Ads for this year’s Super Bowl event are at an all-time high, with NBC charging an estimated $4.5 million for 30-second ads. Many companies are still biting, including movie studios hyping their big-budget blockbusters and other products, but, according to Adweek, it may be an excessive cost – especially considering what you can get in return through alternate means.
A number of media buyers and experts spoke with Adweek about the possibilities. “With (a $4.5 million) budget, you can run a YouTube masthead, Snapchat sponsored story, sponsored Instagram ad, promoted Twitter trend and a Yahoo! homepage takeover and still have money to spare,” said Adam Shlachter, chief investment officer for DigitasLBi.
The article then broke down other ways that the money could be put to good use, including…
Ten “Premium Day” $425,000 Promoted Trends
Promoted trends usually run around $200,000 a pop, but with a higher value during the Super Bowl, due to a larger audience. However, it’s still more than worth it, as some Promoted Trends can easily reach said audience. The likely value is estimated to reach around 55 million users – and at a bargain price, no less.
Four Days of $950,000 Facebook Reach Blocks
A Facebook Reach Block estimates that promos show up in 100 percent of a target audience’s newsfeeds, at least once over the course of the day. This can spread to approximately 100 million users.
Though the ads will cost $950,000 for Super Bowl Sunday, that’s still a fraction of the price of a shortened TV ad.
Five $800,000 YouTube Masthead Ads
A masthead placement can cost $300,000 usually, although that skyrockets to $800,000 on game day. No matter, though, as the number of Super Bowl ads viewed on there have been watched quite a bit, with some reaching 80 million views, a 75 percent increase from the previous year. That’s a big audience.
Six Days Worth of $750,000 Sponsored Snapchat Snaps
Despite getting some flack recently over advertising prices, Snapchat is still a very effective tool for its audience outreach. Six days worth of these ads can generate an enormous audience, as proven by previous campaigns with Universal Pictures and McDonald’s. During the game, the social aspect alone would drive up viewership.
“It’s all driven by scarcity, which is why the TV spots are so expensive,” said Ian Schafer, CEO of Deep Focus. “At this point, it’s not because of how many people they reach – it’s because there’s so few of them.”
Still, you can’t ignore the value of ads, according to eMarketer. Approximately 80 percent of Internet users believe that good commercials – and even some of the bad ones – continue to have high value in terms of tradition. The additional numbers behind these statistics can be found here.