-
Amy Blum
July 6, 2010
Have an opinion? Add your comment below. -
After a career in TV broadcasting, Amy Blum was persuaded to join Eagle Marketing because of her interest in marketing. About 18 months ago, she was promoted to President of the company, where she oversees not just TV loyalty marketing, but radio as well. She has set up loyalty marketing campaigns for literally hundreds of radio stations, owned by the likes of Clear Channel, CBS, Cox and Entercom. Here she offers her insight into successful loyalty marketing in an increasingly digital media world.
What are the keys to loyalty marketing success?
Loyalty marketing is about being authentic, customized and strategic in ways that engage the target audience and focus on delivering benefits to it. It's sort of like dating. We start by promoting sampling as a way to introduce strangers to a station and begin the process to build interest, trust and value. Then make them our friends and ultimately our loyalists. Along the way we have to give them reasons to commit to an ongoing relationship.
There are essentially three components to a successful loyalty marketing campaign.
One: Understand the target audience. We apply a host of analytical tools and decades of experience to an array of different data points, such as those provided by Arbitron, PRIZM (the lifestyle segmentation program) and the stations themselves. Our goal is to identify unique traits of your particular audience from a geographic, demographic and psychographic standpoint. We then create a strategy that targets only those most likely to respond. Ultimately this approach delivers more effective results -- in other words, higher ratings and more efficient use of marketing dollars.
Two: Use great creative. It has to be compelling and memorable. It has to motivate a person to read further, to engage and to respond. Whether it's for direct mail or e-mail, the graphics have to "pop" in the mailbox or inbox to break through the clutter. They also have to reflect the station's brand and sell the reason for tuning in. For examples of how creative can be executed effectively, see our work at www.eaglemarketing.com.
Three: Customize the conversation. The more you know about your core listener, the more you should personalize the contact. Technology makes this simple to do with both direct mail and e-mail marketing. Yet we're not seeing a broad use of this approach. To be distinctive, stations need to learn more about their listeners and reflect back listeners' interests and needs with customized contact. For example, if a station knows a listener is a morning show fan, it should highlight morning news in that particular listener's e-mail blast or in the subject line.
We know the personal touch goes a long way towards building those all-important relationships that drive listening. If you think about your own life, what are the businesses you choose to frequent? Most likely your answer will include companies with whom you have a personal connection and where your patronage is recognized and rewarded in a customized fashion
.
What differentiates successful e-mail marketing from the virtual spam people get and trash after barely a glance?
There's a big difference between generic e-mail and "me-mail" which, like any good loyalty program, is focused on the end user. Content has to be relevant, personalized and targeted. The subject line should always be value-driven and make evident why opening this e-mail is a worthwhile investment of time. Copy has to be creative, brief and customized. People will tune out or hit delete if there's no immediate perceived benefit. Worse, they'll become annoyed if they feel you're wasting their time.
Be creative, engaging and listener-focused ... and the effort will pay off. For example, when people register for your Listener Club and become part of your database, ask them a few simple multiple-choice questions such as what dayparts they listen to, their favorite DJs, and their interests. That type of information can be reflected back in customized content of future e-mails. If they're interested primarily in certain artists, certain DJs, or particular dayparts, your e-mails should focus on those artists, DJs and dayparts for whom they've expressed that passion. It's all about segmenting the database and customizing the content.
If a station already has a database, but it hasn't been fully segmented, what then?
Segmenting isn't complicated -- and yet it's so essential. Stations should be gathering as much information as possible. For example, a lot of station e-mail databases don't include listeners' physical addresses. So how do we know if these people live in hot zips, or near concert venues that do promotions with you, or near local advertisers that can help you generate revenue as sponsors? Knowing where people live allows us to append with one of the 66 PRIZM codes and other key lifestyle information. This gives you a far more robust understanding of who these listeners are. And that, in turn, informs your marketing decisions moving forward. Ultimately it makes you more competitive.
Do you do anything special to get the hard-to-reach demos to opt-in?
Absolutely. We target a particular audience with a marketing strategy that best appeals to that demographic. For example, to target younger demos, we create online loyalty clubs and mobile marketing campaigns that focus on the particular lifestyle of, say, an 18-34-yearold. And we focus contests prizes on age-appropriate incentives like iPhones, Wiis and iPODs.
How deeply are you invested in mobile marketing? Do you feel you have a handle on what works in that realm or have you only touched the surface?
Applications for mobile promotions are changing every day, so it's key we stay ahead of the curve. For the last few years we've offered an array of mobile services. We also have a dedicated mobile expert on staff to help clients define and develop cutting-edge mobile campaigns. Mobile is a natural fit for any loyalty marketing campaign, because it focuses on creating a personal, targeted relationship with your audience. Mobile campaigns require that participants opt-in. If they don't see value and relevance, participants will quickly opt-out. To be successful with mobile, it is imperative that you know your audience and what will resonate with them.
Is mobile marketing becoming an integral part in any campaign?
It's an integral part of what should be considered for any campaign. We are seeing more and more stations adding mobile to their marketing mix. Any that are not considering mobile right now, especially in radio, need to recognize the tremendous opportunity here -- especially when you want to reach 18-34s, who are texting more than calling with a phone.
According to Nielsen, all age groups under 44 years of age send and receive more text messages (357 texts on average) than phone calls (204 calls). Those in the 18-34 demo are the most receptive to mobile campaigns, but overall 25% of Americans participate in at least one text-based marketing campaign each year. Mobile campaigns allow you to quickly build a mobile database and effortlessly track and view the ROI of your campaign.
Will direct-mail marketing go the way of vinyl records, eight-tracks and cassettes?
I'm still a big believer in direct mail. It has its place and strengths. People respond to quality direct mail, which takes talent and a certain artistry to do right. If done right, direct mail from a radio station has cache, shelf life and a value to the recipient. Bottom line is direct mail still delivers ratings results.
Eagle Marketing, I think, is unique among marketing companies working with stations in that we offer an integrated approach and a host of strategies and services that includes not only direct mail but also e-mail marketing, mobile and loyalty clubs. All these tools can be effectively integrated to support one another. We take a coordinated approach that brings not just ratings for today, but also lasting loyalty that is ultimately what sustains a station's competitive edge.
How would a loyalty marketing campaign work for a new morning show?
Using all available analytical tools, we would create a profile of those listeners most likely to be available and interested in a morning show for that particular format. We'd create a strategy for targeting and list acquisition that drills down to just those households that match the profile. We'd then design compelling creative for direct mail and e-mail marketing that captures the attention of the potential listener and that incorporates social media as part of the launch campaign. Ideally we'd develop an o-line loyalty club to engage, excite and reward this audience with monthly contests and surveys. We'd also leverage their own social networks to find like-minded people and build audience even further.
Say your station is flipping formats, going to one that attracts a completely different target demo. Do you generate a completely new database, or take the database you have and do special campaigns to find out if they would still be appropriate with the new format and appeal?
I would recommend a two-pronged approach. One objective is to convert loyal listeners of your old format by marketing the switch to listeners in the existing database. Rather than ignore this group, you should try to promote sampling and bring them along. The second objective is to target additional households we know are friendly to the new format based on our analytics.
Say your marketing relationship with a station in one market ends - and another station in the same market signs you up. Do you use any of the campaigns you used at the previous stations for the new one - or is everything done from scratch?
Most of our clients have been with us for a very long time, so I would say it's rare for one of our relationships to end. And that's not surprising, because as experts in loyalty marketing, we practice what we preach.
To answer the second part of your question, we're very customized so there's no single solution. Each station has its own personality and brand. We approach each situation with a fresh eye. You may know certain things about a market, but each station is built to be unique within that market. Our clients want and deserve a fresh look, so what we do for each client is tailored to what that client is and wants to be.
Promotion and marketing were widely seen as some the first things stations cut when they trimmed expenses post-consolidation and especially during the recent recession. How did consolidation and the downturn impact Eagle?
Actually, Eagle's radio business has grown in the last year-and-a-half, and has been a key contributor to Eagle's overall growth during that time. Some companies did cut back budgets, but, over the course of 2010, we have seen a shift in those companies' thinking and a renewed interest in direct marketing.
Rather than contracting our business, we responded by broadening our scope of services -- to include direct mail, e-mail, mobile marketing, branding, creative services, social media and web strategies -- so Eagle could become even more relevant to our clients.
So, bottom line, you're confident that Eagle and loyalty marketing will be a bigger force in the future growth of radio?
You bet I am! Eagle Marketing has a 30-year history in the radio industry and we think the future promises continued success. The growth of new technologies makes Eagle and loyalty marketing more relevant to our clients than ever before.
Looking down the road, we will continue to innovate and create value for our clients. We're committed to walking the walk - to being authentic, valuable and relevant -- and to practicing what we preach. Our team could not be more excited about who we are as a company and what we have to offer.
-
-