• by Laurie Sullivan , Staff Writer @lauriesullivan, February 4, 2015

Prime placement in the organic search results on engines became key to reaching viewers before, during and after the Super Bowl. Wix created an optimized landing page not only for its Super Bowl commercial, but also unique Web sites for past NFL players' companies, featured in their advertisement.

The Web sites were designed to highlight Wix's products, and were complete with game- and campaign-specific content. Wix rolled out the #ItsThatEasy campaign before the game, allowing them to rank for Super Bowl-related searches and gain backlinks.

During and after the game, Wix updated its landing page to encourage viewers to take part in fun contests, as well as vote for the brand in YouTube's AdBlitz favorite commercial contest. The search campaign seamlessly blended into its overall marketing strategy, scoring the highest in Merkle | RKG's second annual Digital Bowl 2015 Report.

Brands that scored well had a strong, optimized page that ranked and on-page content that integrated with their Super Bowl campaign highlighting their brand’s unique identity and product offering.

While social profiles ranked well for certain advertisers, an integrated and optimized landing page had the greatest benefit for long-term gains. To assess the Super Bowl advertisers' organic search strategies, Merkle | RKG analyzed brands based on landing page creation, landing page optimization, Mobile optimized, discoverability, quality backlinks, and searchable content in commercials.

The 2014 Digital Bowl Report looked at only social media, SEO, and paid-search marketing. This year’s Report added display advertising and email marketing.

For social media, brands were judged on the content they created, how they engaged with viewers, and their rate of conversation. Brands scored high if they were agile and creative in their real-time marketing and responsive to users. Paid search examined relevant keyword targeting, ad copy, and relevant landing page experiences. Display looked at whether brands were leveraging teaser video content for retargeting and real-time ad buys during the game. Lastly, brands received a bonus point if they took advantage of email marketing’s direct line to their existing customers.