The US Open Tennis Championships is the largest attended annual sporting event in the world, recording Super Bowl-like attendance repeatedly over its 2-week main draw (the qualifying tournament extending it to a 3rd week). This group of social media rockstars had the goal of bringing this global tennis event to fans across the world through our social media channels, as well as gaining new audiences & interest with innovative content executions.
When you match an incredibly high level of skills with a passion to hustle and drive to innovate, the outcome is nothing less than magic.
Constant platform-specific video highlights, viral fan moments, influencer strategies, pro player content collaborations, custom graphics, sponsorship content, live-streams, behind-the-scenes exclusive content and more, all were executed within the 3 weeks of the US Open competition. The social media team had to constantly evaluate content, how it’s being received by users, as well as the algorithms, and adjust for better performance. “Squeeze every engagement out of a piece of content.” The daily challenge of fine-tuning strategy for optimal content performance was overcome by our teamwork and nimbleness.
This social media team is not only driving the US Open brand forward around the globe, but they are driving world-wide interest in a sport. They are breaking the "stuffy" stigma of tennis, one social media post at a time, and making it accessible, relatable and entertaining to anyone.
The variety of high-quality content the team created not only tells the story of the US Open through match scores and incredible points, but beyond the tennis court. From making users feel the atmosphere during the late night matches through platform-specific assets and text-only executions, to sharing unforgettable viral fan moments with the world, all aspects of the event came alive on our social media channels.
Our strategy paid off as we saw 71% growth on total interactions and video views compared to the 3-week main draw in 2021, crushing our goal of 20% growth. Also during the 3 weeks, interactions hit over 1 billion globally across our channels – setting a new record for our team. New follower growth hit almost 400k across channels, proving our innovative thinking reached users who may have never even followed tennis before experiencing our content. Our Instagram engaged audience was 91.6% non-followers, proving that our Reels fed the algorithm, increased discoverability, and reached new audiences.
The US Open social channels are putting on a masterclass of how to make a once-a-year event interesting to both its core fan base and new audiences around the globe.