High school football ballot drives $4K for The Signal

Matt Coen

The idea:
When the staff of The Signal decided to run a high school football ballot, they were looking for a way to expand their audience reach and gather email addresses from a niche market. The high school market is one that the paper has begun to infiltrate in recent months through video shows, and wanted something to promote competition between the schools, as well as to become an authority on high school football. Staffers decided that an awards program would be the perfect way to achieve all of those goals, as well as to promote the newly branded SignalSCVSports.com and drive users to the site.

The execution:
The Prep Football Fans' Choice Awards ballot included the following 30 categories:

• Best Quarterback.
• Best Running Back.
• Best Wide Receiver.
• Best Defensive Lineman.
• Best Linebacker.
• Best Defensive Back.
• Best Offensive Lineman.
• Best Kicker.
• Best Head Coach.
• Best Assistant Coach.
• Best Cheerleading Squad.
• Best Dance Team.
• Best Band.
• Best Field.
• Best Student Section.
• Best Place to Go Before a Game.
• Best Place to Go After a Game.
• Best High School Hangout (for 6 different high schools).
• Best Doctor for Sports Injuries.
• Best Student Section Chant.
• Most Spirited Individual Student.
• Best Supporter of School Sports (Business).
• Best Private School Football Program.
• Best Foothill League Football Program.
• Best Game.

The staff decided to sell one title sponsorship for the ballot, which went to Providence Medical Institute Santa Clarita.

The title sponsorship package included recognition to the sponsor on all of the following:

• Online ballot header during the voting period.
• Awards to winners.
• Ballot page in The Signal print edition announcing winners.
• Online ballot winners' page header for the year.
• All print and online contest promotion.
• Social media promotional posts.
• Promotional emails to 13,000+ local email addresses.
• "Vote for Me" flyers for nominees.
• Exclusive 300×400 short tower ad on the ballot page.
• 300×400 ad on SignalSCVSports.com during the Ballot.
• Pictures and video with the best football players, best head coach and representative from the best student section at the title sponsor's location for The Signal print edition and SignalSCV.com.
• First right-of-refusal for the 2nd annual prep football fans' choice awards.

View a PDF of the sales sheet the paper used to sell the promotion.

The Signal staff decided to experiment with promoting the ballot online only, which they did with a mix of banner ads, email messages, a Facebook cover photo, Facebook posts, and lots of Twitter and Instagram updates in order to reach the high school audience.

See some sample promotional materials below:

The results:
The ballot generated $4,000 as a result of the title sponsorship, and has collected more than 1,000 email addresses and received more than 20,000 votes. The Prep Football Fans' Choice Awards probably will become an annual event, and the staff plans to expand it (maybe even host a live event) in future years.

Why it worked:

• The Signal promoted the ballot heavily online and through social media.
• The paper leveraged the success of its Best of Santa Clarita Valley to sell a niche ballot.
• The ballot capitalized on a niche that was popular in the community and an attractive target for sponsors.

Matt Coen is the president and co-founder of Second Street, a leading provider of private-label online promotions platforms and partner success services for media companies based in St. Louis, Mo. He can be reached at (314) 880-4902 or matt@secondstreet.com.