Using Fan Engagement To Increase Season Ticket Sales

For this weeks assignment/post I was asked to come up with a high-level marketing strategy concept using a new mobility system aimed at selling next years season ticket holders for an NHL organization. “The Owner” of this team would like for me to develop a marketing plan that will utilize a new wireless network that was recently deployed in his arena. Throughout this course I have learned a lot and become pretty familiar with Cisco’s Connected Stadium; so I will be basing my marketing concept off of Cisco’s capabilities.

Now more then ever, everyone is focused on increasing fan engagement no matter what the industry or sport. The question here is, how can sports organizations and clubs better engage their organizations supporters (aka season ticket holders and fans) to drive better attendance and revenues all around.

My marketing strategy is simple; there are two major components:

    1. Show season ticket holders how much the organization appreciates their business.

    2. Expose non-season ticket holders to the added value in becoming a season ticket holder

Cisco’s StadiumVision will allow the integration and automated delivery of customized and dynamic content from multiple sources to different areas of the stadium.

It’s no secret that an organizations lifeblood are their season ticket holders; they spend the most amount of money and they are more likely to refer business to the club then any individual ticket purchaser. Organizations should take every opportunity they can in order to show their appreciation to season ticket holders throughout the season. My marketing plan involves rewarding these dedicated individuals using targeted advertising and the following promotions and events:

• Give them access (video, audio, photos, text) to former organization stars during commercial breaks, intermissions and time-outs. This gives dedicated fans the opportunity to connect with the clubs history of “greatness”, furthering their drive to support the team they love.
• Have short video snippets of players personally thanking season ticket holders (at random) for supporting the organization, their teammates and their careers. These messages would include encouragement and excitement in seeing them throughout the season and future seasons to come.
• Give these individuals “insider access” to exclusive news, insights, announcements, Press Releases, player tidbits etc. These exclusive features will not only be accessed while in the arena (in dedicated season-ticket holder areas) but can also be accessed via their smartphones, tablets and computers at home via mobile application and downloads.
• Display special codes during intermissions or other dedicated times throughout the game for season ticket holders to enter a drawing via their phones to win two extra tickets during the teams playoff series. During each home game a new season ticket holder will be given the opportunity to win these tickets. The idea is, that season ticket holders can bring their friends and family to an exciting playoff game, showering them with a fun, high-energy atmosphere that they would potentially want to be a part of for the upcoming season.

Targeting your average home game “single ticket” purchaser at the venue is fairly easy, there are a lot of them… but, its properly engaging them with visual content in order to evoke emotions that lead them to WANT to be season ticket holders themselves that’s challenging. If it were easy, every NHL organization would have a wait list pages long… and I’m afraid that’s not the case. I would suggest implementing the following promotions and events in order to raise awareness about the value in becoming a season ticket holder:

• Deploy a personalized video campaign to play on player’s personalities, the mascot and coaching staff via short viral videos displayed throughout the stadium on all digital platforms. This will allow fans to feel a deeper connection to the organization.
• Show short video feed of clips and still photos captured during exclusive season ticket holder events. These visuals will show both children and adults smiling, having fun, interacting with players and enjoying a great experience as a family or with friends. This will help to spark that need or want to also be a part of the exclusivity that comes along with being a season ticket holder.
• Hold contests or giveaways that include prizes from the organization’s top local and national sponsors in order to reward fans who sign up to become season ticket holders or renew their season tickets with the organization. The team would announce winners during home games via all digital platforms (billboards, concessions, TV’s, display screens, etc.) If these individuals happen to miss the announcement at the game or aren’t attending the game, the winners will be announced via all other platforms (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Website, mobile application and Pinterest)
• Most of the time money can be the biggest factor when it comes to making a decision about becoming a season ticket holder. I would like to encourage the organization to come up with a new, fresh and inviting variable ticket and dynamic pricing options/packages in order to push ticket revenue via specific digital boards and screens throughout the arena. Show fans that you understand their situation and continue in inviting them to be a part of your organization at a more affordable cost/rate.
• Customer service can be another issue that might deter fans from becoming season ticket holders. When you come across an issue, the last thing someone wants to do is talk to an automated machine or be kept on hold for an extended amount of time. The club should display customer service contact information on digital display boards at all times. Tell your fans that customer service is your number one priority and that there will always be someone waiting and willing to give you the attention and necessary information your looking for when it comes to anything season ticket related.
• Encourage fans to upload pictures or videos of themselves or check in at the game via all social media platforms directed with specific hashtags. Winners will be chosen and displayed during commercial breaks or timeouts.
• Display messages like “Order your season tickets today for exclusive team access” and “Renew your season tickets today in order to stay a step above the rest!”
• Thank fans during the last period of the game and invite them to check out the teams website or call customer service in order to check out special sales or promotions on upcoming season tickets.

My goal here is simple, I want to engage fans early, get them thinking about the season ahead, so this marketing campaign should start almost immediately. I think that it’s also important to deepen their engagement with fans during emotionally crucial points in the season, like playoff placements, playoff finals and big games against rivals. Added entertainment values mean a lot to fans and by implementing a marketing strategy like the follow could have the potential to greatly increase season ticket sales for future or upcoming seasons. Its not ALL about being aggressive but being approachable, spark emotion and show fans the value THEY add to the organization, without them there would be no organization. With this marketing strategy, every fan is a potential prospect and they should be aware of that.