One million organic social media impressions in one month

When Oxford Stadium closed its doors to the public on December 29, 2012, social media remained in its infancy with an estimated 1.43 billion users worldwide. 

Today, there are more than 4.76 billion people in the world – 59.4% of the globe’s entire population – logging on to platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok.

When Oxford Stadium, famous for speedway and greyhound racing, re-opened in June 2021 it embraced social media to help it re-engage with the community. Less than a year after the first racegoers returned to the terraces, Oxford Stadium broke new ground by amassing an extraordinary ONE MILLION organic social media impressions in January 2023. 

From no venue, no future, no product and no online engagement to a monthly reach of more than one million within 18 months. Here is how it was achieved. 

Social media management 

Fortitude was appointed by Oxford Stadium and Oxford Speedway to manage its PR, website content, communications, media relations and social media. 

Social media was identified as a key platform to help the stadium grow its reputation and profile. No social media accounts existed for the stadium and so our team started from scratch with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. 

We devised a strategy, brand, tone of voice and develop the content output and audience engagement. The stadium’s online presence was swiftly established and overtime its audience and awareness grew which in turn helped drive engagement and ultimately commercial objectives. 

Achieving one million

The magic one million figure was achieved during Oxford Stadium’s hosting of the BGBF British Bred Puppy Cup Grand Final – a major greyhound race worth £10,000 to the winner.

A total of 283 posts were published In January 2023 to a combined online following of 15,624 people. Engaging audiences beyond Oxford Stadium’s existing followers was essential in breaking the one million mark. 

It required content to be strategic, informative, engaging and – above all – carefully considered via the following four key tactics:

1. On the ground presence 

Attending the venue and getting live content at events that demonstrates Oxford Stadium is a fun, family-friendly, and alternative night out for people. 

2. Unique content

Behind the scenes footage, competitions, opinion and a regular news flow to keep pages fresh and within viewers’ reach. 

3. Third party engagement 

Tagging commercial partners and high-profile individuals with an invested interest in content that is being shared. This included interaction with Frank Bruno, whose charity the Frank Bruno Foundation is based at the stadium.

4. Storytelling

Identifying newsworthy stories which can be placed in the local and national media, and then shared and tagged on socials, to build awareness in audiences outside the stadium’s existing follower base. 

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Driving commercial revenue 

Increasing your reach on social media not only exposes your brand to large audiences, but also helps drive commercial revenue and footfall. 

Kevin Boothby, Oxford Stadium Managing Director, said engaging as many people as possible digitally is key if the region’s ​‘lost generation’ are to reconnect with the stadium. 

“Reopening Oxford Stadium has been a huge operation,” said Kevin. ​“Not only have we had to clear the rubble and regenerate an entire stadium, but also reconnect with communities who had lost their venue for almost 10 years. 

“The power of social media should not be underestimated. We’ve invested a significant amount of time developing an online following to build the profile of the stadium, our partners plus greyhound racing and speedway as sports. ​“We want to educate people, we want to engage new audiences and we want Oxford Stadium to be a thriving, self-sustaining, multi-purpose activity hub. Our work with Fortitude Communications helps achieve this. 

“Achieving one million impressions on social media inside one month is fantastic. It’s been building and makes a difference to the stadium.” 

Setting the standard

Oxford Stadium’s booming online presence hasn’t gone unnoticed by greyhound racing and speedway enthusiasts either. Both sports have fallen on hard times since the turn of the millennium with multiple venue and club closures. But Oxford Stadium’s fresh approach to engaging new audiences digitally is injecting a fresh lease of life into two of the UK’s favourite pastimes. 

One user said: ​“Got to give Oxford Stadium credit. Their social media has been promoting tonight’s race all week. Good to see. Would be nice to see other tracks do the same.” 

Another added: ​“Got to compliment Oxford Stadium for their media content. Whoever is behind it, keep it rolling. It’s very good and setting the standard.” 

And: ​“It’s really helping to promote racing to a wider circle.” 

Get in touch

Does your business have the potential and desire to broaden its social media presence?

Contact our team today here for a chat to discover how we could support your brand in effectively communicating with your existing and target audiences digitally.