Staying Ahead of the Game: Smarter NFL Advertising Strategies with Tappx

The NFL season isn’t just the return of Sunday rituals and highlight reels; it’s also the kickoff of one of the most powerful advertising moments of the year. Fans are tuned in, emotions are high, and brands are competing for attention. At Tappx, we see this as more than the highlight of the American football season; it’s a strategic opportunity 🏈

Precision Media Buying: From Impressions to Impact 👏

While TV spots during prime-time remain iconic, the real breakthroughs now happen in digital. With programmatic technology, advertisers can reach fans in real time, targeting by behavior, demographics, and location. Whether it’s the fan streaming from their phone, browsing team merchandise, or checking fantasy football stats, the goal is the same: deliver the right message at the right moment.

In the Tappx Media Buying team, we put this into practice daily. We help brands connect with their audiences through advanced targeting, optimizing spend across multiple platforms, and ensuring every impression counts.

Media Planning: The Playbook for Success 🏆

Like a championship team, campaigns need a game plan. Effective media planning goes through five key stages:

• Market analysis – Who are the fans? Where are they spending time? Which devices and platforms do they favor on game day?
• Objectives – Are we aiming for awareness, engagement, or conversions? For media buyers, this means defining whether the focus is:
  • Reach (CPM) – maximizing visibility.
  • Engagement (CTR, video completion rates) – driving interaction.
  • Performance outcomes (CPA, ROAS, retention rates) – ensuring business impact.
• Strategy development: Choosing the right mix across mobile and programmatic inventory. In the Tappx Media Buying team, this also means setting frequency caps, ensuring brand-safe placements, and leveraging real-time bidding (RTB) to secure premium audiences at scale.
• Implementation:  Activating campaigns with seamless execution across multiple DSPs and platforms. This includes creative testing (A/B variations), audience segmentation, and adjusting bidding strategies to capture peak attention moments like kickoff or prime-time matchups.
• Evaluation: Measuring outcomes is where campaigns win or lose. Beyond impressions, we track:
  • Conversion rates per ad (which creatives truly perform).
  • Retention and repeat engagement (how often users return after the first touch).
  • Incremental lift (what the campaign added vs. baseline behavior).
  • Early Tenure Value vs. Net Gaming Revenue (ETV vs NGR) – evaluating not just user acquisition, but how much real revenue each user generates over time.  

At Tappx, this cycle of testing, measurement, and optimization allows us to continuously refine campaigns throughout the season, ensuring partners maximize ROI while keeping fans engaged.

Scheduling: Timing Matters ⏱️

In football, timing wins games, and the same is true for ad campaigns. Different scheduling models help maximize results:

• Flighting: Heavy bursts during kickoff, Thanksgiving, or playoffs.
• Continuity: Steady activity throughout the season.
• Pulsing: A baseline presence with big spikes around major games.

For seasonal events like the NFL, pulsing is often the winning strategy keeping your brand visible all season long, while doubling down when attention is at its peak.

The Tappx Takeaway

This season, it’s not just about being on-screen, it’s about being in the right place, at the right time, with the right message. And that’s where Tappx brings value.

Are you ready to make your next campaign a touchdown? Connect with the Tappx Media Buying team and let’s build your winning strategy.