ESPN is the one-stop-shop for sports fans, whether it be for watching live events, tuning into news and commentaries, or keeping tabs on fantasy league brackets. But juggling all of these offerings—and more—required some brainstorming and strategic choices for their marketers.
Whether it was displaying relevant, updated information within their messaging or implementing flexible design for quick pivoting, ESPN needed agile options that were always ready for kick-off. Not only that, they needed marketing solutions that were truly disaster-proof no matter the circumstance to ensure an engaging experience was always ready for customers.
To meet these goals, ESPN implemented AI powered personalization that’s automated for every touchpoint and situation. Discover how ESPN now designs campaigns that turn data into a true art form.
How ESPN Transforms Data Into Design
To deliver an optimal experience to every customer, ESPN identified and executed on three core goals:
Understanding data points is the key to knowing customers and individuals. From processing and transforming zero- and first-party data into content, or looping in real-time information for all messaging, data proved to be the secret sauce to scoring with customers.
Walking in customers’ shoes was another essential step in ESPN’s marketing strategy. If the messaging didn’t stand out in the inbox to their own marketers, they knew that the campaign needed retooling.
Automating for optimal efficiency was the foundation for every campaign ESPN created. By leveraging internal APIs, the brand served up relevant content to every single customer, whether they had already filled in their profile information or not. This was all set in place without any manual lift on the team’s part.
ESPN set some pretty lofty goals for their marketing endeavors, but thanks to a team effort with Movable Ink, the brand surpassed their own expectations. Discover those campaigns in action:
Home Run Emails
ESPN truly bats a 1000 with their weekly Major League Baseball (MLB) newsletter. With updated broadcasts for both ESPN and ESPN+, exclusive highlights from favorite teams, the latest news, along with fantasy league and social links to encourage the fandom spirit, this newsletter is the rundown every baseball enthusiast needs.
So that every deployment was smooth sailing, ESPN implemented some key parameters to ensure their newsletter remained relevant, no matter the scenario. Depending on how much information ESPN had on that customer, the newsletter would automatically adjust accordingly.
For committed email fans, they received a truly hyper-personalized experience to match their profiles. Updated scores and game schedules from their favorite teams, “Your Squad” updates if they were participating in a fantasy league, and hand-picked updates from the latest news all worked together to create a truly unique email experience.
New email recipients weren’t left behind, either. Using collapsible blocks and static fall-back options, these fans still got to stay in the know with the latest trending content—along with personalized CTAs to engage further with ESPN depending on where they were in the customer journey.
Champion Mobile Apps
Tournament season is undeniably the most exciting time for sports fans, making it more crucial than ever for the marketing experience to match.
To manage several games at a time, ESPN used a custom app that could support multiple categories simultaneously. Depending on the recipient, the number of games displayed at a time would adapt.
Not only that, but as game scenarios occurred in real-time, the app would automatically update without any lift from the marketing team. Scoring updates and advancement news stayed accurate and live game scenarios—such as weather effects or changing start times—were updated in real-time. No matter when customers logged into their app, they were assured the information they received was as updated as possible.
High-Score Marketing Achieved
With the right tools and strategies on hand, ESPN is able to remain flexible in their marketing campaigns, no matter what happens on the field, court, or arena. By implementing automated content personalization ESPN continuously beats their personal best, getting customers more engaged and excited to support their favorite teams than ever.