XM Satellite Radio

XM Satellite Radio, America’s No. 1 satellite radio service, transmits over 120 radio channels to nearly 2.5 million subscribers throughout the continental U.S. in crisp digital sound, representing the first technological advance in radio since the popularization of FM in the 1970s. XM radios are available at consumer electronics stores nationwide and in many new vehicles made by General Motors, Honda and Toyota.

The service offered by XM hints of a new "permission marketing" radio format, where paid subscribers enjoy expanded programming which includes 68 channels of uninterrupted music each month.

XM Radio's National Operations Center

Challenge: Updates needed for 120 channels
A major challenge for the customer service side of XM Satellite Radio, said Systems and Reporting Analyst Lars Unhjem, is keeping up-to-date with all the happenings for the vast number of music and talk radio channels the service offers.

XM uses Campaign Enterprise to compose its information newsletter, XM Signal. Hundreds of thousands of XM subscribers and potential customers receive this newsletter each week, with recipients signing on to the email list via XM’s website at www.XMRadio.com.

“Even though we are a relatively new company, when you take what would be happening with one new company, and multiply it by 100—because we have a more than a hundred different channels—there’s a lot going on in any given week,” Unhjem said.

Campaign to inform and excite
The XM Signal email newsletter is used primarily to keep current subscribers informed and excited about the content coming across the radio. “It’s almost a ‘TV Guide’-like way to get people familiar with what’s happening on a week-to-week basis,” Unhjem said. XM Signal highlights popular programming, major events, on-air artist visits, and more.

For potential customers, Unhjem said the email service communicates not only the latest happenings, but it also espouses the benefits of being an XM subscriber. Digital sound quality from your radio, coast-to-coast uninterrupted service coverage, and comprehensive, commercial-free programming are but a few of the perks touted by the company each week using Campaign Enterprise software.

Solution: Meeting future growth needs
Unhjem said XM was looking for proven software that would deliver a proven, commercial-level email program. “We initially gauged the software by the quantity and quality of its current customer base,” he said. “This made us feel more confident that it was going to do the things it said it could, such as the personalization of email.”

Another strong aspect of Campaign, Unhjem said, is its ability to handle not only the current email campaign load, but the loads of future growth of the company. XM, with approximately 692,000 subscribers, is on pace to having one million subscribers before the end of the year.

XM Satellite Radio also applies Campaign to maintain communication with its subscriber base on the sensitive topic of billing issues, using email to discretely update customers on the status of their accounts. This communication might include email updates on service payments or as email reminders if credit cards expire.

"There are business benefits to the software other than the marketing side," Unhjem said.

Results
XM currently uses Campaign Enterprise Team Edition and cites the program’s ease of use, reliability and scalability as its leading featured capabilities.

Unhjem said the firm is in the process of taking advantage of the multipart features of Campaign software, but for now is sending out the XM Signal newsletter in html and text formats separately.

“Campaign has been great. It’s helped us stay in communication with our subscribers, which keeps them engaged with what XM is offering,” Unhjem said.

Despite having such a huge selection of channels, Unhjem said each of the channels offered have their own listenership, just like favorite television channels. “Being able to use Campaign to help us communicate what’s airing each week helps engage subscribers with what makes us different over traditional radio.”

Unhjem said the current key mission for the company is to track and understand the results of its varying marketing activities over time. “The more insight into how well the newsletter is being received—which people are really opening it, reading it, and following the links to learn more about the programming we’re featuring—the better our understanding of how well people are responding to our marketing activities,” he said. “Being able to understand the changes in behavior that take place each week, and as we change our messaging, is extremely valuable.”

About XM Satellite Radio
XM Satellite Radio is America's No. 1 satellite radio service. Whether in the car, home, office, or on the go, XM offers 68 commercial-free music channels, 33 channels of news, sports, talk and entertainment, 16 dedicated channels of XM instant traffic and weather, and the industry's smallest and lightest radios and antennas. More information can be found at www.XMRadio.com.

About Arial Software
Founded in 1993, Arial Software is widely considered the industry leader in comprehensive software designed exclusively for relationship marketing through personalized email messaging. Arial’s mission is to be a universal provider of software tools to automate, personalize and measure meaningful email communications.

If you are interested in a Campaign Enterprise email best practices case study, contact the Arial Software Media & Press Relations department here.