• by Mark Walsh  @markfwal, February 6, 2012

Facebook brands that didn’t do any marketing around the Super Bowl missed out on a chance to get more exposure, according to a new study. Wall posts by brands related to the big game saw 60% engagement that those that didn’t refer to the event, research by social media marketing firm Buddy Media has found.

The finding was based on an analysis of Facebook posts by more than 1,400 brands in the six weeks leading up to the Facebook. The engagement rate factors in data such as Likes and Comments as a percentage of the fan base. At the same time, the study show less than 30% of marketers posted a message about the Super Bowl, suggesting a missed opportunity for the majority of brands that didn’t try to capitalize on the game to draw attention.

On Super Bowl Sunday, the difference in engagement was even more apparent as posts related to the game had double the interaction rates of those that didn’t. The biggest spike came at the end of the game when the average engagement rate for Super Bowl posts was 139% higher than average. The data is the first in a series of Super Bowl research Buddy Media plans to release this week.