Attracting Fans with an "Enter to Win" Contest
In the midst of an important playoff series, the Columbus Blue Jackets re-engaged and attracted thousands of new fans by holding a contest to win playoff tickets.
GOAL: To Re-Engage Inactive Fans While Attracting New Fans
The Columbus Blue Jackets are a dark horse in the National Hockey League. A team composed of high-quality veterans and rising young stars, both the present and future are bright. Coming off their most successful season in franchise history, the team was eager to carry the momentum and re-engage inactive fans, while simultaneously expanding their fan base.
SOLUTION: Engage and Expand Their Reach with a Ticket Giveaway Contest
In a matter of minutes, the Blue Jackets spun up a simple "Enter to Win" contest for tickets to Game 4 at Nationwide Arena. As game day approached and anticipation grew, the number of entries drastically increased. With the help of custom audiences and designated market locations, the campaign received over 16,000 views and more than 10,000 entries in a period of three days. Half of the entrants then opted-in for an email subscription, growing their support base by thousands of new fans throughout the Midwest region. With a continuously expanding fan base and a skilled, competitive roster, it won't be long until the Columbus Blue Jackets transition from being a dark horse to an elite team in the NHL.
Round two:
Using their newly refined audience, the Blue Jackets team were able to push a series of highly targeted ads with help from the Tradable Bits ads team. With the goal of communicating the benefits of ticket packages, the team specifically targeted individuals who had previously shown an interest in ticket plans by visiting the page on the Blue Jacket’s website. They also segmented their ads geographically by exclusively targeting fans within 50 miles of Columbus.
End Game:
In the eleventh hour, the team employed a 33-second highlight reel featuring the top plays of the year. Using the playoffs as the main theme, the caption pushed the narrative of a “do or die game 4” with a call to action that guided fans to the ticket page. In terms of targeting, the team once again used custom audiences built off interactions from the team's Facebook and Instagram pages. As a result, the video was able to reach an audience of 380, 000 fans.
