How TBD.Media Increased Fitzdares’ First-Time Depositing Customers by 466% Through an Omnichannel Cheltenham Campaign.
Client Overview
Our client, Fitzdares (fitzdares.com), is a UK bookmaker that has been operating in the UK betting industry for over 20 years, specialising in premium sports betting and a highly personalised customer experience. We have partnered with Fitzdares for the past five years, providing strategic planning, media buying, affiliate management, and campaign execution & optimisation. As a valued client, they trust TBD.Media when it comes to selecting the correct media for the specific objectives, and this campaign was no different.
Campaign Objectives
Cheltenham is the pinnacle of the UK & Ireland sports betting calendar. In terms of betting turnover, it ranks amongst the biggest events in global sport and it is estimated that close to £1bn is bet across the four-day festival, held annually every March.
To measure the campaign’s success, Fitzdares looked for improvements in several key metrics:
- Increase in first-time depositing customers year on year
- Increase brand awareness amongst males aged 25-44
- Increase brand awareness amongst high-net-worth individuals
Campaign Strategy
The campaign adopted a true omnichannel approach, ensuring multiple touchpoints throughout the customer journey to maximise cut-through in an increasingly crowded betting landscape. The idea was to move away from the masses, but with a balance of generating visibility to a specific subset audience yet maintaining a significant reach and moving prospective customers from consideration through to conversion.
This approach was underpinned by the principle that customers rarely convert after a single interaction with a brand. Research has shown that campaigns using three or more marketing channels can generate purchase rates up to 287% higher than single-channel campaigns, while organisations with mature omnichannel engagement strategies achieve higher conversion rates and stronger customer retention. Rather than treating each channel as an isolated acquisition source, the campaign was designed so every touchpoint played a complementary role, guiding users from initial awareness through to first deposit.
Google Ads: We utilised the whole suite of products available to us on Google Ads, from YouTube pre/mid roll, to Performance Max, to Demand Gen and search. This way, we’re able to engage users at every stage of their purchase journey, and use AI to capture prospects who are likely to show more interest in the brand. Search, being the highest intent channel, was supported by upper-funnel activity across YouTube, Demand Gen and Performance Max.
Paid Social Media (Meta): Using first party data was critical to driving awareness and conversions to a niche audience. Unlike Google Ads where we are limited by policy when it comes to first party data and custom segments, across the Meta network, we can use this to our advantage and build lookalike audiences of our ideal customers. As an awareness tactic to introduce potential customers to the brand, we’re able to explicitly target the demographic and also layer in additional third party interest groups such as sports betting interests, luxury brands, and net worth percentile.
Display & Video Programmatic Advertising: As with Meta ads, utilising programmatic display & video with our in-house DSP, we’re able to generate impressions to pinpoint the correct audience with first and third party data. The major difference is that we’re able to get scale outside of the Meta network, and position the brand on major publications that are widely read by the demographic, such as The Financial Times, The Telegraph, The Times, and MoneyWeek, again, with a layer of sports betting interest tied into the targeting. Along with this, we’re able to allocate a portion of the budget towards audiences who are past the consideration phase, and are already familiar with the brand, through retargeting tactics, and targeting those who have registered but yet to make their first deposit.
Affiliate marketing: Carefully selected affiliates were chosen to reinforce Fitzdares’ premium positioning during Cheltenham week, to provide a trusted third-party endorsement to those new users who have become aware of the brand through upper-funnel channels, and are looking for independent reviews after seeing a YouTube ad, or display banner on The Economist website. In addition, affiliates were selected for their authority across high-intent betting search queries, to attract new customers coming through terms such as ‘cheltenham betting offers 2026’, or ‘best bookmaker reviews for cheltenham’. The TBD.Media team were key to curating packages with affiliates, to maximise exposure during a key time of the year.
Execution
In the lead up to the Cheltenham Festival in February, we worked extensively with the Fitzdares team to plan the execution of promotional offers, creatives, ad copy, and alignment with brand communications on each day of the event.
Once all of the steps were in place, our team synchronised activity across every channel to ensure maximum impact. In the lead up to the event, we increased investment in lower funnel activity, reallocating budget towards the highest-performing campaigns.
Results
The campaign exceeded its primary objectives by delivering exceptional growth in first-time depositing customers while simultaneously increasing brand awareness amongst Fitzdares’ core demographic of affluent males aged 25–44. The results demonstrate how a coordinated omnichannel approach can successfully balance upper-funnel brand building with measurable acquisition performance during one of the UK’s most competitive betting events.
- Conversions – Across all paid media sources, including Display, Search, YouTube, Performance Max, and Affiliates, we saw an overall increase of 441% in sign-ups, and a 466% increase in first-time depositing customers
- Overall Website Users: New website users increased by 30% year on year, which is extremely positive as Fitzdares are a well-established bookmaker in the UK, indicating a growth in potential new customers off the back of consideration based tactics
- Targeting – Across Meta Ads alone, we were able to reach almost 500,000 UK males in the age range of 25-44 who are identified as high net worth individuals
Key Takeaways
The success of this campaign reinforces the importance of an integrated omnichannel strategy, particularly during one of the most competitive periods in the UK sports betting calendar. Rather than relying on a single acquisition channel, each platform played a specific role in the customer journey, from creating awareness and consideration through YouTube, Meta and premium display, to capturing intent through Google Search and converting users through trusted affiliate partners.
A key factor in the campaign’s performance was the intelligent use of first-party data and audience targeting. By combining customer data with third-party audience signals across Meta and programmatic display, we were able to reach a highly relevant audience of affluent sports bettors, ensuring media spend was focused on prospects most likely to engage with the Fitzdares brand.
The campaign also demonstrated the value of premium media placements. Appearing on respected publications such as the Financial Times, The Telegraph and MoneyWeek aligned perfectly with Fitzdares’ premium positioning, helping to build trust and brand credibility while reaching high-net-worth individuals in environments that reflected the brand’s values.
Affiliates complemented the wider media plan by acting as a trusted validation channel. As awareness generated demand across upper-funnel activity, affiliate partners captured users actively researching bookmaker reviews, Cheltenham offers and comparisons, providing the reassurance needed to convert high-intent prospects into first-time depositing customers.
Finally, the campaign highlights the importance of continual optimisation. By closely monitoring performance throughout the lead-up to Cheltenham and dynamically reallocating budget towards the highest-performing channels and audiences, we maximised efficiency and capitalised on peak demand during the Festival itself.
The result was a coordinated, data-led campaign that not only delivered significant year-on-year growth in sign-ups and first-time depositors, but also increased brand recognition amongst Fitzdares’ core target audience, demonstrating the effectiveness of a full-funnel, omnichannel approach for premium betting brands.
Client Feedback
“Rory Fairfax, Head of Brand & Content at Fitzdares, said:
“This was our first real execution of digital marketing across multiple channels, and we were confident that the team at TBD.Media could support both the strategic planning and execution of our campaign. Their affiliate and paid media teams worked with us in a clear, simple and transparent way, helping us make informed decisions while delivering against tight deadlines during one of the most important periods in the UK sporting calendar. The results speak for themselves, a year-on-year increase in new customers and successful engagement with our target demographic.”
