How The Cavs More Than Doubled Fans’ Engagement and Enjoyed a 62% Conversion Rate

Background

The Cleveland Cavaliers, or Cavs, are a professional basketball team based in Cleveland, competing in the NBA’s Eastern Conference Central Division. Beyond their athletic performance, the Cavs are a prominent business entity that generates revenue through ticket sales, merchandise, and lucrative broadcasting deals, with games aired on both regional networks and national platforms. The team’s business operations also involve partnerships with various sponsors and a robust digital presence that connects with fans globally.

Challenges

The Cavs faced a challenge in driving fan engagement and conversions during their holiday season sales event. Traditional marketing methods like text-based emails and social media posts weren’t generating the level of excitement or urgency needed to increase membership sales. The team wanted to create a more engaging, interactive experience that would resonate with their fans and drive them to take action on limited-time offers.

Solution

To address this challenge, the Cavs turned to Blings for a personalized video solution. Blings created a two-part personalized video journey designed to drive engagement and conversions around the holiday season sales event:

First Video (Black Friday): This fun and upbeat video was sent out a week before Black Friday. With lively, energetic music and personalized content, the video was designed to excite fans and build anticipation for the Black Friday deals. It featured a SeatGeek sponsorship and an interactive trivia questionnaire about the team and its players, adding a playful touch to the promotional message.
Second Video (Cyber Monday): The second video, released on Cyber Monday morning, maintained the same upbeat music and high-energy tone but also included a live countdown timer (hr : min : sec) to create a sense of urgency until the promotion expires at the end of the day – so fans were encouraged to act quickly. The SeatGeek sponsorship remained prominent, keeping the messaging clear and direct while adding excitement to the time-sensitive offer.

Results

The personalized video campaign delivered impressive results, especially in terms of fan engagement and conversions:

First Video – Black Friday – results:

- - Email Click Through Rate: Base line is 2.2% CTR, with our video getting a 6.3% CTR.
  - Conversion Rate: The first video achieved a 62% click through rate out of total video viewers, significantly boosting ticket and merchandise sales during the special Black Friday sale.

Second video – Cyber Monday – results:

- - Video engagement: 50% watched full sponsorship video
  - Conversion rate: 39%*
    
    *The second video audience was the same audience as the first video recipients, and it aimed to create a scarcity effect using a live timer, primarily targeting those who hesitated to purchase during the initial promotion.

Conclusion

The personalized video strategy, chosen by the Cavs and executed by Blings, proved to be a powerful tool for fan engagement and conversions. The combination of personalized content, strategic sponsorships, and a sense of urgency surrounding Holiday Season—delivered in an energetic, engaging video format—yielded impressive results. With a 62% conversion rate from viewers of the first video and significantly higher engagement compared to traditional email methods, the Cavs successfully boosted ticket sales, memberships, and merchandise. Moving forward, the team plans to continue leveraging Blings’ personalized videos as a key element of their digital marketing strategy to further engage fans and drive revenue.