Gift Certificate Time!
Your race may want to highlight the Gift Certificate feature in RunSignUp this holiday season. Here is a sample from an email from the Glass City Marathon:
Customize Event Details on Race Websites
We have made some nice customization capabilities for generating a stronger “Call to Action” over the past month or so, including Strike Through Pricing and Event Highlighting with images and call-outs. By default, we include Details on each events that explain the ending registration date or the date of the next price increase. For example, […]
Incomplete Registrations for Partners
The option to only view incomplete registrations across all races as a Partner is now available:
Negative Split Productions Case Study
We have a series Customer Case Studies, in which we take your stories and share your challenges and successes as a learning tool for other RunSignUp users. This Case Study focuses on RunSignUp Race Websites, the Referral Program, and the RaceDay CheckIn Mobile App. Download PDF Version of the Case Study About Negative Split Productions and RunSignUp […]
RaceJoy Transitioning to “Free Only” Experience for Participants and Spectators
RunSignUp is changing RaceJoy’s business model to offer a “free only” experience for participants and spectators. Previously, race events were able to either purchase the buyout option or choose a consumer model where the participant and spectator paid an in-app upgrade fee of 99 cents for RaceJoy’s features. Key user features include continuous live tracking, […]
RunSignUp 2016 Roadmap
We held our annual Race Director and Timer Symposium last week. As usual, we shared an overview of RunSignUp and talked about our roadmap ahead. The core message is that RunSignUp is providing an open platform that provides technology to help races thruout the yearly cycle of Promotion -> Registration & Management -> Race Day. We […]
RunningUSA Conference Marketing Lessons
We were out in Denver this week for the RunningUSA Next Evolution Conference – focused on alternative races like color runs and obstacles races. There were a number of traditional races there like Pittsburgh Marathon, Colfax Marathon, Big Sur Marathon, etc. The opening panel discussion and the marketing presentation by Peter Abraham were both very […]
RunSignUp and Email Marketing (Part Three)
Our first installment of RunSignUp and Email Marketing covered the basic functions of scheduled and automated emails. The second installment covered various email reporting options, and how tag replacement works. The combination of being able to schedule emails in advance, and personalize those emails with information specific to runners has allowed RunSignUp users to employ […]
RunSignUp Registration-Web Tracking Update
RunSignUp has always strived to provide races using any web tracking system with the most accurate conversion data possible, supporting over a dozen different types of conversion codes and providing extensive Google Analytics support. With a recent update, RunSignUp has taken another step forward in its web tracking capabilities, providing even more information to web tracking […]
Maine Coast Offers RaceJoy for a Second Year!
The Shipyard Maine Coast Marathon will be held this weekend, Friday, May 13th through Sunday, May 15th, at the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine. The race offers a variety of course options, including a marathon, a half marathon, a half marathon relay and a back-to-back 39.3 Mile Challenge. Both are sold out with […]
RunSignUp and Email Marketing (Part One)
Welcome to the first installment in a series on RunSignUp and Email Marketing. This series will be broken into four posts: (This Post): Basic RunSignUp email marketing features and capabilities More of the advanced features available in the RunSignUp email marketing system Examples of really cool ways race directors are using the email system to […]
RunSignUp and Google Analytics (Part Three)
At this point, you’re almost a Google Analytics and RunSignUp expert. You’ve read about the basics of RunSignUp and Google Analytics, and you’ve configured your website and RunSignUp to support cross domain tracking. However, rather than linking to RunSignUp for registration, you are taking advantage of the RunSignUp widgets, and are hosing registration directly on […]
RunSignUp and Google Analytics (Part Two)
So you’ve read about RunSignUp and Google Analytics and you realize how helpful it can be to track the web traffic related to your event. You’ve added your Google Analytics information to your RunSignUp race but you’ve got your own race website and are either linking to RunSignUp for registration, or are using the RunSignUp […]
Runners and Cyclists Across the Nation Use RaceJoy!
This past weekend, RaceJoy was used by runners, walkers and cyclists at races across the nation! From California to South Carolina, people took advantage of RaceJoy’s GPS tracking and cheers to add to their race experiences and be supported by friends and family. The races with the highest RaceJoy usage were: California Classic Weekend – […]
Conversion Tracking
We have added Pinterest, AdTaxi and Simpli.fi to our large list of Conversion tracking integrations. Race Directors looking to grow their races need to make advertising a part of your bag of tricks. Learning about Ad Tracking is a start. And sign up for the RunSignUp Symposium happening this July in Philadelphia to learn more.
Email Reporting
We have rolled out Email Reporting for Races, Clubs and Partners to show you: EMail Requests Delivered Opens Clicks Bounces Spam Reports In addition, you can drill down into the following non-delivered emails types: Blocked Emails Bounced Emails Invalid Emails Spam Reports Unsubscribed Recipients The statistics are shown in a graphical and table form:
Alert: RaceJoy Discount Ends this Week!
Time is running out to take advantage of RaceJoy’s discounted buyout pricing. With the buyout races can offer RaceJoy’s advanced GPS Tracking and cheers for free to unlimited participants and spectators! The 20% discount pricing ends March 31 and makes RaceJoy’s advanced runner tracking affordable for any race. If your race is scheduled at a […]
6 Million Free Emails
You have used our integrated email system to send over 6 Million Emails this year so far (early March). There are a wide variety of Emails sent, here are some of the types: Running Clubs are using our Free Email for sending Monthly Newsletters Races upload lists from partners to send emails promoting their race […]
Social Share Update
We have updated the Social Sharing on each race website. We used to use a third party widget from AddThis which was pretty generic and not very powerful and had performance issues. We have replaced this with the new social sharing functions we developed as part of the Enhanced Facebook Sharing as part of the […]
Manually Add Referred Registrations
With the release of our Automated Referral Rewards program, some race directors have been approached by participants wanting to get credit for a registration. This may come about because they did not share their specific link with the referral tag, or they talked with someone about your race. If you want to give credit for […]
Trend Setters Reaping High Usage with Free Tracking
Races across the country are getting their races RaceJoy Ready so they can offer advanced runner tracking, GPS progress alerts at every mile and cheer sending on race day. Trend setters seeking to provide innovation for their events and reach a larger audience are choosing the buyout option and offering these features for free. As […]
Facebook Conversion $Value
If your race is using Facebook Ads (and you probably should be!), then you want to make sure you have Ad Tracking turned on in RunSignUp. We have just done an upgrade based on Facebook’s new capability to handle dynamic conversion values. This means RunSignUp can pass the exact amount of the checkout to Facebook. […]
The Importance of Ambassador Programs & Referrals – Guest Blog
Guest Blog by Big Run Media While no race is the same, we’ve found that most race directors struggle with the same challenge: how to get participants to their event. With increased competition and continually changing media outlets, it can be difficult to stand-out. A good course, medal, and a t-shirt aren’t gonna cut it. […]
RunSignUp Referrals Program Returns Strong ROI Results
RunSignUp’s Referrals 2.0, released in late January, has been impressing races with strong early ROI results. The program allows for an automated refund of a set amount for Referrers who successfully refer a pre-determined number of registrants (as set by the Race Director). Additionally, strong social sharing tools encourage more referrals – among other things, […]
RaceJoy Offers Innovative and Prominent Ways to Showcase Sponsors
Customized Recognition for Free Runner Tracking & Cheers February 4, 2016 – Moorestown, NJ – RaceJoy, the leading real-time race participant tracking solution for running and triathlon race events, offers new and innovative ways to recognize and promote race sponsors. Race sponsors of RaceJoy’s buyout option receive prominent recognition for providing free tracking and cheers […]
Referral Rewards Deliver Large ROI
The next time you hear that viral word of mouth marketing does not pay off for a race, show them this page (or you hear silly people say a registration vendor can’t have an impact on race registration). We have had a couple of large race series turn on Referral Rewards. They are both doing […]
RunSignUp For A Next Generation Race Series
We use “Next Generation Series” to define the undefinable – mud runs, obstacle course races, color runs, glow runs, night runs, etc. – all types of typically themed, multi-city events that have a mixture of emphasis on either challenge or fun activities. We put together a powerpoint to detail how RunSignUp can address the very […]
RaceJoy Ready Your Race in 3 Simple Steps!
Any race can now easily offer advanced course tracking, GPS-based progress alerts and cheer sending with three simple steps through RaceJoy’s website. RaceJoy’s basic option is free to the race – participants and spectators pay a minor 99 cents per race in-app fee. Its no wonder we have a flood of races getting their events […]
Enhanced Sharing and Facebook
As part of our Referrals 2.0 release, we have made major improvements to allow participants to share with their friends. This is enhanced when you provide incentives for participants to share, and coupons for their friends. The enhanced sharing can be customized by going to the Promotion -> Social Sharing page. You can create dynamic custom […]
Using Email to Promote Referrals
With the release of Referrals 2.0, there is an opportunity to send reminders to participants to share with their friends. The integrated RunSignUp Email system is perfect for this, since emails are generated right from the database. So you can add Placeholders to customize the email to each registrant. In this case, you will want […]
Automated Coupons
As part of the Referrals 2.0 release, participants can now receive an automatic coupon to share with their friends and family to encourage word of mouth marketing for your race. First, set up the Referral Tracking Set this up in the Dashboard under Promotion -> Referral Tracking -> Automated Coupons. Before you set this up, […]
Automated Referral Refund Rewards
As part of our big Referrals 2.0 release, you can now set up automated refunds as a reward to participants who refer others. Referrals can be turned on to automatically generate a special URL with a special referral code each time someone registers. The URL looks like: https://test.runsignup.com/MoorestownTurkeyTrot?raceRefCode=HWITKUho. When a participant shares this link with […]
Referrals 2.0
These are awesome releases! RSU is crushing it in 2016! Facebook sharing and Refund Referrals have the ability to have a BIG impact on our business and we’re really excited to test them out. We also like the idea of arming the participant with a Coupon Code to try and get their friends to sign up. We already […]
RunSignUp Technology: Year-in-Review, Top Ten, and More
If you really want to dig more into RunSignUp as a company, and the top offerings that we have, check out Bob’s introduction from our 2015 RunSignUp Race Director/Timer Symposium. The full video is below, or you can skip to the section that you are most interested in: Intro Year in Review Top Ten List […]
How Great Technology Enables Marketplace Differentiation
At RunSignUp, we’re technology nerds. We love thinking of – and then creating – fancy new features and functionality, but in a vacuum that technology is useless. Andy Harris from Columbus Running Company gave a great presentation at the 2015 RunSignUp Race Director/Timer Symposium on harnessing technology options to make your race stand out. Topics covered […]
Pittsburgh Marathon on Building a Community to Grow Your Race
At the 2015 RunSignUp Race Director/Timer Symposium, Pittsburgh 3 Rivers Marathon COO Dee Stathis shared her experience growing a race through the building of a year-round community. Watch her presentation in it’s entirety, or skip to the section that applies to your event: Intro Building out the Event Building a Year-Round Community: P3R Branding Building a Year-Round Community: […]
Pricing and Differentiating Your Race
Fueled Insights, a market research firm, recently published a report that helps races understand why they need to differentiate their race. The report is available (and highly recommended!) as a PDF below: Fueled Insights – The Fight for Runners’ Recreational Dollar One of the analyses they dive into is the rising price of races: The […]
RaceJoy GPS Progress Alerts at Cooper River Bridge Run
RunSignUp’s RaceJoy mobile platform continued to debut its new GPS Progress Alerts at Cooper River Bridge Run this last weekend and at nine additional races across the country. Participants and spectators were able to receive notifications as they crossed every mile on the course that included their location, time elapsed, pace and estimated finish time. […]
Email Marketing How To
We have a new How To on the Email Marketing system that is integrated into your Dashboard. This How To covers: – Setting Up Your SendGrid Account – Managing Your Email Settings – Sending Emails – Managing Emails – Managing Email Lists
Twitter Ad Conversion Tracking
You can now track Twitter ad conversions like we have had for Google, Facebook and other ad conversion tracking. Conversion tracking allows you to match clicks from Twitter to actual sales that happen. Twitter Ads can be interesting as a low cost way of getting visibility for your race. To turn on conversion tracking, go […]
RaceJoy Promotion Toolkit for Race Directors & Timers
We have a RaceJoy Promotion Toolkit that you can use to help promote RaceJoy to the runners in your race. Download the RaceJoy Promo Toolkit here.
Facebook Ad ROI
Does Facebook advertising pay off? It looks like with some experimentation and refinement, the answer is a definite yes. I answered this for myself this weekend by running 3 different types of ads on Facebook and spending about $85, and we had 26 registrations for $676. A pretty good return on investment no matter how […]
Facebook Page “Call to Action” Button
Facebook has added the ability for a “Call to Action” button in your main front page image. You should add this now! It is super easy – you will see a button on your page “Create Call-to-Action” like the one below. The select “Sign Up” as your button label as shown on the right. Then […]
Gobble Gobble Four Miler Case Study
We have a series Customer Case Studies, in which we take your stories and share your challenges and successes as a learning tool for other RunSignUp users. This Gobble Gobble Four Miler Case Study focuses on creating techniques for fundraising and engaging Sponsors. View the PDF Version of the Gobble Gobble Four Miler Case Study Overview: The Gobble Gobble […]
Custom List Work Around
For the new RunSignUp Email System – Until we have full Custom List upload, there is a simple work around. Create a Draft Race and import your list as participants. Then send your email from the draft race.
RunSignUp Email Roll Out Schedule
We are happy to release the new RunSignUp Email System! There are several significant improvements that will happen over the next couple of months. Here is the rough schedule: Phase 1 – Mid January – This will improve Basic Usability Save Draft EMails View Sent Emails Test Send To specific Address Additional Tags Phase 2 […]
New RunSignUp Email System
The new RunSignUp EMail is tightly integrated with the rest of the RunSignUp Platform. The goal, as always, is to make things easier and more powerful. There will be multiple incremental improvements, and you will see us integrate email capabilities into other areas of the system over the coming months. In the initial release, you […]
Healthy Kids Running Series Case Study
We have a series of Customer Case Studies, in which we take your stories and share your challenges and successes as a learning tool for other RunSignUp users. This Healthy Kids Running Series Case Study focuses on setting up a Running Series within RunSignUp, and preparing Community Coordinators to succeed.
Club Discount by Event
One of the popular features for race and running clubs is the ability to offer a discount to running club members for a race. This is great for races looking to attract local running clubs. Also great for clubs who put on races and want to give their own members a break (or entice others […]
Twitter Ads
Twitter now has ads that any Twitter user can use now, much like Facebook. (They are also in the process of rolling out coupons as well). We have not seen many races use this, but would be interested to hear feedback. In your Twitter account, simply go to https://ads.twitter.com. The forms are pretty self explanatory. The above […]