Improving Attendance Best Practices
Part 1 | Bonus Games and Point Strategy
46% of customers will increase visits when a rewards program is in place. With bonus games, Florida State saw a 32% YoY increase in student attendance.
46% of customers will increase visits when a rewards program is in place. With bonus games, Florida State saw a 32% YoY increase in student attendance.
The Western Sydney Wanderer FC (WSW) is using in-game voting to determine the Man of the Match through the rewards program WSW Rewards. By using WSW Rewards, Wanderers Members (season-ticket holders) feel valued and are rewarded for voting for the Man of the Match.
Wanderers set up voting for the Man of the Match before every game through WSW Rewards. The voting takes place in the form of a Micro Survey that every WSW Rewards member can access via the WSW Rewards app.
/ continue reading[Before WSW Rewards], we never had Man of The Match voting. [Now] all Members feel more valued [because] they contribute to the Man of The Match.Nicholas Cakovski, WSW Member Relations Coordinator
Dukes Rewards, James Madison University’s (JMU) rewards program, sets up strategically placed beacons throughout the campus to send notifications to students even when there aren’t any events. James Madison believes that Duke Rewards beacon notifications drives student attendance and increases student engagement with JMU Athletics’ programs.
Since its initiation, Dukes Rewards has helped James Madison drive student attendance to JMU Athletics’ revenue and non-revenue sports, said Director of Marketing Taylor Dewey. Duke Rewards gives points to members that attend JMU Athletic’s events, which encourages students to attend the non-revenue sports, said Dewey.
Dukes Rewards then allows members to use the points they earn for athletics merchandise, tickets and cool prizes like an Ipad Mini. They can see these prizes, upcoming events, and other ways to earn points on the Duke Rewards website or mobile app.
Performing arts centers are struggling to reach the new generation, but the Long Center for Performing Arts in Austin, Texas is bucking the trend by winning over young consumers with the Long Center Rewards program.
“Now is a really tricky time for performing arts centers because sales are down for just about everyone,” said Senior Creative Marketing Manager of the Long Center Brandon Strange.
“Old business models aren’t working like they used to, and people are having difficulty bringing the performing arts to a new generation,” Strange said. But Long Center Rewards has helped them reach these younger consumers, Strange said. / continue reading
Indiana University partners with some big sponsors for the Crimson Guard Rewards program, including Delta Airlines and Chick-Fil-A. These sponsors help Indiana give great prizes to the students while cutting costs to Crimson Guard Rewards.
One common goal is to make sure our students are rewarded for coming out to athletics events. By working together [with our sponsors] and the student rewards program we accomplish that.Laura Kneiss, Crimson Guard Director
Indiana attracted Delta Airlines as a sponsor because they were looking to reach the student population. The appeal of nearly 4,000 student rewards members convinced Delta Airlines to partner with Crimson Guard Rewards. / continue reading
The Milwaukee Admirals, an American Hockey League team, are increasing engagement through exclusive prizes only available on the Admiral Rewards program.
Admiral Rewards offers experiences and autographed material only available through the Admiral Rewards Prize Store. Fans can find The Prize Store in the Admiral Rewards’ app and website.
Fans earn points to redeem these prizes by attending Admirals games and following the Admiral’s social media. “[Admiral Rewards] is easy to use, is time sensitive and encourages fans to follow social media,” Larson said.
One of the advantages of Admiral Rewards is the ability to measure social engagement, Larson said. With this ability, the Admirals have measured an increase in fan interaction with their social media. For instance, the Admirals have seen triple the number of retweets on Twitter since establishing Admiral Rewards, Larson said. / continue reading
SW Transit, an award-winning transit agency, has created new SW Transit Rewards members using the program’s Invite a Friend feature. In fact, 11% of members have joined SW Transit Rewards after receiving an invite from a friend.
SW Transit Rewards members invited a friend by going to rewards.swtransit.org and clicking the invite a friend icon on the homepage. There a member could add the email of their friend, which sends them an email with a link to join SW Transit Rewards.
The National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) recognized The University of Texas- Rio Grande Valley as an honorable mention for the Marketing Team of the Year. Rio Grande Valley believes that their rewards system, V-Fan Rewards, is a large part of the athletic department’s marketing success.
We decided to include V-Fan Rewards in our application because we felt like it was one of our strongest digital media components. It drove student engagement offline and online.Kara Lara, Athletic Marketing and Promotions Coordinator at UTRGV
Rio Grande Valley is a new institution created by the Texas State Legislature in 2013 by combining the University of Texas at Brownsville and the University of Texas- Pan American. So Rio Grande Valley needed to figure out a way to get people excited about the new athletic program.
Cheyenne Frontier Days (CFD), the world’s largest outdoor rodeo, uses contests to create loyal rewards members. Fans join CFD’s rewards program, CFD Rodeo Rewards, to gain access to exclusive contests for concerts, meet and greets, free tickets and VIP experiences.
To spread the word about the contests, CFD Rodeo Rewards announces them through radio, tv and social media. After hearing about the contests, fans enter to win through the CFD Rodeo Rewards’ website or mobile app.
Listen to KYGO mornings all week to win tickets to see this broncos fan (@kennychesney) at @CheFrontierDays in July! pic.twitter.com/SmEo6PMcIt
— 98.5 KYGO (@985KYGO) May 31, 2016
Fans must create a CFD Rodeo Rewards account or log-in with an existing one to enter into contests. New CFD Rodeo Rewards members can have one free entry into a contest after creating an account. By generating these new members, CFD Rodeo Rewards has onboarded thousands of fans from these contests.
The University of Wisconsin uses FanMaker to power a ticket priority system which rewards students that attend the most games with the best seats. When students check-in at games through Badger Rewards, they earn points to receive eligibility for priority seating for men’s basketball games.
/ continue readingWe are really focused on rewarding students who come to games; we found out through our survey that students value the best seats in the student section so we developed this program to speak to that and help reward those fans.Adam Ahearn, Associate Director of Marketing Wisconsin