Our cost per lead from Google Ads has fallen from around £25 to £11 while the actual amount of leads has doubled. Display advertising costs have dropped from around £2.50 per click to now only £0.08 per click. Overall, our total cost per lead is down from £50 to £8 which is incredible.
Bristol Bears and Bristol City F.C., two key teams within the Bristol Sport family, had ambitious aims for the 2023/24 season: to engage new audiences, increase ticket sales, and break club attendance records, all while driving revenue across merchandise and hospitality. Both clubs enjoy strong, loyal fan bases, yet they face the familiar challenges of sports marketing—tight budgets, packed fixture lists, and increased competition from televised games.
To support these commercial objectives, Bristol Sport partnered with DNRG, a digital marketing agency known for its expertise in the sports sector. Acting as an extension of Bristol Sport’s marketing team, DNRG has spent the last 20 months immersed in the business, providing specialist digital knowledge, tailored audience data, and an agile approach to campaign delivery. By combining audience segmentation, strategic creative, and data-driven insights, DNRG helped Bristol Bears and Bristol City F.C. hit new attendance records, increase ticket sales, and achieve impressive ROAS (Return on Ad Spend), all while building a foundation for sustained fan engagement and long-term growth.

challenge.
DNRG was tasked with helping Bristol Bears and Bristol City F.C. meet ambitious goals, targeting record-breaking attendance and revenue growth. The primary objectives included:
- Breaking attendance records
- Achieving season ticket targets
- Boosting merchandise and shirt sales
- Increasing hospitality ticket sales
- Maximising ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
- Winning new, long-term audiences
While sports clubs benefit from loyal fan bases, they face challenges such as budget constraints, staff limitations, and increased competition from televised games. DNRG needed to segment the audience, understand the specific motivators for each fan group, and drive engagement through carefully crafted, targeted campaigns.
solution.
DNRG implemented a robust, data-driven marketing strategy focused on highly segmented audience targeting and tailored creative messaging:
- Audience Segmentation
DNRG developed 531 ad sets targeting distinct audience types, recognising the unique motivations of fan segments—from die-hard supporters and families to corporate groups and socialisers. By aligning messages with fan values and buying motives, DNRG created a customised fan experience that appealed to each segment’s interests and needs. - Campaign Execution
DNRG launched 85 campaigns, delivering 531 creatives across different channels (META, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Google) to reach diverse fan demographics:- Family-friendly messaging: Ads promoted weekend games as family experiences, with cosy visuals and inclusive messaging.
- Corporate and business engagement: Hospitality packages and event promotions targeted local businesses and sponsor audiences.
- Social groups and younger fans: Friday night games were marketed as social events, encouraging groups and younger audiences to join.
- First-Party Data & New Audience Acquisition
DNRG leveraged first-party data for accurate segmentation while using digital channels to attract new audiences by promoting the excitement and community aspect of being part of Bristol Sport.
results.
The campaigns drove significant results across all metrics, with record-breaking attendance and engagement rates:
- Bristol Bears achieved an average attendance record of 18,936, while Bristol City F.C. set a club record with an average attendance of 22,446 (9.6% year-on-year increase).
- Achieved a ROAS of 7.48 for Bristol Bears and 4.97 for Bristol City F.C.
- 32.9% increase in group ticket purchases per game, a 12.4% increase in attendance by Under-12s, and an 11.9% increase by Under-19s.
- Total campaign engagement:
- Bristol Bears: 63 campaigns, 396 ad sets, 588 ads, and 99,391 link clicks.
- Bristol City F.C.: 22 campaigns, 135 ad sets, 471 ads, and 58,673 link clicks.
Why This Campaign Stands Out
Despite the complexities of sports marketing, DNRG’s segmentation-driven approach and creative flexibility enabled Bristol Sport to reach record attendances and new audience segments. By addressing individual audience needs and prioritising data-backed insights, DNRG elevated fan engagement, loyalty, and revenue growth, making this campaign a successful model for sports marketing excellence.
kind words.
The team at Digital NRG have been fantastic to work with. They worked hard with us to understand our business before providing a detailed strategy. Once implemented we saw some quick wins. The regular face to face reviews means we can continue to develop and identify opportunities. As a company they are truly one in a million.
We were first introduced to Digital NRG shortly before lockdown. The team at Digital NRG came to see us and really took time to understand our business and what we were looking for with the website and the ongoing SEO support.
In relation to the SEO, Digital NRG nailed what was required and pretty much as soon as we went live, we were getting enquiries through the website. I can’t recommend Jack and the team at Digital NRG highly enough, they really are great to work with.
The work they [DNRG] have done has been a transformation to the business. As a company we have moved online and we are continuing to grow month by month with our online sales. Having started on SEO, they now manage our Google Shopping & Ads since they are always looking to improve the way we get new customers. Year on year, we’ve seen conversion rates increase from 0.85% to 6.05% and their ongoing support and communication is exceptional.
After being introduced to Ian from Digital NRG I knew this was the guy we were looking for to advance our SEO campaign and grow our presence online. Ian and Alex have quickly proven their knowledge in their field which is 2nd to none, proving not only with huge growth in traffic but also there to help with other duties online that may require further in-depth knowledge. These guys are super easy to work with a friendly approach. They are there to support the growth of the business at hand.
A very professional and thorough service with attention to detail, Kian is very easy to work with and is constantly feeding us with information and results of our campaign. Kian goes out of his way to inform us of the latest news and recommendations wherever possible. We feel this service is a vital part of our business and would highly recommend it as a great investment
The work carried out by the DNRG Social team has certainly helped us grow as a business and they have driven an exceptional amount of leads since the campaigns went live. Andrew, Rob and the team are very easy to work with and nothing is too much effort for them.
We have been working with Digital NRG now for a number of years and they have been excellent. We recently have had a new main website built which is fantastic and a second one developed for our new home lift department. The service provided is first class and we look forward to working with you for the years to come as we grow as a business.
I’ve worked with DNRG for several years now, and I’d recommend them in a heartbeat. They manage our full digital activity, from Google Adwords and social media remarketing to SEO, CRM management and email marketing; and they do so for several other brands across our wider group of companies too. We get the majority of our leads from our work with DNRG. They work closely with us to understand our customers and our business, and they consistently keep us up to speed with the latest market insight and best practices for our website. They are experts in their field and our internal teams could never keep at the forefront of digital marketing like they do. The team are a pleasure to work with, down to earth, and explain everything in a simple but expert way. They are a trusted, critical extension of our team.
Digital NRG are fantastic to work with. They have experts in every aspect that makes up your entire digital and online world. Great team communication and very good when translating into a language and a level that us mere mortals understand. They’re very careful with your budget and very quick to react when one direction isn’t quite working. Always keen to make sure you’re getting good value for money. I can’t recommend them highly enough.
‘At The Aerial Man, we specialise in aerial and satellite installations for residential and business customers to receive Freeview and Freesat. We also now offer CCTV and Wifi installations. Working with the team at DNRG, we have established a great presence in the region and have found the best way to communicate with both our new and existing customers.
The DNRG teams are my friends and supporters. They never talk down or throw jargon at me and they are always happy to help. DNRG have some great new products on offer which should improve the way we communicate without customers that we plan on taking up, and we have a very exciting project in the works with them.’
The DNRG team has worked closely with us to understand our business and wide range of products, and this has been reflected within our keyword rankings and the growth of our organic and PPC revenue over the past year. Their communication is brilliant, and they are genuinely a lovely bunch to work with.
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