The US Open social media team's approach to Instagram was to dominate users feeds with engaging & entertaining content from our tournament even if users did not follow us. We knew we needed to use the "collab" feature to our advantage and push the boundaries on engagement, and reach new audiences.
Our team knew we had an opportunity to expand the reach of the US Open and our brand to new audiences through the
"collab" feature on Instagram. We strategized about who else could benefit from every single piece of content we published, and added that account as a "collaborator". Every exceptional highlight, top press moment, quirky fan moment, celeb-sighting and intense player win reaction was published with multiple cold "collabs" added to it for maximum visibility.
Throughout the 3 weeks of the US Open, our Instagram account had over 60+ accepted "collabs" ranging from tennis entities, professional players, other sports teams/leagues, our partners, influencers and celebrities.
[ATP Tour, WTA Tour, ESPN, ESPNW, Michelle Obama, Bleacher Report, Coco Gauff, Novak Djokovic, Amanda Seyfried, the NFL, Grey Goose, Lin Manuel Miranda, Hank Azaria, Matt Friend (comedian), Michael Phelps, Kansas City Chiefs, the NBA, MLB, Miami Heat, Atlanta Hawks, New York Jets, New York Mets, Victor Cruz, Ally Love (Peloton), Lil' Wayne, Sebastian Yatra, and so many more.]
Bottom line results: 856M total engagements on US Open Instagram driven by Reels and strategic "collabs" during the tournament putting out content in front of new audiences.
Outside of the data, the "collab" strategy aligns our brand with other strong sports brands, celebrities, athletes, etc. putting tennis at the top of everyone's mind during the 3 weeks of our tournament - which for a once-a-year event, is absolutely paramount.
