Why The Super Bowl Halftime Show is the Ultimate Lead Magnet
How artists get to the bag without being paid
Anyone else watched the K Dot Halftime show 10 more times since it aired? Just me? Ok.
I’ve been watching the Super Bowl and their halftime shows my entire life. From Janet’s titty, Prince in the rain, BEYONCE (twice) and whatever the fuck The Weeknd was doing, it’s something I look forward to every year considering my team never makes it to the game.
I’m sure many of you know the artists who do the halftime show don't get paid by the NFL to do so. Because of that the production, costumes, props, etc are funded by the artist, their team and possibly sponsors. I’ll be real and say I don’t actually know how this works and this is just speculation. So of course the artist needs a way to recoup those losses. The big game isn’t cutting the check so they have to make the money back in other ways.
This is why artists like Kendrick typically have something to sell during the performance. Whether it’s merch, concert tickets, or a new song the show is typically about promotion. This is why I say the Halftime show is the perfect lead magnet.
What is a Lead Magnet?
A lead magnet is a free product you use to get someone into your funnel. It could be a free ebook, free course, free physical product but something typically to get a potential customer to either sign up for your email list or follow you on social media so that you can sell to them. Hundreds of millions of people watch the Super Bowl and the halftime show every year. People from all walks of life, all ages and races. You wouldn’t think that there are people who don’t know who the headliner is but there’s a good amount of people who probably never heard of the likes of Usher, Kendrick Lamar or the Weeknd and if they have they’ve never heard their music. There could be millions of people seeing and hearing these artists for the first time, aka a “cold lead”, who become curious and seek out more content from them. For current fans of the artists, the show can convert them from a warm fan ( someone who has shown interest in the artist, listened to their music, but never purchased anything from them) to a hot fan (someone who has paid for merchandise, music or concert tickets).
Now Kendrick was literally the biggest artist of 2024 so clearly he had a bunch of cold leads going into the show but I’m sure many of them had never seen him live. With him announcing his tour just a few months prior this was a sure shot to sell tickets and sell out shows that weren’t already. Give them a sample of the show including his co-host (is the the right name) SZA.
How can you implement this into your business?
One take away I get every year from the show as a marketer is to make the free just as good as the paid. Make your lead magnet a generous offer so that it would be a no brainer for your warm leads to buy. Don’t just give potential customers bullshit cause you aren’t getting paid.
Make sure your lead relates to the product you’re trying to sell. Kendrick is promoting the Grand National Tour so of course most of the music he did was from GNX or the Drake murder. Did he do his older hits? Of course, but it wouldn’t have made sense for him to do M.A.A.D City ( though I would have personally lost my shit) if he’s promoting new music.
For example, for my current client our focus has been selling their hat club subscription and selling hats in general. It wouldn’t make sense for me to create a lead magnet for shoes. Instead I created a head measuring guide so you can find your hat size. For someone buying hats online, especially for the first time, it’s a guessing game on what size you may wear. Let’s not get into American vs European hat sizes, it’s a whole thing and it can be confusing. So to take out the confusion, I made a guide answering every question a customer may ask about hat sizing all while getting them on my email list so I can retarget them either with something like a discount off their first purchase.
In Conclusion
Advertising is everywhere whether you notice or not. I truly enjoyed the message and art in Kendrick’s performance. I was very insightful, needed especially now, and very well done. However, it’s not lost on me that it was also a PG Lang/ Grand National Tour commercial. The Super Bowl is the biggest marketing night of the year and it’s just not in the commercials that play during the game. This should inspire you to find ways to market your business and advertise your products in ways that are inconspicuous and don't feel like you’re selling. People want to be sold to but they don’t want to be sold to if that makes sense. I saw SZA live in 2019 at Something In The Water and thought she was trash but those few minutes she was on stage with K Dot made me consider catching her live again.
Make your marketing fun, not salesy. And when in doubt, just start yelling MUSTAAAAAAAAAAAARD!
Until next time,
BYE!