Though understanding of esports audiences was still growing at the time, it was clear that fans heavily used social media. We therefore focused on Twitter as our key channel.

Before the event, we leveraged some of the Awards’ connections and engaged with the likes of Ali A, KSI, David Haye and James Buckley. This helped us win the retweets and mentions necessary to raise awareness.

As the event itself was open to just a few hundred invited guests, the vast majority of esports’ key audience did not have access. To solve this problem, a hashtag (#EsportsIA) was set up, and fans and attendees were invited to tweet using it. These tweets were then moderated by a member of our team and appeared on live screens set up at the venue.

To ensure coverage continued after the event, we reached out to a number of key media outlets. Along with esports outlets, we also targeted general interest outlets and those that covered the wider sporting arena. This helped us ensure we were connecting with new audiences, not just those who were already engaged with esports.

Finally, we created a bespoke digital video brochure and report pack to document the event’s success for sponsors. We also maintained organic social posts with content that drove audiences to the Awards’ Twitch and YouTube channels.