6 minute read time
Stats to brag about: How 1440 Media hits high open rates
News, sports, entertainment, culture—1440 Media covers all the recent and hot topics trending around the world. Not to mention, they do it daily, and in a totally digestible and impartial way.
Their neutral tone and email newsletter format keeps it quick and easy for readers to stay up-to-date with the topics they’re most interested in—and brings on a refreshing approach to informational reporting.
To carry on their mission of delivering the latest updates to readers, 1440 Media relies on Campaign Monitor to get the job done right. From deliverability teams to a dedicated Customer Success Manager, 1440 Media comes together with the Campaign Monitor team to bring these highly anticipated news stories to inboxes daily.
Stats to brag about: How 1440 Media consistently hits high open rate benchmarks.
When we sat down with co-founders Drew Steigerwald and Tim Huelskamp to get the inside scoop on the 1440 Media success, we were blown away at the mention of their open rate. As any email marketer knows, a consistent 55%+ average open rate doesn’t just occur by luck—it’s the daily work that goes on behind the scenes that allows the team to achieve such impressive stats across all newsletter sends.
So, what’s the secret behind such mind-blowing engagement rates? Huelskamp says it can be split up into three parts: The product, the account management, and the attention to technicalities.
The 1440 Media team holds true that developing a lovable product is the first step to proper engagement. Though, creating a newsletter that’s timely, relevant, and interesting (without bogging down the readers too much) isn’t exactly an easy feat, especially with so many competitors. In fact, there’s a lot of time that goes into finding out the right balance between too much and too little information. And that’s not necessarily something the team can figure out on their own—this type of research takes hours of customer feedback to create the ideal product. It also requires asking their audience how they can improve—and why the 1440 newsletter is preferred over many others.
As for account management, both Huelskamp and Steigerwald agree that far too many email marketers fear letting go of those ghost (or totally unengaged) subscribers. Taking the opposite approach to this fear, the 1440 Media team set up an email marketing program giving new subscribers 14 days (10 messages) to open an email before they become automatically removed from the list. Additionally, the 1440 Media team has a drip campaign set up for those who have temporarily lost interest, helping the team recover subscribers.
On the technical side of things, deliverability is also a huge factor when it comes to achieving such consistently high open rates. With guidance from the Campaign Monitor deliverability team, 1440 Media can create an internal interface allowing them to maximize their deliverability. Each morning, the 1440 Media team receives an email that gives oversight into the backend of their email marketing program. With this system in place, the team can get ahead of any technical inconsistencies before they become a problem.
When we asked Steigerwald about any advice he would give to other organizations who are struggling with open rates or engagement, he told us, “You need to get connected with your audience and figure out why people aren’t opening or engaging—because you can do all the work on the backend, but if you’re not delivering what people want, you’ll never improve your offering.”
Deliverability serves as the backbone of a thriving business.
The 1440 Media team believes that it’s the integrity and quality of the Campaign Monitor platform that makes for such strong deliverability and open rates. Plus, the ability to quickly interact with the Campaign Monitor deliverability team allows the 1440 Media crew to not only take note of issues before they arise, but also have a better understanding of what those issues really mean.
Steigerwald says, “Deliverability is the lifeblood of our business. I’m really shocked when I hear that other email marketers aren’t focused on it. You can create the best product in the world, but it doesn’t matter if it’s not making it to people’s inboxes.”
But it’s not just open rates that makes deliverability such a key factor in the success of the 1440 Media email marketing program. Deliverability also plays a crucial role in generating revenue and profit for the company.
“We sell ads based on how many subscribers open the email. So, a 4-5% increase in open rates [after switching to Campaign Monitor] leads to a 4-5% increase in revenues and profits. Strong deliverability and open rates add wild ROI to the business,” says Huelskamp.
How 1440 Media found a successful partnership with the Campaign Monitor team.
Quick and personalized access to the Campaign Monitor support team and an assigned Customer Success Manager (CSM) are major selling points for 1440 Media. Because a direct line of communication with trained email marketing professionals helps ensure a more easygoing process for the 1440 team.
“Despite how critical it is to the business, we don’t have a strong technical background in email sending. So, the ability to have access to experts is absolutely crucial. Campaign Monitor support can help us diagnose any problems and, very explicitly, tell us how to fix those problems,” says Steigerwald.
When we asked Huelskamp and Steigerwald about their experience working with an assigned CSM, their words were filled with praise. Emily McAnnally is known to the 1440 Media team as more than just a fabulous CRM—she is a superb and valuable resource, who is always there to handle any questions or concerns in a prompt and efficient manner.
Early on in their days with Campaign Monitor, the team was struggling with segmentation and understanding the basic logic behind the feature. Instead of spending hours finding answers on his own, Steigerwald turned to Emily, who was able to clear up his confusion in a moment’s time.
“Emily is so proactive. She takes a problem we have and figures it out, but then she is also able to anticipate what we are going to ask next, based on our first problem, and she provides the answer to the next step, too. She truly wants us to succeed as an organization,” says Huelskamp.
Wrap up
We love working with passionate customers like 1440 Media. Watching our customers succeed is why we do what we do. If you want to hear how Campaign Monitor can help your business succeed, talk to one of our experts today.
