The Super Bowl isn’t just the biggest day in football, it’s also a major marketing spectacle. While broadcast commercials grab headlines, savvy marketers know the real opportunity lies in the palm of their audiences’ hands. Millions of viewers split their attention between TV and smartphone screens, making SMS particularly powerful during the big game.
The best part? You don’t need to shell out millions for airtime. Businesses of any size can leverage SMS throughout the entire game. From pre-game buzz to post-game offers, here’s why text messaging is one of the most game-changing tools in your Super Bowl marketing strategy.
With millions tuning in, the Super Bowl offers brands an unparalleled opportunity to reach engaged audiences in real time. Each SMS marketing strategy below is your ticket to maximizing game-time campaigns.
The key to Super Bowl SMS marketing is creating can’t-miss, time-sensitive offers that complement the viewing experience. Targeted promotions for game-day essentials can turn browsers into buyers as you tap into the event’s organic momentum.
Consider these proven strategies:
For maximum success, schedule your best deals during pre-game excitement and halftime, when engagement is likely to peak.
Pro Move: Create even more urgency with countdowns and limited-quantity alerts. Tie it all together: Take a multi-faceted approach and build hype with your other metrics, like growing registration counts and dwindling inventory levels, to create FOMO and drive action.
Take advantage of every time out and commercial break with interactive SMS blasts that invite audiences to weigh in and earn rewards.
Run polls and contests like these to entice subscribers with a chance to win deals:
Pro Move: Clearly communicate contest rules, prize details, and the winner selection process up front—this transparency is vital to building trust. Create a dedicated landing page for contest rules and link to it in your initial SMS.
A successful Super Bowl marketing strategy carefully balances engaging SMS content and message frequency. Keep subscribers in the game with curated alerts that don’t overwhelm their phones—you want to be a valued part of their experience, not a distraction from it.
Leveraging these key moments can help you strike that balance:
Pro Move: Focus on the truly noteworthy moments with time-sensitive offers that feel natural when tied to game events. Smart brands limit their Super Bowl SMS campaigns to 3–5 strategic messages, each delivering clear value to the recipient.
SMS marketing during the Super Bowl is as much about what you send as when you send it. Reaching subscribers in these peak engagement windows is key for maximum impact:
Pro Move: Track engagement metrics from your previous campaigns to identify your audience’s optimal response rates and times. Look for patterns across different time zones, message types, and timing strategies to build a heat map. This becomes your SMS strategy playbook.
Generic messages can easily get lost in the noise on any given Sunday, but especially during the Super Bowl. Stand out from the crowd by crafting messages that resonate with individuals.
These personalization tactics can help:
Ahead of the game, build preference centers that let subscribers indicate their interests, preferred message frequency, and team allegiance. This way, you’ll have multiple pieces of subscriber data in your arsenal.
Pro Move: Go beyond first names—use every bit of available subscriber data to make your message as relevant and engaging as possible. Test different personalization elements to find what drives engagement without it feeling invasive.
The final whistle shouldn’t signal the end of your Super Bowl marketing strategy. The hours (and days) following the game present opportunities to build lasting relationships with subscribers.
Keep the engagement going with:
Using game-day data, you can analyze promotion redemption rates, study engagement rates across different segments, and create a VIP segment of your most engaged subscribers.
Pro Move: Develop a comprehensive post-event nurture strategy that integrates your Super Bowl marketing campaign with your broader strategy. Use game-day signups to build specialized segments for future targeting, planning regular touch points that maintain engagement during the off-season.
The strengths of SMS marketing align perfectly with Super Bowl dynamics. While other channels compete for attention in an increasingly crowded digital space, SMS delivers your message directly to your subscribers’ most personal devices when it matters most.
These game-changing statistics illustrate why it works:
SMS perfectly aligns with live event marketing needs. You can capitalize on game moments, optimize for game developments, and scale messaging costs based on your actual audience size. Success comes from understanding the rhythm of the game and your audience’s behavior.
With SMS, there are no algorithmic changes to worry about (unlike social media), no spam filters to navigate (unlike email), and no dependency on internet connectivity (unlike web-based apps). You have direct attribution tracking for campaign success—with a lower cost per engagement than traditional marketing channels.
With all these benefits, it can be tempting to go big. Remember that over-messaging leads to opt-outs faster than a two-minute drill. Each text is an invitation into your subscriber's game-day experience—make it count.
The Super Bowl presents an unprecedented opportunity to build lasting relationships through thoughtful, strategic SMS. When you time your messages strategically, personalize your approach, and prioritize value over volume, you and your subscribers are better equipped to win big—no matter the game's outcome.
Start planning your SMS strategy well before kickoff. Subtext’s platform offers everything you need to launch and manage powerful SMS campaigns that turn big game moments into real connections. With Subtext’s robust platform and these strategies in your playbook, you’re ready to turn Super Bowl Sunday into a marketing victory.
Get started and book a demo today!