How Media is Using Single Messages

Single messages are a great way to get important information out to your audience, and they can allow you to gauge your audience response before you commit to a longer-term strategy like a newsletter or drip campaign. The most effective single messages we’ve seen from media companies during the COVID-19 crisis have been addressing immediate community needs or important community-based initiatives coming from the media companies themselves.

WRAL-TV | Raleigh, NC

WRAL sent out a timely email including tons of resources for their audience. Keeping the email fully factual and straightforward, they included information on handwashing, updates on local cases, medication supply recommendations, and more.

The station ran an A/B test using two different subject lines; A) WRAL’s guide to navigating coronavirus, B) Coronavirus: What you need to know. They found version B generated nearly 3x the open rate!

Green Valley News | Green Valley, AZ

This newspaper took a conversational approach to their COVID-19 email content. The email came from the newsroom and was written to be casual, relatable, and slightly comedic. They shared their recent relevant stories, promoted local businesses, and provided information for community leaders.

WJBR-FM | Wilmington, Delaware

To address the new changes to everyday life, WJBR-FM sent this conversational email to their general audience. They encouraged listeners to reach out for information ‘or even just someone to listen to’, reminded them of the many easy ways to tune-in while at home, and promoted their Operation: Gift Card campaign.

St. Louis Magazine | St. Louis, MO

This email from St. Louis Magazine shared a great mix of information and entertainment relevant to COVID-19. It included three relevant pieces including an update from the state governor, a guide for talking to kids about COVID-19, and new criteria for testing at a local hospital. They also included links to two two timely promotions (their Car Payments for a Year sweepstakes, and their Hometown Champions campaign) which ended the email with a bright spot and drove website traffic.

How Media is Using Pop-up Newsletters

Pop-up newsletters are recurring emails on a certain topic/theme, sent on a daily or weekly basis. Keeping the emails consistent in terms of content, tone, and design is a great way to strengthen your connection with your audience.

Southeast Missourian | Cape Girardeau, MO

Southeast Missourian’s recurring Coronavirus newsletter is a great resource for their audience. The newsletter includes all relevant headlines from their daily newspaper to keep their readers up to date. Plus, the paper secured two local healthcare facilities to sponsor the newsletter, which generates revenue for the paper and promotes the healthcare facilities’ message.

WGN-TV | Chicago, IL

WGN uses multiple channels to share important updates and information to their viewers. They have a very active page on their website dedicated to COVID-19 and created a daily newsletter which pulls content from that page. The newsletter begins and ends with a content reminder for their daily emails in the morning and an on-air special report every weeknight.

A day or so after the initial email blast, they secured a local hospital to sponsor the newsletter. This was a perfect fit for the hospital to boost brand awareness and the paper to generate much-needed sponsor revenue.

Shaw Media | Crystal Lake, IL

To provide the latest and most useful news about the coronavirus outbreak, Shaw Media has created this weekly newsletter. They include the top stories from the week as well as a section of national and local resources. The media group secured a local healthcare facility to sponsor the newsletter, which had banner ads promoting their COVID-19 information at the top and bottom of the content.

Daily Herald | Arlington Heights, IL

This newsletter from the Daily Herald shares the latest news surrounding Coronavirus every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The newspaper created a dedicated audience for this newsletter and promoted it with signup widgets and messaging in their COVID-19 index, COVID-19 articles, other relevant newsletters, main newsletter signup page, and homepage.

Not only do they include links to the stories, but at the bottom of every email, they include a section of ‘Coronavirus Information Resources’, which link to both local and national resources.

Before you integrate this into your plan, take a look at our helpful guide of 7 Email Tips to Help Navigate COVID-19. If you’d like to talk about your email strategy, you can send us an email or chat with us here.