How Virgin Radio Grew 9,832 New Email Subscribers In One Week

Taylor Swift's concerts are a big draw, and it's no wonder 99.9 Virgin Radio used Taylor Swift tickets to boost their audience and engagement. They tapped into the feelings of their local listeners who are excited for Taylor Swift to come to Toronto, Canada by announcing their giveaway of Taylor Swift tickets everyday for a week.

99.9 Virgin Radio is Toronto’s #1 hit music station from iHeartRadio and has been around since 2008.

By using Taylor Swift's concert as a promotional tool, they attracted both existing and new audiences, enhancing their engagement and growth in the competitive entertainment media landscape.

Objective

For this particular station there were three overarching objectives, to grow their email list, increase engagement with listeners, and drive traffic to their website. The Tay-Trend served as a strategic opportunity, generating outstanding entries, 233,363 entries, a significant number of growth in just one week.

Strategy

What was the incentive?

The enticing incentive given away was the chance to win Taylor Swift concert tickets everyday for a week, a choice made by the station recognizing the immense popularity coupled with the scarcity in being able to get tickets.

How was the campaign structured?

There were two ways a listener could receive entries:

• On air entries - every day a user could tune in to 99.9 VIRGIN RADIO at 7a, 9a, 11a, 1p, 3p + 5p and listen for keywords, which could be used for entries. 
• Bonus entries for website keywords - when keywords were found on their website, they could be entered for extra entries.
• Winners chosen daily - you can only enter once but winners were chosen daily and announced on the morning radio show, 7 winners total.

These incentives increased listener count and engagement, but website traffic as well.

What were the KPI’s?

99.9 Virgin Radio strategically devised a tailored giveaway campaign, for just one week. The primary focus of data collection revolved around email addresses, with social and newsletter followings.

How was this campaign promoted?

In this study, this station effectively promoted their campaigns through their radio stations, email list, and social platforms. By tuning in to the stations and monitoring keywords on both the websites and radio broadcasts, the audience was profoundly engaged. 

Results

233,363 total entries

22,723 new users

9,832 newsletter subscribers

7,199 follow on Twitter

7,404 follow on TikTok

A Resounding Success for 99.9 Virgin Radio

Integrating Taylor Swift's concerts as a promotional tool was a major success for 99.9 Virgin Radio, achieving their goals effectively. The campaign, structured around a week-long giveaway of Taylor Swift concert tickets, surpassed expectations, boosting engagement, audience growth, and website traffic.

Utilizing on-air and website keywords for entries heightened audience involvement and anticipation, while the daily announcement of winners kept excitement levels high. The primary KPIs focused on collecting email addresses and expanding their social and newsletter followings.

This collaboration with Taylor Swift showcased 99.9 Virgin Radio's ability to connect with their audience, demonstrating the power of strategic promotions within the competitive media landscape.