Using email marketing to drive ticket sales for a new online competition.
The brief.
Watch Doctors had spent 40 years in the luxury watch repair business. They’d built expertise, a loyal customer base, and brand credibility in premium timepieces. As online prize draws quickly gained traction around high-value horology brands like Rolex, they saw an opportunity to launch ‘Winners’, a competition platform offering luxury watches as prizes that aligned naturally with their core business and customer interests.
They needed a complete solution from scratch: a compliant ticket purchasing system that operated within UK Gambling Commission regulations, a strategy to introduce this new venture, and proof it could deliver a sustained return on investment from launch.
The approach.
Success required three things: a platform, an audience, and a method for reaching them. We’d build the platform ourselves to maintain control over compliance and UX, leverage Watch Doctors’ existing repair customer database, and promote through email campaigns.
Targeting existing customers was strategic – these were proven watch enthusiasts who had demonstrated interest in luxury watches. Email marketing would allow for direct, measurable engagement at a minimal cost compared to paid advertising.
We built a ticket purchasing system satisfying UK Gambling Commission requirements while delivering a fast experience with skill-based entry, transparent terms, and secure payment processing.
We audited the database, implemented double opt-in for compliance, and created a permission-based audience of 8,000 recipients segmented by engagement and behaviours. Weekly email campaigns drove immediate ticket sales with messaging that created urgency, highlighted value, and conveyed authenticity.
The results.
14x revenue return.
Email marketing delivered a 14x return across the campaign period, proving Winners’ commercial viability.
200 tickets sold per email send.
On average, emails generated approximately 200 ticket sales per send, with a 3% click-through rate from email to purchase.
5 back-to-back sold out competitions.
Five consecutive competitions reached full capacity, demonstrating extended success and viability.
Compliant, scalable platform.
A fully compliant ticket purchasing system that satisfied UK Gambling Commission requirements while maintaining positive UX, creating a sustainable platform for ongoing competitions.
Built by people who are obsessed with outcomes that matter.
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