How BBC Radio 2 recognised the power of email to engage with listeners

BBC Radio 2 has recently launched Radio 2 Mail, a weekly e-newsletter with the strapline “Sharing what we love about Radio 2”

Radio 2 MailThese days the BBC has many ways of engaging with it’s audience ranging from phone ins, texts into programmes, and of course Twitter and Facebook. So, I found it refreshing that Radio 2 has recognised the power of email newsletters as an additional way of engaging with listeners.

And they’ve executed it really well.

The copy on their Radio 2 Mail web page is full of benefit statements and emotive keywords. For example:

Handpicked by our very own presenters.
Each week, a different presenter will round up their favourite moments on Radio 2.
They might even let you in on a few behind-the-scenes secrets!

The welcome email you receive after subscribing is warm and inviting, with a link to a video featuring four of the presenters. See below…

How could you use an email newsletter in your business to engage with your prospective clients and build brand awareness? I can help. Ask me how.

Example of Radio 2 Mail welcome email

Radio 2 Mail welcome email

 

Email marketing – how a minor change to content can have a big impact

The position of links in your email newsletter or e-shot can have a big impact on your click through rates.

Here’s a brief case study from our client British Bespoke Auctions.

Their monthly newsletter is a preview of the following week’s auction, and includes links to the various auction categories as well as photos and links for selected items.

We usually achieve a 40% click through rate which is pretty good. However we assumed that all subscribers simply wanted to be able to home in on categories and items of interest.

For last month’s newsletter we said,”what if someone just wants to go straight to the catalogue and have a good old browse?”

So we added a prominent View Catalogue link at the top of the newsletter. you can see the result below – see the red ring.

A massive 38% of clicks came from that single link thus proving our theory that all some people wanted to do was view the catalogue! We also increased the overall click rate from 40% to 51%.

Conclusions

Try new approaches and put yourself in the shoes of the recipient. Then test to see if that approach has been successful, by monitoring trends for opens, clicks and unsubscribes.

Tip

The screen shot below from Campaign Monitor uses a clicks map, which is a very powerful way of working out which links and which link positions worked well. You could use this to repeat the same links in different positions in a campaign, and then analyse which was the more popular. Mailchimp also has this functionality.

Link Activity for British Bespoke Auctions next Thursday s Sale Catalogue Expertise on Tap Email Marketing Reports System

 

How to improve customer retention with email autoresponders

Auto what?!

Autoresponders go by a few different names like triggered emails and drip campaigns, but essentially they are an automated email, or sequence of emails sent when a subscriber meets a condition you set.

AutoresponderHere are four powerful examples of auto responders:

  1. A user subscribes and receives a series of tips, spread across a number of days or weeks. We recently did one of these for a client called ‘17 Days to Better Grammar‘. (Well worth a read by the way!).
  2. A customer is getting married. They subscribe on your website and enter their wedding date. They receive 10 weekly tips and things to do in the countdown to the big day.
  3. A house owner wants to prepare their house for sale in order to get the best price.. They subscribe on an estate agent’s website and receive weekly tips on what changes they should make.
  4. A business wants to add a personal touch by sending an email birthday card to clients along with a special offer.

OK, but why set up auto responders?

The key benefits of auto responders are customer acquisition and retention. And once set up they work automatically. Like a silent salesman!

By providing tips and advice like the examples above you are adding value for clients and at the same time building trust and credibility by sharing knowledge and expertise.

We’ll make it really easy to get your auto responder up and running.
Get in touch to find out more.

Here are some more examples which we’ve recently set up for clients.

1. Monty’s Bar & Brasserie

When you subscribe to the Monty’s newsletter you can optionally enter your birthday and anniversary dates. Monty’s also collect this data from customers who visit the restaurant. Customers then receive a birthday email and/or an anniversary email every year with a special offer. Because Monty’s is a bar and brasserie we send the emails ahead of the date in question to give people enough time to book.

Auto responder

2. East Glos Club, Tennis and Squash, Cheltenham

East Glos is a very large club with over 1,000 members and it can sometimes take members a little while to settle in after joining. We send this very simple email to new members six weeks after joining to ask how they’re getting on and to re-assure them that help is available if needed.

Autoresponder