Q: Do email blasts work to improve my ratings?

A: They sure do, IF they are relevant and topical, giving a benefit-driven reason to listen.

For example, on a recent client conference call I heard the story of a sports-talk station in a PPM-rated market which sent an email blast to their database announcing that the general manager and manager of the local team had just been fired and that they would be carrying the press conference that afternoon at 3 pm for the official announcement by the team owner live.

The following week, it was obvious from the PPM data that the station got a big hit in AQH and cume.

Email blasts which contain concert announcements and DJ news probably don’t impact listening at all and may actually hurt the impact of future ones as they lesson the open rate of future email blasts because they are all about the station and your advertisers.

Lead with a benefit to the reader in the subject line, make sure the message is relevant and make an appointment to pay off with an entertaining or informative event and watch your email marketing grow your AQH by improving your cume recycling.