The NHL saw TV tune-in lifts ranging from 40%-66% across their four measured games. The strongest lift was seen for Stanley Cup Finals Game 1 at 66%2. These lifts are even more incredible because the Stanley Cup Final was up against the NBA Finals.
The results of the real-time target optimizations identified the top performing audiences. Vegas Fans were targeted with specific keywords and hashtags that users Tweeted/searched for (, , “Fluery,” “Golden Knights.”) This targeting, combined with the fact that Vegas had a brand-new NHL team, produced a ton of conversation and momentum for the underdogs. The NHL also used conversation targeting, a new beta method that incorporates the entire contextual conversation and targets based on a combination of team and NHL topics. Conversation targeting goes beyond traditional targeting by taking into account content that users are viewing and engaging with in relation to the conversation, as well as who these users follow. This group saw strong results.
With a tune-in lift between 40-66%, Twitter’s marketing tools proved to be the hat trick the NHL needed. The results point to Twitter as a viable tool for TV marketers looking to address the challenge of driving sports fans to tune in.
Footnotes:
1 Nielsen Watch Effect study
2 Samba TV Tune In Study commissioned by Twitter, Q3 2018