3 Things March Madness Teaches Us About Consumers

Small business owners are always looking for ways to learn more about their consumer bases in order to better serve them and earn more revenue in the process. It can be easy to be narrow minded when it comes to customer insights, only worrying about how they interact with your own products or services. Sometimes taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture can be informative too.

March Madness is a national phenomenon. An estimated 30 million people will watch the Final Four games and over 60 million people will fill out an infamous bracket with their picks for the winners. Even people who have not watched one minute of college basketball all season prior to the tournament get on board with the fun. So what can this teach small business owners about their own endeavors?

Consumers value mixed media. The “second screen” will be important in this year’s tournament as consumers look for alternate ways to enjoy the games in addition to traditional television watching. Fans may check other scores on their smartphones, for example, while watching a particular game. Checking bracket standings on a tablet may be another activity that happens while a game plays out on a TV screen. Consumers will not get their messages about the game from just one source – there will be many different forms of media consumption that fill the space.

Small business takeaway: Diversify your messages to keep your customers engaged and interactive with your brand.

Consumers like a good story. The messaging that surrounds March Madness encompasses much more than just the plays on the court. The back stories of players, coaches and the schools involved are also part of the March Madness patchwork and are the anecdotes that people repeat long after the games have ended. The player who overcame a troubled home life, the coach who battled an illness or the school making its first-ever March Madness appearance are the stories that people invest themselves in during this tournament, bringing a distinctly human side to the technicalities of the game.

Small business takeaway: Make sure your business is relatable by putting some personality into your brand. Sharing photos, blogging about behind-the-scenes company things and posting video content will all help boost the human side of your brand.

Consumers just wanna have fun. The games themselves have become a small part of what makes March Madness such a good time, and revenue driver. The surrounding parties, office bracket contests and good-natured text messages between opposing fans are what elevate the tournament from an ordinary sports event to a nationwide phenomenon.

Small business takeaway: Don’t always take yourself so seriously. Look for light-hearted ways to reach consumers and engage them with your brand.

What small business lessons do you glean from cultural activities?

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3 Things March Madness Teaches Us About Consumers