Top 5 tips on how to use the 2022 FIFA World Cup to elevate your business.

Every 4 years, the world is football obsessed for a whole month, making it the perfect time to get your brand in front of millions. With the FIFA World Cup sneaking up on the world fast, now is when brands should be taking the time to plan how best to use this worldwide event to their advantage. Getting the attention of your target market will be tricky as plenty of businesses will be competing for consumer attention, but luckily for you, I Want It Yesterday can give you the help you need.

While the World Cup is always top of mind for the average football fanatic, it’s the quadrennial event that brings in the masses. Google Trends shows us that the month of the World Cup is when consumer interaction peaks (no surprises there). This means you have from now until November to get your ducks in a row.

FIFA confirmed that over 3.57 billion people tuned in to the 2018. From that 3.57 billion, 1.1 billion people tuned into the 2018 FIFA World Cup Final alone. Outside of broadcast, the social media landscape of today presents brands with opportunities that they’ve never had before.

Here are our top 5 tips on how to use the 2022 FIFA World Cup to elevate your business:

1) Get in and amongst TikTok and Instagram Reels.
While TikTok launched in 2016 and was around for the 2018 FIFA Russia World Cup, the short-form video sharing app is arguably at the peak of its power. While it may still grow in strength over the coming months and years, they are currently the epicentre of culture and virality, and we all know what virality can do for a brand.

Since 2016 the content, culture and usage of the platform has changed and is finding its niche. With that said, brands need to find where they can organically fit into that niche.

Instagram are really stepping up their game with short form video. Brands are already capitalising on the organic reach for Reels and this doesn’t look like it will slow down anytime soon.

Gone are the days where brands can flog their messaging across all platforms with the one piece of content. Today, content needs to be tailored to each platform.

2) Utilise Micro-Influencers.
Authentic and organic content is worth more than gold nowadays and it’s becoming increasingly harder to consistently produce that content. Consumers are forever getting smarter and turning off anything that they feel is selling to them, especially Gen Z & Millennials. Enter Micro-Influencers and Creators.

Your local Creators are the shining examples of authentic, organic content. They don’t follow rules, they make them. Their followers are highly engaged and some might be your ideal consumer.

Why not leverage the social power of local Creators to win share of social voice against your competition during these major tournaments?

3) Advertise through Podcasts.
In 2019, around 275 million people tuned in to a podcast. That number is set to double come 2023. While the FIFA World Cup is generally on screen, podcasts will be huge throughout the whole tournament. Football podcasts do their work during the on-season of the football leagues covering everything from the Premier League, A Leagues, Serie A, La Liga and more.

Spotify are also starting to test video for their platform which opens up new consumption behaviours and hence new commercial opportunities for brands. Spotify’s ‘Green Room’, their new live podcasting functionality, is currently being tested in the US.

YouTube are also making moves in the podcasting space with some new features launching later this year (or early 2023).

Brands should either be looking at creating their own podcasts or investing in local football podcasts with loyal listeners come World Cup time. They’ll have more ears (and eyes) than they’ve had before.


4) Use Live Broadcasting to tell your football story.
While your business may not exactly translate into a football scenario, the FIFA World Cup brings many a consumer and theming your latest story around football is a no brainer. With around 3.57 billion eyes on the 2018 FIFA World Cup, associating your brand with the game is one way to get in front of new eyes.

Platforms like Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok are prioritising live content to help brands achieve higher levels of organic reach and provides unique experiences where consumers can engage directly with athletes, talent, and the brand itself in real time. Live polling, alternate commentary, watch-a-longs, behind-the-scenes, fan-led content, and live Q&A’s are all still very under-utilised live social mechanisms in Australia. Why not give fans the opportunity to be part of the conversation?

5) Consider new emerging “Community Social”

Fans may consume your content on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram, but they may not be engaging with your content on these platforms. Here come Reddit, Discord, and Telegram. These social platforms are a great place to either identify topics which can then influence creative execution or a place to moderate conversation which then again feeds creative decision making. Let your fans (and more importantly ‘super fans’) help you navigate.

There’s no secret that marketers are now looking at the new emerging world of Web3 with a huge focus on the NFT and Metaverse, but there’s a reason why primary social platforms for these conversations are now on Discord, Telegram, Reddit, and even Twitter.

Brands should be trying to understand these platforms now in order to leverage them in the future.

We hope that these 5 tips give you some inspiration into how your brand can utilise the upcoming FIFA World Cup to elevate your brand.