The US Open ISKA World Martial Arts Championships is the world’s most family-friendly and prestigious event, located in Walt Disney World, Florida. We’ve been working with them, and we wanted to present to you a look at the work and results we’ve achieved since then.
Summary:
- The event promoter wanted to decrease, and hopefully eliminate, on-site registration for Competitors.
- A new website was created to improve online presence, developing a better ranking for main Keywords.
- Total competitor registrations increased by over 400% in the last four years.
- Amount per competitor incremented 40% in the last four years.
The Challenge of the US Open
The event promoter has recognized that a better online presence, especially the main event website, would give it the ability to build greater brand equity and customer loyalty than it could achieve by a low-grade non-optimized website, with no social network presence, this will enable the US Open to accomplish its ambitious growth plans.
The US Open Karate has been one of the world’s top open martial arts events for over 20 years, with over three thousand competitors and over ten thousand attendees. 1500+ divisions of competition, six separate events, and ESPN2 and ESPN3 coverage.
However, as its success grew, The US Open recognized the disadvantages and potential risks of not having a strong online presence and a well-designed website. With ambitious plans for growth over the coming years, it became clear that launching a new website and establishing a cohesive marketing strategy would give the US Open the ability to build greater brand equity, customer loyalty, and social network presence.
The Solution
The US Open enlisted the help of full-service agency Fast Answer in September 2014, to devise and implement a strategy that would enable it to take back control of its brand online. We worked closely with the team at the US Open to gain an in-depth understanding of their unique business personality.
After extensive research and planning, we decided that the US Open’s site needed to be rebuilt. We made recommendations to improve the ranking for key search terms and work with US Open to produce original content. We also provided technical SEO migration support during and post-build. Furthermore, we even have continued to offer ongoing website support and maintenance.
The Results: US Open Growth
A new scalable and mobile responsive website was launched at the start of 2015. The site cleverly combines community with information and a user-friendly online registration. This registration process was achieved via an integrated third-party solution that our agency provided. This website supports and advises customers with all the information needed to seamlessly register and participate in the event. Within just six months of the site’s launch, The US Open’s revenue had increased by 222.53%. Online registrations, event attendees tickets sales, merchandise, and division add-ons also grew compared to the 2014 event.
With transactions up 137.54% in the following months after launching the new website, Fast Answer Agency was already showing their value. With a well-designed website site for events that have previously relied on on-site registrations only. Fast Answer Agency receiving an award from The US Open’s CEO Mr. Mike Sawyer during the live event.
The online registrations are now 87% compared to 0% in 2014. Thus, completely removing long lines at the event (5 minutes to register currently). The 2019 social network presence included numbers up to 4000 views in a single video and hundreds of shares. Also, an average of 2,300 people reach, 156 engagements, 2000 page views during the event. Currently, the event has a marketing budget of about 7.58% of the gross revenue.