The Magic Behind NBA's Marketing
They Shoot, They Score: How the NBA’s Marketers Increase Conversions with a Swish
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For over a century, basketball has been a sport that brings people together. From the hardworking teammates on the court to the fans who eagerly watch in the arena, an unbreakable bond forms.
The NBA’s marketing team takes this connection and brings it to their omni-channel experience, keeping the momentum of the game going strong on and off the court.
To assist with this continued goal, the NBA and Movable Ink joined forces to create the most personalized marketing strategy for fans all around. Because getting up-to-date news about your favorite team matters.
This case study reveals how the NBA uses tailored communications to deliver a slam-dunk experience for every customer.
Crowds Cheer for Fan Milestones
For the NBA, fan loyalty is their number one priority. To commend engagement and recognize fans for taking valued actions, the NBA partnered with Movable Ink to create personalized banners displaying each fans’ specific badge status.
The four banners celebrate becoming an NBA ID member, choosing a favorite team, becoming a season ticket holder, and tuning into the NBA streaming service, League Pass. Fans see the banner with their badge status Monday to Friday in the NBA's newsletter, The Zone.
Off the Court and Into the Inbox
Gamifying the email experience is one of the most influential ways to drive audience engagement.
The NBA used a best-in-class combo of image personalization, data visualization, countdown timers, and “Share to Twitter” modules to incentivize increased voting to determine the starters of the NBA All-Star Game.
The "Vote Count" section uses the recipient's 2022 vote total to create a 2023 vote-count "goal" that is visualized as a progress bar. Upon reaching their goal, the creative dynamically changes to a "Congratulations" message, displaying the recipient's final vote count for 2023.
Result: 42% increase in CTR compared to non-personalized content
Dropping Dimes with Eye-Catching Visuals
Everyone loves an animation, but when you make them personalized to a fan’s favorite team, it’s end game.
To display doubleheaders in an engaging way, the NBA uses dynamic GIFs that pull in team images, logos, team cities, game time, and broadcast logos.
The player images are set to match the uniform the team will wear that night. In the event a fan can't receive GIFs, they are shown a static fallback image that is still personalized with all of the same data points as the animation.
Result: 63% conversion rate across channels
Real-Time Game Content is an Alley-Oop for Fan Loyalty
Keeping fans up to date on their favorite teams is a top priority for the NBA.
That’s why they used Movable Ink to develop individual email banners to update fans on everything they need to know, including the team’s total wins and losses, team leaders, next game info, and the score of their last game.
This information is powered by the NBA’s internal API so that the most accurate experience is always shown at the time of send.
Conclusion
Basketball wouldn’t be the same without the fan vigor. Whether they’re cheering from courtline seats or from the comfort of their couch, the energy that exists makes the game what it is.
These dedicated fans are what keep the NBA’s marketing team motivated to create winning campaigns at every digital turn.
We’re eager to see what’s up next on their marketing docket!
