is primarily because of its short format. This short format makes it so much more interesting, unlike Tests and ODIs which are long-winded and somewhat boring.

Day by day, our attention span is waning and it's getting difficult to keep us glued to one subject for a long time. It's no coincidence that Twitter and Infographics are such a rage on the Internet. So whatever your social media outlets are, make sure that you communicate with your audience in a format that is easily consumable and doesn't require much effort from them.

If you have decided to launch your brand with a contest, ensure that the participation is dead simple. Making your participants jump over a number of hoops will lead to poor participation. You don't want to give them any excuse to ignore you.

Well, so these were the few things that I took from IPL and tried to co-relate with the world of social media. Hope you find them useful.

If you liked this post, feel free to use the share buttons for some link love. And if you didn't, please let me know in your comments below. I would love to listen to you.

PS: I want CSK to win IPL this year too. What about you?

Image Courtesy Pasukaru76 and slushey