Vancouver Giants
Project Management | Product Management | Technical Consultation | Digital Strategy Consultation | Social Channel Strategy & Campaigning (Organic / Paid) | Marketing Consultation | Thought Leadership
The Challenges
Consultation with the internal sales and marketing team unearthed four key challenges:
1. Email marketing to new ticket purchasers, seasons ticket holders, and single ticket purchasers had become stagnant and sporadic. What customer segments would be targeted and was there data available to substantiate the reignited email marketing efforts?
2. Digital marketing campaigns were relegated to banner placements – customer segmentation was required to more effectively target the core ticket buying audience, specifically on the platforms where they reside. Which platforms would best target these core purchasers?
3. Marketing efforts required retooling to bring the brand in line with its original core value as a family entertainment offering. How would the team position itself against other family offerings in the marketplace, specifically offerings that fall outside of sports entertainment?
4. Digital marketing efforts saw large CTR (click through ratio), however online tickets sales did not match the scale of CTRs. What obstacles were potential online purchasers facing that were preventing them from converting to a sale?
The Marketing Message
Marketing efforts required retooling to bring the brand in line with its original core value as a family entertainment offering. Assessing the landscape of ‘family entertainment’ was a key driver in positioning the Giants as a contender in the competitive ‘family entertainment’ arena. This required expanding who was viewed as a direct competitor in the marketplace and bringing the family aspect, both from a cost and entertainment perspective, back into the marketing message.
A Broken Purchase Path
Digital marketing efforts saw large CTR (click through ratio), however online tickets sales did not match the scale of CTRs. This challenge was specifically evident with individuals clicking through from paid Facebook placement, who were abandoning their purchase upon arrival at the ticket vendor website.
Analysis of data provided by Facebook indicated that the majority of potential purchasers were abandoning their purchase at the same point, a barrier that was preventing the ticket sale.
Working in conjunction with the ticket vendor measures were taken to shorten and clarify the purchase path to better facilitate a more fluid purchase experience.
Overall Campaign Results
Through a process of re-positioning the marketing message, effectively commandeering social platforms, creating a seamless purchasing path and harnessing the organizations extensive repository of data, The Vancouver Giants now possess a deep set of tools to insure ticket sales success in a highly competitive marketplace.
The Solutions
Email Marketing
The Giants have the enviable position of having direct access to purchaser data through a close relationship with the ticket vendor. This access provides deep insight into not only the ticket purchaser but also provides customer insight into purchasing patterns and demographics.
Accessible customer data was gathered from all available touchpoints and segmented to provide outreach to key segments:
- frequent single ticket purchasers
- season ticket holders
- lapsed season ticket holders
- single ticket purchasers
Outreach commenced well before the beginning of pre-season to remind customers of the upcoming season and surveying was implemented to validate the “family experience” as the core offering most sought by attendees.
In addition, the team and its marketing staff attend numerous pre-season community events – each event a high traffic opportunity where a CASL compliant data collection regime was implemented to further broaden outreach via email marketing.
Digital Campaigns
Past online marketing efforts we sporadic and required a focused effort to drive brand message to the core purchaser – family’s looking for strong entertainment value. This focus was directed at geographic corridors where purchasers were most apt to reside, specifically within driving or transit commuting distance of the arena.
Heavy emphasis was directed at Facebook as it was determined early on that the core of Giants fans, sports fans and those seeking ‘family value’ entertainment offerings were receptive to offers within this high value social channel. Data collected from paid Facebook campaigning was used to validate paid placement decisions on a myriad of online properties including:
- Vancouver Is Awesome
- Vancity Buzz
- Business In Vancouver
- PostMedia online properties (Vancouver Sun & Province)
Multiple channels were commandeered to insure the prospective ticket buyer was touched multiple times along the purchase journey. Additionally, data insight from online campaigns was used to make informed decisions on traditional ad placements in local newspapers that service those key markets.
Content Marketing
Introduction to the product offering and its value required long-form content initiatives that provided insight into the product, driving decision makers to make the Vancouver Giants a consideration in their household entertainment budget. Publications were chosen based on their subscriber base to ensure the right message was being disseminated to the correct audience.
Advertorial content was placed within a select group of publications, including Business In Vancouver, Vancouver is Awesome and Vancity Buzz.
These platforms delivered exceptional return when weighed against the cost and provided key insights. Prospects introduced to the offering in this manner were apt to take action and click thru ratios delivered exceptional results.