National Championship Football Teams Face Off in iContact Social Media Study

RALEIGH, N.C., Feb. 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With the big game just a few days away, iContact, a leading email and social media marketing company, paired up National Championship Football teams to evaluate how they fared with regard to social media usage.  The study identified social media strategies in use by many of the teams' players that can also be used by businesses to build their brand.

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"While the traditional Big Game pastime has been to watch television commercials, the massive consumer adoption of social media is driving this new phenomenon called the Social Bowl," said Jeff Revoy, chief marketing and product officer, iContact.  "Businesses and marketers can learn from the players how social media can effectively drive brand awareness."

To evaluate how the teams faced off in the 2012 "Social Bowl," iContact pulled the total number of Twitter followers and tweets for individual players on the Giants and Patriots.  The selected players were those who started for both teams during their respective championship games played on January 22, 2012. 

To view the results and see which team and players dominated on the social media front, visit iContact's blog.

There are also some key takeaways that small businesses can glean from the players' social media usage and apply to strengthen their business brands. Check out a few of the strategies from iContact's social media playbook for small businesses below and here:

• Man-to-Man: Use Twitter to show the personality behind your brand.  Be authentic, share your knowledge with your followers and make lasting connections.
• Blitz: Build your brand while you're on the go.  Send quick 140-character tweets to promote sales, advertise new inventory and connect with followers when you're away from the office.
• Zone: Cover more than just your business.  Mobilize your followers with tweets about other causes, ideas and interests.

To learn more about iContact's Social Bowl findings, please visit blog.icontact.com.

About iContact
Based in Raleigh, NC, iContact is a purpose-driven company that makes email marketing and social media marketing easy, so that small and midsized companies and causes can grow and succeed. More than one million users have signed up for an iContact account, and the company maintains B Corporation status, a certification awarded to companies meeting comprehensive and transparent social and environmental performance standards. As part of its ongoing social mission, iContact applies the 4-1s Corporate Social Responsibility Model, donating 1 percent from each of its payroll, equity, product, and employee time to its local and global communities. Visit us online at iContact.com, on Twitter @iContact, at our LinkedIn Group, and at our Facebook page.

Kara Schiltz
919-926-3543
[email protected]

SOURCE iContact Corp.