Olympic Record-Breaking Social Media Stats

Ready, Set, Go!

The 2014 Winter Olympics kicked off this past weekend, and if you haven’t started incorporating social media into your content strategy, then you’re a little behind. It’s not too late though! You may not have had the fastest time in adopting a content marketing strategy via social media networks, but as long as you reach the finish line you’re sure to increase your brand’s recognition. To make sure your business isn’t left in the dust, check out these record breaking stats to see how social media sharing has grown since the last Olympic games in 2012.

According to this infographic:

The 2012 Summer Olympics in London lasted 17 days and garnered…

• 306 billion pieces of shared content across the world wide web
  
• 208,333 pieces of shared content per second
• 102 billion shares of Olympic content on Facebook
• 5 billion Olympic-related tweets via Twitter

Plus, these stats are coming from 2012. The 2014 Super Bowl just broke records with its social media discussion, and it was the most talked about Super Bowl ever. If we’re going to compare the Olympics to the Super Bowl, let’s take a look back at the 2012 Super Bowl in comparison to this year’s.

2012 Super Bowl vs. 2014 Super Bowl

• 13.7 million tweets were sent out during the 2012 Super Bowl (ESPN). Click to tweet.
• 24.9 million tweets were sent out during the 2014 Super Bowl (CNN). Click to tweet.
• Twitter had 138 million active users in 2012 (Business Insider). Click to tweet.
• Twitter now has a little over 645 million active users in 2014 (Statistic Brain). Click to tweet.

And that’s just Twitter! If I were to guess, it looks like this year’s 2014 Winter Olympics will be breaking records in social media buzz (as long as the “social media ban” doesn’t affect too much)! However, why does this all matter? Because as you can see, social media has increased drastically in just the last two years. Are you wondering what the Super Bowl and Olympic discussions on Twitter have to do with your B2B brand? Well, maybe not much, but they are HUGE opportunities to reach millions and billions of people.

B2B Inspiration

Take a look at what JCPenney‘s did with Twitter during this year’s Super Bowl. They didn’t even have a Super Bowl commercial, and they were the second most mentioned brand on Twitter, even beating out Coca-Cola. Another huge success was the #EsuranceSave30 commercial that played after the Super Bowl. Instead of paying 1.5 million for a Super Bowl ad, Esurance decided to place their commercial after the Super Bowl and give away the 1.5 million to a viewer who tweeted #EsuranceSave30. According to SocialNewsDaily:

• 5.4 million tweets were sent using #EsuranceSave30. Click to tweet.
• Over 200,000 tweets were posted in the first 60 seconds after the commercial aired. Click to tweet.
• Website visits increased by 12 times in the first hour of the contest. Click to tweet.

Even though JCPenney’s and Esurance are consumer-based businesses, B2B marketers can still be inspired by the opportunities provided via social media for businesses around the world. Being able to use social media as a platform to share your company’s culture and content with the masses is something that shouldn’t be passed up. In addition, you not only get to reach a larger network but you get to do so with global events, like the Olympics.  I can’t think of a better way to reach, connect, relate and engage an audience… can you?

Do you use high profile events like the Olympics and the Superbowl (here come the Oscars too!) to make an impression for your B2B company? Do you think it works? If tweeting, facebooking and instagramming your brand leaves you with a headache, give Red Branch Media a call. We love this stuff, and we can help!

Editor’s Note: Despite concerns and controversies at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games (click here, take your pick), this post is not intended as an endorsement, just amazerblades B2B stats and advice. So don’t freak out.

Maren Hogan

Maren Hogan is CEO of Red Branch and general Bad@$$

Maren Hogan is a seasoned marketer and community builder in the HR and Recruiting industry. Maren started Red Branch Media and, before she hired all the smiling faces you see below, she ran it on her own. In marketing for over 15 years, she has deep experience in strategic campaigns and a long-term, results-based operational approach.