PURL CAMPAIGN ANALYSIS CASE STUDY: ST. HELENS R.F.C. (SUPER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 2014/15)

PURL CAMPAIGN ANALYSIS CASE STUDY: ST. HELENS R.F.C. (SUPER LEAGUE CHAMPIONS 2014/15)

CAMPAIGN OVERVIEW CLUB BACKGROUND St.Helens R.F.C. is one of the founding members of the Rugby Football League and is a club enriched in tradition and in achievement. Known as the Saints, they have achieved five Super League titles, seven Championships, twelve Challenge Cups and four Premierships. CAMPAIGN MISSION STATEMENT St.Helens teamed up with 4Sight Sport & Leisure to help Increase supporter digital engagement and provide an improved fan engagement; ultimately maximising season ticket revenue. MISSION STATEMENT To increase supporter digital engagement and provide an improved fan engagement; ultimately maximising season ticket revenue. DELIVERY METHOD 4Sight and St.Helens developed a plan to deliver a campaign containing a personalised URL (PURL) that is driven by CRM and data segmentation. The PURL s are built with a direct link to CRM to allow personalisation. Insight led communications improved web page engagement, with careful analysis of each campaign phase being used to help drive subsequent marketing activity in the campaign. WHAT ARE PURLs? Personalised URLs, are a designated web page, personalised to each individual supporter. A URL containing the person s name gives the customer unique access to their own page, which contains content specific to their customer account. STRATEGIC AIMS In order to deliver a campaign that met the objectives in the mission statement a number of strategic aims were set; Create a data driven PURL for 2015 season tickets Increase customer engagement on a digital level Improve fan experience and loyalty Understand fan behaviours Deliver Insight driven communications Evolve traditional marketing methods Decrease marketing spend Increase season ticket revenue KEY BUSINESS METRICS 8,197 Season Ticket Holders 18,000 Stadium capacity Estimated return on investment of 298,800 49% of PURL visits were made using a mobile or tablet Over 13,000 unique visits to the PURL 58% of fans targeted bought as a result of an email 48% of fans targeted bought having visited their PURL and opened an email

We re delighted with the results from our season ticket campaign and the positive reaction from our fans. We re enjoying working with 4Sight to help shape our future strategy. - DAVE LOWE, MARKETING MANAGER

BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE THAT DRIVES NEW REVENUE STREAMS Business intelligence is crucial to continual improvement at St.Helens. The process starts and ends with data. Through placing an emphasis on the collection of good quality data from their fans, they are able to conduct detailed analysis, providing insight and a better understanding of customer behaviours. Analysis of previous campaigns showed that Saints fans react well to email as a marketing channel. This sort of insight into a seemingly digitally savvy supporter group pointed towards the use of a PURL being the optimal channel for season ticket marketing. By supporting this with a number of target email communications it was expected that engagement and ultimately sales would increase. The PURL campaign would also give Saints the ability to analyse device usage, an insight that they were keen to understand when considering future campaigns. Segmentation to increase engagement In addition to carrying out data analysis in order to steer decision making with insights, 4Sight worked with the Saints marketing team in order to create a number of key customer profiles. This enabled a tailored message for each customer segment in order to ensure the campaign struck a chord with that individual. A series of communications were delivered at various points throughout the campaign, all targeted with an appropriate message to the specific fan profile.

THE OUTCOME: HIGH LEVELS OF ENGAGEMENT & SALES Through placing an emphasis on the collection of good quality data from their fans, St.Helens are able to conduct detailed analysis, providing insight and a better understanding of their customers. With over 13,000 unique PURL visits, Saints have seen a significant increase to their digital fan engagement. ROI FIGURES Estimated return on investment of 298,800 49% of PURL visits were made using a mobile or tablet Over 13,000 unique visits to the PURL 58% of fans targeted bought as a result of an email 48% of fans targeted bought having visited their PURL and opened an email Taking into account the fact that the average season ticket purchase buys two tickets, with an average basket total of 400, Saints are estimated to have achieved return on investment of 298,800. After the launch of the PURL, over a quarter of visitors returned to the website more than once, with residents in the city of Liverpool being responsible for 1,251 returning visits. Further analysis identified the importance of mobile responsive design, as nearly half (49%) of PURL visits were on a mobile device. Of those mobile users, the Apple ipad proved the most popular device, accounting for 44% of the visits. During this campaign, email remained a key communications channel for the Saints. All engagement metrics (e.g. opens, clicks) were above industry average, including a huge Click to Open (CTO) rate of 98%. Marketing Manager, Dave Lowe said: We re delighted with the results from our season ticket campaign and the positive reaction from our fans. We re enjoying working with 4Sight to help shape our future strategy. The real proof of the campaigns success came when looking at the sales figures. Of the fans targeted with the PURL campaign, 58% bought a season ticket having opened an email from the campaign. Purchasers that had opened an email and visited their PURL accounted for an impressive 48%.

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