Twitter has long made a name for itself by offering live tweets based around events, and Super Bowl 50 was no exception. The Super Bowl proved what many people have known for years: Twitter provides the perfect opportunity to connect with people through live events. Businesses can learn a great deal from the tweets sent out during Super Bowl 50. Analyze the numbers and then check out the various brands to learn how you can get a piece of the Twitter pie.

The Numbers

According to Twitter, Super Bowl-related tweets received 4.3 billion views. This was both on the site and off, where people came across tweets from search engines. This illustrates a point that is often missed. People don’t need Twitter accounts to engage with brands on Twitter, especially during live events. Tweets fill up Google search results during these all-important events, giving brands more reach than normal.

There weren’t just a lot of views during the Super Bowl. There were also a lot of tweets. People sent out 27 million tweets during the big game. All of these tweets created a firestorm of buzzworthy content across this social network.

The tweets were divided up between the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee, the participating teams, and normal users.

The Host Committee Knows How to Tweet

With the @superbowl50 handle, the Super Bowl Host Committee created the Twitter feed to watch during the big game. With over 33,000 followers, this feed proves that building a profile around a specific event is a great way to get people to join in the conversation. Consider doing this for your next big event to boost engagement.

The Host Committee did a great job of creating a curated feed that people wanted to see. By pulling tweets from the NFL, sports stations, and more, people could hop onto the page to see all of the best news. In addition, it added lots of popping visuals to draw people in.

Finally, the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee did something else that so many brands forget to do. It kept the conversion going past the event. It continued to tweet out stats and information related to the Super Bowl for days following the event, riding the momentum to keep the buzz going. Brands can learn a lot from this.

Use the strategies put forth by the Host Committee when promoting your next live event. You will be amazed at how much these strategies improve engagement.

The Teams

At one time, football teams just concentrated on getting touchdowns. Now, they add some PR to the mix via Twitter. Both the Broncos and the Panthers harnessed the power of Twitter in between the downs, and both showed off savvy social media techniques.

The Broncos used Twitter to keep fans from around the world engaged during the game. From videos of cheering fans to celebrations for touchdowns, the team’s Twitter feed stayed active during the entire game. Utilizing the hashtag #BeatThePanthers, the team created a sense of community in the digital world.

The Panthers might not have fared as well on Super Bowl Sunday, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort on Twitter. Marking tweets with #KeepPounding, the team used the Twitter feed to keep people excited about the game, even when it looked likely that they would lose. The team posted uplifting tweets and put a positive spin on mistakes to keep the fans invested in the game. People who accessed the feed quickly realized the Panthers were not going to give up during the game. They were going to keep fighting, even after getting knocked down.

The Fans

When people throw live events, they often forget about the importance of the fans. You need the fans to get behind your event if it is going to go viral. Super Bowl 50 fans were an animated bunch, showing the true power of Twitter.

From retweeting posts from the official accounts to giving their own spin on the game, fans showed they were glued to their television sets during the game. At the same time, they showed that watching something doesn’t mean they can’t pick up their phones and tweet. They managed to stay engaged with the game and their Twitter accounts at the same time.

Brands should come up with new ways to keep fans engaged during events. If they manage to do so, their events will go viral.

Twitter isn’t just for Super Bowls. It is for events of all sizes. Borrowing from the Super Bowl strategies used by various brands, create a compelling Twitter campaign for your next event. Then watch as it takes off with a life of its own.