The Company
Freedom Communications, Inc., headquartered in Irvine, Calif., is a national, privately owned information and entertainment company of print publications, broadcast television stations and interactive businesses. In addition to the television group, the company’s portfolio includes 33 daily and 77 weekly newspapers, including The Orange County Register, magazines and other specialty publications, plus news, information and entertainment websites to complement its print and broadcast properties.

The Challenge
OC Register wanted to expand its email program to include various messages ranging from customer newsletters to promotional messages to loyalty programs. Like many publishing companies, its goal was to increase relevance to subscribers and keep them engaged while still managing to drive more traffic to its website and generate more revenue through third-party advertising. “These are the challenges we need to plan for every time we launch a new product or initiative,” says Kelly Haggard, business development marketing manager, Orange County Register.

The Solution
Using Silverpop, OC Register began to expand its email program significantly. “The top lesson we learned at OC Register with our email program was to make the effort to really understand the audience, earn its trust, and make the content relevant to customers to keep them clicking,” says Haggard. Today, its email program is focused on both B2C and B2B subscribers and encompasses nine different newsletters, news alerts, advertising emails, promotional emails, a loyalty program and internal communications.

One of OC Register’s most successful email initiatives was its “OC Moms” newsletter. After carefully researching its target audience so it could deliver strong content and build trust, OC Register launched the newsletter in 2009. The weekly family-oriented mailing includes links to articles, blogs and event listings to keep moms engaged. Packed with helpful educational information and relevant activities rather than promotional copy, the newsletter’s emphasis is firmly on its audience.

More recently, Haggard launched its “OC Arts” newsletter. The goal of the weekly newsletter was to supply local arts content in partnership with a local arts nonprofit organization. The nurturing approach included several steps to acquaint people with the brand new newsletter:

Step 1: Encourage opt-in through website and newsletters of the OC Register and its partner nonprofits arts organization

Step 2: OC Register sent a “pre-newsletter” one week before the launch that included:

• “Thank you for signing up” message
• Picture of upcoming newsletter
• Link to the press release about newsletter
• Three links to “sneak peek” content
• Zero advertising

Step 3: One week later, the team sent its first full “OC Arts” newsletter to all opt-ins
   
The team sent the pre-newsletter message to help ease subscribers into receiving the newsletter one week later. This avoided surprising readers and gave them a more personal welcome.

Beyond its newsletters, OC Register created a loyalty program called the Insiders Club to more strongly connect with its most avid readers. The company uses email to keep these customers engaged by offering prizes, discounts, access to celebrity events, and entertainment tickets to registered members that remain as newspaper subscribers.

The Results
The “OC Moms” newsletter won the Marketing Sherpa Silver Email Award shortly after its launch and remains one of the company’s highest-performing newsletter, boasting 5,000 loyal subscribers and open rates higher than 20 percent. “When done right, email is one of the most powerful and affordable mediums to build relationships with a target audience,” says Haggard.

The “OC Arts” newsletter launch was also a resounding success, achieving OC Register’s highest open rates for a newsletter launch. Much of this success was due to the pre-newsletter that acquainted subscribers with a “lite” version of the newsletter. When the full newsletter launched a week later, it tallied an open rate of 52 percent and a click-through rate of 19 percent.

“If customers signed up when they first heard about the ‘OC Arts’ newsletter, there could have been a few weeks between when they signed up and when they received it—and there’s a disconnect if that happens,” says Haggard. “Using this nurturing approach, you’re not doing a hard sell. You’re warming them up to it.”

OC Register has also seen great success with its Insiders Club, which is now 35,000 members strong. In a recent email, OC Register achieved 99.9 percent deliverability and a 36 percent open rate, all the while maintaining a 98 percent retention rate and continuous growth since the program began in early 2008.

Download the PDF to learn about Orange County Register's award-winning newsletter program