4 ideas to increase your March revenue

Posted

Basketball bracket fever is top-of-mind in March. And while running a college tournament bracket is probably your biggest money-maker this month, there are tons of basketball-related ideas to inspire a wide audience. Plus, being the start of spring, cutest pet contests are a big winner this month too.

Advertisers to Target for March

From auto dealers to financial planners, many unique advertisers are looking to be a part of your March engagement campaigns. Make sure you talk to these top March advertisers when you start your planning.



Top Ideas for March

1. Brackets

Bracket fever is contagious in March. Whether you're planning to run a college basketball tournament bracket or you'd like to be more creative with a custom bracket, these contests are a sure-fire win this month.

The Peoria Journal Star made over $85,000 in sponsorship revenue from its college basketball bracket. The success came from offering a variety of sponsorship packages and hosting a pre-tournament party for the sponsors where they could win additional advertising spots. You can hear them talk all about their hugely successful campaign here.




To capitalize on the bracket excitement, the Santa Barbara Independent ran a Brew Bracket. This custom bracket featured eight different local breweries competing to be the winner. The paper promoted the contest across social media, in-print and included tons of on-site advertising at the competing breweries. The contest brought in over $2,000 in revenue for the paper.




2. Sweepstakes

Looking to capitalize on the basketball frenzy this March? Sweepstakes can be an excellent way to harness this excitement to produce results for you or your advertisers.

Tickets to big games and fan experiences are a great way to drive lots of entries. WKYT-TV is located right in the heart of Kentucky's "Wildcat Country." The station worked with its sponsor, Lexington Diagnostic Center & Open MRI, to run the Big Blue Nation Fun Basket complete with tickets to an upcoming game and other prizes. The contest received nearly 3,000 entries.




The tournament leads to tons of time spent watching games on TV. Sweepstakes with prizes for brand new televisions, sound systems or even catered parties can be an excellent prize for any market. This Big Screen Madness sweepstakes was sponsored by Country Financial Insurance. By including a couple survey questions, the contest led to 16 leads requesting to be contacted for an insurance review.



3. Quiz Bundle

Quizzes have the ability to connect with a wide audience – both diehard and casual fans alike. Plus, when you tie together a group of quizzes into a bundle, you can maximize your opportunity for revenue and branding.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution worked with a local grocery store, Kroger, to sponsor a "Which College Hoops Coach Are You?" quiz. Because this was a turnkey quiz, it was built in a snap and was a quick way to generate significant revenue for the paper.



Your local teams can be great inspiration for quizzes too. WLNS-TV in Lansing, Mich., made a "Really Tough MSU Tournament Trivia" quiz featuring facts about the history of the Michigan State University basketball team. This was an excellent way to target local diehard fans – more than 1,000 people took this niche quiz.



4. Photo Contests

Not all contests in March have to be about basketball. With the start of Spring, this can be a great month to target pet service industry advertisers as well. And when it comes to pets, nothing works better than a photo contest.

The Global Pet Food: Best Pet Contest was sponsored by a local pet food store. With a great prize of free pet food for a year, the contest received more than 250 qualified entries. Plus, by incorporating survey questions, the contest was able to deliver hundreds of hot leads to the pet store.



For their Cutest Canine in Clark County contest, The Columbian worked with three sponsors, a dog day care, a pet food store and a local humane society. The contest offered prizes to the top three winners, each prize from one of the sponsors. The contest drove in over 700 qualified entries and nearly 3,000 votes.

 



Looking for even more ideas? Download Your Revenue Guide to Spring Promotions and Interactive Content to get all the tips and best practices you need for the months of March, April and May. Plus, you'll find three sample revenue plans to earn over $90,000 in revenue this Spring.

Matt Coen is the president and co-founder of Second Street, a leading provider of private-label online promotions platforms and partner success services for media companies based in St. Louis, Mo. He can be reached at (314) 880-4902 or matt@secondstreet.com.

Second Street, Coen, basketball
Calendar View all