5 Tips for Improving Your Station's Email Marketing Strategy

Have you spent hours honing and polishing your radio station's email copy only to find that your audience isn’t clicking, or worse, not even opening to begin with? If so, maybe it is time to rethink your email strategy. To maximize the effectiveness of your station's next email campaign, consider these five tips:

1. Optimize your e-mail frequency.

You may have a lot of exciting news to share with your audience, but emailing too frequently may reduce the likelihood that your next message will be read. Find your own email sweet spot by using a control group to test what frequency is most effective for you. Try emailing a sample of your audience at your normal rate while varying the frequency of mailing with other groups. Monitor the change in open rates and adjust your mailing frequency based on the results.

2. Be strategic with your subject line.

Use a subject line that will resonate with your target audience and intrigue them to open the message; just be sure to avoid words such as “free”, “win”, “cash,” and “offer”, or use them sparingly. This may get your email caught in their spam filters. For example, using a subject line like “Weekly Scoop from Rodeo Rewards” sets the expectation for the email content without using words that would trigger spam filters. 

3. Personalize your message.

Write your next newsletter as if you’re addressing one person rather than hundreds or even thousands of audience members. Consider using the voice of one of your popular on-air personalities. A message coming from someone your audience admires will be more effective.

4. Keep it brief.

In today’s world, it seems attention spans are growing shorter by the minute. Therefore, the most effective email is short and enticing. Include calls to action that drive traffic to your website for those that wish to learn more. Just as with blogs, be sure to break up the content with eye-catching graphics.

5. Be timely in sending your message.

Announcing a limited time offer? Sharing breaking news? Don’t sit on the email for long. Pushing the message out while it’s still relevant will be more effective in boosting your campaigns. For less time sensitive content, consider using your email service’s Send Time Optimization (STO) feature. This will automatically determine the best time to send an email to each subscriber based on their previous open-rate activity.

Incorporate any or all of these tips to start boosting your open and click-through activity in your next email mailing.