Introduction

In July 2025, EC Markets, a global forex and CFD broker, made a decisive move to strengthen its international presence by partnering with Liverpool Football Club. 

As one of the world’s most recognized sports teams, Liverpool provided EC Markets with a platform to reach football fans across Asia and Latin America, regions where both football passion and appetite for trading are strong.

This was EC Markets’ first major sports sponsorship. 

Rather than treating it as a static announcement, the company designed a campaign that would turn brand association into measurable business outcomes. 

The objective was clear: to generate awareness, build anticipation, and drive new registrations within a two-month period.

The Challenge

Three challenges defined the campaign strategy:

1. Market Noise 

In forex and CFD trading, brand differentiation is difficult. Many competitors use sports sponsorships to gain visibility, so EC Markets needed a rollout that would make an impact.

2. Regional Complexity 

The campaign targeted 2 diverse regions. Asia (Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia) and Latin America (Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Mexico, Chile). Cultural differences, language barriers, and varied media consumption habits demanded a personalised approach.

3. Time Pressure 

With just July and August to execute, every week counted. The campaign had to balance awareness-building with conversion-driving tactics in a structured sequence.

The Approach

EC Markets structured the campaign into four phases, each with a defined purpose:

• Phase 1: Teaser 1 (Week 1)
  
  • Static posts and simple banners to generate curiosity.
    
  • Messaging hinted at a “big announcement” without revealing the sponsorship.

• Phase 2: Teaser 2 (Week 2)
  • Follow-up creatives in multiple languages to deepen anticipation.
    
  • Videos and motion graphics signaled that EC Markets was about to align with something major.

• Phase 3: Sponsorship Announcement
  • High-impact visuals and videos officially announced the Liverpool partnership.
  • The aim was maximum visibility, reaching millions of fans and traders across both regions.

• Phase 4: Conversion Focus
  • Retargeting campaigns directed at users who had engaged with teaser and announcement content.
  • Ads shifted from storytelling to action, with a clear “Sign Up” call-to-action.

Channel Selection

• Meta (Facebook & Instagram)

High reach and efficient CPCs, used for awareness and lead generation.

• LinkedIn Ads

Targeted professionals and investors with context-specific messaging.

• Google Ads (YouTube, Demand Gen, Performance Max)

Designed to capture both broad reach and high-intent traffic.

Localization

• Campaigns were translated and adapted into Thai, Vietnamese, Malay, Spanish, and Portuguese.

• While the creative concept stayed consistent, captions, CTAs, and subtle design tweaks ensured cultural resonance.

Execution

Campaign Cadence

The campaign followed a carefully timed cadence:

• Week 1: First teaser launched, drawing early attention.

• Week 2: Second teaser extended momentum, ensuring users stay engaged.

• Week 3 onward: Sponsorship announcement delivered at scale across Meta, LinkedIn, and Google.

• Final Weeks: Retargeting campaigns ran continuously, ensuring the audience reached in teasers and announcement stages were funneled toward registration.

Creative Assets

• Static posts co-branded with Liverpool imagery.

• Short-form videos for teasers and announcements to drive high engagement on social feeds.

• Banner ads optimized for performance campaigns.

• Retargeting creatives with simplified high-contrast CTAs and clear registration prompts.

Regional Campaigns

• Asia-focused ads in Thai, Vietnamese, and Malay.

• Latin America campaigns in Spanish and Portuguese, with English-language variants tested.

By blending storytelling in the first phases with performance-driven execution in the final stages, EC Markets created a natural flow from awareness to conversion.

The Results

The two-month campaign delivered measurable impact across visibility, traffic, and registrations.

• Total Impressions: 13,873,313

• Total Clicks: 107,066

• Average CTR: 0.77%

• Total Spend: $14,915

• Average CPC: $0.14

Performance by Channel

1. Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram)

• Impressions: 9,656,700

• Clicks: 57,468

• CTR: 0.60%

• CPC: $0.10

• Leads: 591

• Reach: 6.6M

• Frequency: 1.45

Key notes: Meta delivered maximum reach and the most clicks at the lowest CPC. 

LATAM campaigns in English drove the highest engagement rate (41.78%), while Thailand achieved the strongest click volume (1,207 clicks, 16.4% engagement).

2. Google Ads (YouTube, Demand Gen, Performance Max)

• Impressions: 3,013,479

• Clicks: 43,030

• CTR: 1.43%

• Avg. CPC: $0.12

• Spend: $5,319.88

• Conversions: 113

• Cost per Conversion: $47.08

• Interaction Rate: 18.2%

Key notes: Google Ads was the best-performing channel on CTR and delivered 113 verified conversions at a cost of $47 each. 

Vietnam (Performance Max EN) recorded the strongest conversion volume at cost-effective rates.

3. LinkedIn Ads

• Impressions: 1,203,134

• Clicks: 6,568

• CTR: 0.55%

• CPC: $0.61

• Spend: $4,022.71

• Reach: 562,166

Key notes: LinkedIn delivered steady professional engagement, but at a higher CPC. 

It played a supporting role in reinforcing credibility with targeted investor audiences, especially in Latin America.

Regional Highlights

• Thailand and Vietnam produced the strongest engagement and click volumes, benefiting from localized creatives.

• Consistent contribution across Argentina, Uruguay, Colombia, Mexico, and Chile, with English-language ads achieving exceptional engagement rates.

Strategic Value of the Results

The campaign results highlight how a sponsorship can function as a structured, full-funnel initiative rather than a single publicity event.

Teasers built intrigue rather than diluting impact with a one-off announcement.

The announcement phase used Liverpool’s global recognition to build credibility and capture widespread attention.

Retargeting campaigns converted awareness into registrations, ensuring the investment in visibility led to measurable outcomes.

This approach turned a traditional sponsorship into a structured acquisition play, showing that sports marketing can drive tangible lead generation when executed with precision.

Conclusion

The Liverpool sponsorship campaign marked a significant milestone for EC Markets: its first foray into global sports partnerships, executed not as a vanity project but as a measurable business initiative.

By sequencing the campaign into teasers, announcements, conversion stages, and by using multiple channels with localized messaging, EC Markets secured visibility and registrations in two of the world’s most dynamic trading regions.

• 13.8M+ impressions

• 107K clicks

• 704 confirmed leads/conversions across Meta and Google

• Efficient average CPC at $0.14

For EC Markets, the sponsorship was not a brand vanity exercise. It was a structured acquisition campaign that successfully bridged global sporting prestige with measurable business results in two high-growth regions.