Driving Ticket Sales Through Data-Driven Digital Marketing
Updated: Sep 23
The Iroquois Steeplechase
Services: Website Development, SEO, Google Advertising, Geo-Targeted Advertising, Retargeting, Graphic Design, Analytics & Reporting
The Challenge
The Iroquois Steeplechase is Nashville’s premier horse race and an American Grade I NSA-sanctioned event. Held annually since 1941, the race has built a loyal following and a long-standing place within Nashville’s event landscape.
Despite that established reputation, the organization needed to strengthen its digital presence and translate greater online visibility into ticket sales. The challenge was to reach prospective attendees beyond its existing audience, identify the markets and households most likely to purchase tickets, and create a measurable advertising strategy tied directly to revenue.
The Solution
Team EMILY developed an integrated digital strategy combining website improvements, SEO, Google Ads, geo-targeted display advertising, and retargeting.
Google advertising was structured around ticket conversions, while geo-targeted campaigns focused on high-income households within priority markets. Retargeting allowed the campaign to reconnect with prospective attendees who had already demonstrated interest, creating multiple opportunities to move audiences from awareness to purchase.
Team EMILY also supported the campaign with creative development, analytics, and reporting, giving the Iroquois team visibility into both campaign performance and the channels driving results.
Expanding the Partnership
Following the success of the initial campaign, Iroquois continued its partnership with Team EMILY for subsequent races.
The strategy has expanded to include deeper audience analysis using existing ticketing data to develop buyer personas, identify geographic opportunities, and create lookalike audiences for digital advertising. Messaging and graphic design support also help maintain brand consistency across print, social media, and advertising materials.
The continued partnership allows each race campaign to build on insights from previous years rather than beginning from scratch, creating a more informed approach to audience targeting and ticket promotion.
The Impact
The campaign produced measurable results directly tied to ticket sales and revenue.
With $3,736 in Google Ads spend, the campaign generated 479 tracked purchases and more than $147,000 in attributed revenue. An additional $10,000 geo-targeted advertising campaign generated more than 875,000 impressions and 871 clicks across addressable and retargeting audiences.
Website traffic also increased 23.7% year over year, with significant user growth coming from paid channels including Google, Meta, and email.
Together, the website, search strategy, audience targeting, and paid media campaign gave the Iroquois Steeplechase a more measurable approach to event marketing, connecting digital investment directly to audience growth, ticket purchases, and revenue.
