The Cincinnati Bengals score with fans using Oracle Eloqua

A new era has begun for the Cincinnati Bengals after a historic 2021 season. The NFL team has had a loyal fan base since the franchise was established in 1968, but the Bengals needed to bridge the gap between on-field success and fan loyalty and engagement to keep pace with its winning record.

With a heightened focus on providing the best fan experience possible, it was critical for the organization to support and expand its season ticket member (STM) fan base and make interactions with those customers more personal. Loyal season ticket holders are the lifeblood of any sports organization, so connecting the team’s success with revenue and retention was the big challenge heading into 2022. Existing STMs needed to feel they were part of the team’s achievements to encourage renewing for years to come, and more fans needed that same encouragement to become new season ticket holders for the upcoming season.

The Bengals’ STM retention numbers for the 2021 season were below the league average, and while new season ticket sales were growing, hitting a five-year high, inventory was still available. The goal was to increase the retention rate, boost ticket sales, and strengthen the all-important relationship with some of the team’s biggest fans.

When assessing the organization’s needs and the top solutions in the market, the Cincinnati Bengals chose Oracle Eloqua Marketing Automation for its scalability, ease of use, and alignment with the team’s goals.

The Bengals had a vast amount of data to manage, and Oracle Eloqua’s ability to transform that data into actionable knowledge to build a successful campaign was top of mind. The tool’s ease of use was pivotal in enabling employees to take on this challenge while still maintaining a high level of personalization with Eloqua’s Dynamic Content to better resonate with fans.

Oracle Eloqua User Groups and the NFL community also played a big part in the team’s decision, because other organizations were also seeing great results using Oracle Eloqua. Being able to trade best practices about the tool with others in the industry while still maintaining the team’s individuality was extremely beneficial.

With the help of Oracle Eloqua, the Cincinnati Bengals boosted engagement and season ticket sales through more personalized communication.

During the Bengals postseason, the organization sent out a recap to all STMs with three dynamic sections, each one personalized to that specific fan. The goal was to increase STM enrollment in the team’s auto-renewal plan.

Using fan data and tying it back to the unique experiences of each person through the course of the season had an extraordinary impact. The first day the campaign launched, the Bengals saw the highest number of accounts renewed over a two-week period. This figure even exceeded the Monday after the team’s playoff win and the Monday after its AFC Championship berth.

For non-STMs, the Bengals ran a similar campaign but with the intention of selling new season tickets. Combining past purchase behavior in Oracle Eloqua, the organization used a drip campaign to retarget people who clicked on season ticket links or visited the Bengals season ticket page on the website. After reducing the size of that group to those who were most interested, the team sent follow-up emails with dynamic signatures of sales reps, adding a personal touch and giving fans a specific person they could work with.

Both campaigns showed tremendous success, ultimately garnering a renewal rate of over 97% for season tickets, which is higher than the league average and is in the top third of league retention rates. Additionally, more than 80% of Bengals STMs enrolled in auto-renewal for the upcoming season. The organization sold more new season tickets than any team in the NFL and sold out of season tickets. Moreover, the team broke internal records for online sales in a year, with over 45% of new season tickets purchased online.

With Oracle Eloqua playing a key role, from swapping dynamic content to ensure relevant details to enabling campaign building and custom touchpoints, the Cincinnati Bengals were able to get the community to rally behind the team and join in something special.