Trend Advertising: Game of Thrones Edition

HBO’s Game of Thrones premieres tonight and everyone is talking about it. Season 7 is highly anticipated because it’s the first season to go beyond George R.R. Martin’s highly acclaimed books. It’s even trending on Twitter.

Now, everyone is jumping on the bandwagon, including B2B marketing teams. In this post, we’ll look at how a couple of companies are taking advantage of trend marketing and how you can do it, too.

Trend Marketing: Game of Thrones

Venngage, a web-based infographic design program, is no stranger to trend marketing. For the Game of Thrones premiere, they sent out an infographic displaying every betrayal that has occurred on the show, and how they’re all related.

Game of Thrones is not directly related to a subscription to their platform. However, the number of betrayals on the show could not be more convoluted. This infographic shows how you can use Venngage to create highly complex marketing assets.

By using the Game of Thrones premiere, they are not only able to attract their target prospects with something in which they’re already interested and hold their attention. They are also proving their own value.

Remember, you may be in business-to-business marketing, but the decision maker is a person. Don’t be boring.

SEO

SEMRush got in on the action, too, for their Keyword Magic Tool. Instead of focusing on the trend itself, they adapted the trend to fit their business.

SEMRush focuses on SEO and SEM. You can utilize the platform to optimize your organic efforts and paid campaigns. They sent out an email for the “Game of SEO.” The timing is perfect. They sent it out just a few days before the premiere. The font they used in their imagery is recognizable to every fan.

In trend marketing, you don’t have to use the trend directly to be successful. Get creative with it. Make it your own. Not sure where to start? Check out this parody that Sesame Street did for ideas.

Timing

Timing is everything for trend marketing. Game of Thrones is hot now. Tomorrow, it could be something else entirely (although, until the season finale, we doubt it).

Jump on a trend when it’s hot. Don’t wait. Some trends may last months, but others only last days. Also, make sure you don’t jump on every trend. Trend marketing is fun because it’s different than what you normally put out. The point of trend marketing is to grab the attention of your prospect. If you’re trying to use every trend, you’ll just fade into the noise.

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