98.5 FM: EMAIL MARKETING STRATEGY
Cogeco Media
Canadian radio giant Cogeco Media owns the most listened-to talk station in the country, 98.5 FM. With its unique blend of news, debates and entertainment, 98.5 FM is an integral part of the radio landscape in the country.
Rollout of a first-party data-centric email marketing strategy, an essential approach to navigate the changing media landscape and meet the requirements of Law 25, thereby enhancing the relevance and effectiveness of direct communication with customers. Our mandate was to capitalize on the millions of monthly page views and an engaged audience to develop an end-to-end email marketing strategy focusing on three key areas: acquisition, segmentation and content.
"The continuous support from the C&M team has greatly contributed to delivering the initial milestones of our new digital experience at 98.5. Together, we found and implemented effective strategies to propel our news content to a highly engaged audience. The team's trust and commitment allowed us to swiftly reap our low-hanging fruits!"
-Vincent Tétreault, General Manager - Digital Content, Cogeco
01
Challenges
The mandate posed three main challenges:
- Acquisition: capitalizing on the large and engaged audience.
- Segmentation: understanding the content consumption habits of the listeners.
- Content: delivering relevant content through newsletters.
02
Solution
- Pop-ups: initially generic, then personalized.
- Segmentation through a welcome form and dynamic segmentation based on user journeys on the website.
- Weekly newsletter and a newsletter tailored to segmentation (interests, favorite shows and hosts).
03
Results
- Personalized pop-ups on the homepage displaying a performance 10X higher than generic pop-ups.
- Over 2500 welcome emails sent with a 74% open rate and 935 preference selections.
- 36% opening rate (reaching up to 57% for Paul Arcand’s newsletter) and an 11% click-through rate for the weekly newsletter.
An Interdepartmental
Effort
Huge gains in efficiency and flexibility thanks to an interdepartmental effort: establishment of key KPIs and result interpretation by the Performance Department; automated newsletter production through an RSS feed managed by the Data Department; and high-engagement newsletter and pop-up design by the Creative Department.
The total number of subscribers increased by 41% in just 5 months.
After increasing 98.5 FM’s subscriber base by 41%, Cogeco commissioned us for its other radio stations. Our strategy focuses on fostering sustained engagement by enriching the database, resulting in more relevant content for our subscribers—especially crucial given the C-18 law, as we aim for synergy among stations with diverse resources.