Panel Title: The Value Of Attention: Metrics, Methods and Outcomes

Moderator: Jason Alcorn, MediaShift
Panelists: Clare Carr, Parse.ly; Evan Mackinder, Slate; Byard Duncan, Reveal/CIR

The difference between building a loyal audience and getting lost in the noise online? Measuring and valuing audience attention in your organization. Getting this right allows you to connect with readers the moment it matters.

This live online panel will include a discussion with publishers who have spent their time figuring out what matters to their audience and how they can measure it well. Hear how they’re writing better stories, creating innovative products and experiences, and finding new revenue for their businesses.

This free online panel is sponsored by Parse.ly. Parse.ly empowers companies to understand, own and improve digital audience engagement through data, so they can ensure the work they do makes the impact it deserves. All attendee emails will be shared with the webinar sponsor.

Handouts:

– Presentations will be available to participants.

Who should attend:

Journalists, editors, growth managers, social media editors, marketers, publishers, non-profits, and content creators interested in learning about engagement metrics.

Date and Time: June 20, 2018, 10 am PT / 1 pm ET

Free!

Register now for the online panel!

Note: If you can’t attend the live session, you can still register and see the archived video of the panel. Free registration for BigMarker is required.

About the Moderator:

Jason Alcorn is the metrics and impact editor at MediaShift. As a consultant he advises news organizations on business strategy and leadership and works with funders to develop program strategies. He also facilitates the Institute for Nonprofit News Emerging Leaders Council. Jason lives in Washington, D.C., with his family. You can follow Jason on Twitter at @jasonalcorn.

About the Panelists:

Clare Carr leads Parse.ly’s marketing team. She focuses on helping companies understand the power of audience’s attention. She contributes to MetricShift, Native Ad Institute, Digital Content Next, and speaks across the world on digital analytics, data, and marketing. You can follow her on Twitter @clareondrey.

Evan Mackinder is a senior audience engagement editor at Slate. Previously he was the digital engagement manager at the Sunlight Foundation and outreach coordinator at the Center for Responsive Politics. You can follow him on Twitter @evandmac.

Byard Duncan is Reveal’s engagement reporter. He leads social media strategy, writes The Weekly Reveal newsletter and helps spearhead a variety of audience engagement initiatives. His reporting for Reveal has spanned a variety of topics, including law enforcement, cybersecurity policy and the opioid crisis. He also has written for GQ, Esquire, The California Sunday Magazine and Columbia Journalism Review, among other outlets. He was the winner of a 2015 feature storytelling award from the Society of Professional Journalists’ Northern California chapter. You can follow him on Twitter @ByardDuncan.

The post DigitalEd Panel: The Value Of Attention: Metrics, Methods and Outcomes appeared first on MediaShift.

Panel Title: Loyalty and Revenue: The New User Metrics

Moderator: Jason Alcorn, MediaShift
Panelists: Denise Law, The Economist; Dave Burdick, Denverite

What user metrics matter most when reader loyalty is your goal? Right now a tectonic shift is happening in publishing from a click-driven era to one that is community-driven. How publishers respond today can determine if they will succeed in building an audience that shows up tomorrow and every day after.

This panel will include a discussion with publishers who are the forefront of thinking about how to measure user loyalty in this new community-driven era to strengthen their brands and use a loyal readership to grow revenue for their businesses.

This free online panel is sponsored by Opinary. Opinary enables users to share their opinion in-content, helping publishers and brands reach, understand and convert their most valuable audiences. Publishing partners – including global leaders like The Times, HuffPost, NBC etc., use Opinary to engage and monetize their audiences, while global brands like Toyota or Mastercard boost attention, create conversions and generate insights. All attendee emails will be shared with the panel sponsor.

Handouts:

– Presentations will be available to participants.

Who should attend:

Journalists, editors, growth managers, social media editors, marketers, publishers, non-profits, and content creators interested in learning about engagement metrics.

Date and Time: May 2, 2018, 10 am PT / 1 pm ET

Free!

Register now for the online panel!

Note: If you can’t attend the live session, you can still register and see the archived video of the panel. Free registration for BigMarker is required.

About the Moderator:

Jason Alcorn is the metrics and impact editor at MediaShift. As a consultant he advises news organizations on business strategy and leadership and works with funders to develop program strategies. He also facilitates the Institute for Nonprofit News Emerging Leaders Council. Jason lives in Washington, D.C., with his family. You can follow Jason on Twitter at @jasonalcorn.

About the Panelists:

Denise Law is head of strategic product development at The Economist where she is leading an initiative to accelerate the development of our website, new mobile app and newsletters. Previously, she led the social media team for two years. Denise began her career as a journalist at the Financial Times in London and Hong Kong, where she helped to set up several online-only news publications. A native of Toronto, Denise has lived and worked in London, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Utrecht.

Dave Burdick is the editor of Denverite, part of Spirited Media. He has previously worked at the Denver Post, the Daily Camera, the Huffington Post, Naropa University up in Boulder and at a Best Buy near a suburban mall circa “Now That’s What I Call Music” volume 4. His parents are retired local newspaper journalists, and he is married to a freelance journalist. Dave lives in Denver with her, their two children and a very good dog.

The post DigitalEd: Loyalty and Revenue: The New User Metrics appeared first on MediaShift.

It’s Time To Revisit Engagement Metrics
Jason Alcorn
To better measure engagement, go back to the old tools.

To Build And Engage Your Audience, Consider These Core Metrics For Measuring Success
Steve Mulder and Mark Fuerst / Current
The results of a public media working group on KPIs and key metrics.

Using Data To Measure Impact
Eric Martin / ITVS
Good ideas for journalism in this study of documentary filmmakers.

Recirculate! Vox Media’s New Structure For Story Packages Gives Readers Context (And Helps Them Stick Around)
Christine Schmidt / Nieman Lab
How a new template increased recirculation on Vox Media sites.

The Financial Times Uses YouTube To Boost Subscriptions
Lucinda Southern / Digiday
Readers come into contact with the FT brand 6 to 8 times before subscribing.

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How WhereBy.Us Will Track Impact of Local Media
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Knight Media Forum Focuses on Non-Profit News, Impact and Danger of Algorithms
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Jason Alcorn (@jasonalcorn) is the Metrics Editor for MediaShift. In addition to his work with MediaShift, he works as a consultant with non-profits and newsrooms.

The post Media Metrics Roundup for March 28, 2018 appeared first on MediaShift.

How WhereBy.Us Will Track Impact of Local Media
Jason Alcorn / MetricShift
Alexandra Smith leaps into her new role, connecting metrics to local news revenue.

February Social Media Platform Changes: Full Roundup
Tory Starr / WGBH Social
26 updates and 6 rumors to watch.

New Data Shows Just How Much Social Sharing Has Decreased Since 2015 (And News Feed Tweaks Are Just One Factor)
Ricardo Bilton / Nieman Lab
The average article gets 4 shares, down from 8 in 2015.

How Many Subscriptions Can You Afford?
Alexandre Botão / Medium
Can news publishers compete on cost and value?

Who Cares Whether A Movie Has A Perfect Rating On Rotten Tomatoes?
Justin Charity / The Ringer
What happens when measurement is itself the metric.

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Trust In News Matters. Don’t Give Up On It.
James Tyner

Knight Media Forum Focuses on Non-Profit News, Impact and Danger of Algorithms
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The 15 Biggest Local News Sites On Facebook In January
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How The Financial Times Uses Reader Feedback To Launch And Test New Features
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4 Ways Newsletter Publishers Can Hit Open Rates Between 50 and 60 Percent
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Jason Alcorn (@jasonalcorn) is the Metrics Editor for MediaShift. In addition to his work with MediaShift, he works as a consultant with non-profits and newsrooms.

The post Media Metrics Roundup for March 7, 2018 appeared first on MediaShift.

Trust In News Matters. Don’t Give Up On It.
James Tyner / MetricShift
What publications lose by prioritizing “engagement” or page views.

Paths To Subscription: Why Recent Subscribers Chose To Pay For News
American Press Institute
45 percent finally subscribed because of a promotion or a free trial.

It’s Time To End ‘Trending’
Brian Feldman / Select All
Trending algorithms can’t determine whether content should be shared.

After Years Of Testing, The Wall Street Journal Has Built A Paywall That Bends To The Individual Reader
Shan Wang / Nieman Lab
Each site visitor is scored, “based on dozens of signals,” on their propensity to subscribe.

A Guide To Page Value – The Undervalued Metric
Donovan Ayon / Luna Metrics
How to track which pages, or groups of pages, users see before a transaction.

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Knight Media Forum Focuses on Non-Profit News, Impact and Danger of Algorithms
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MetricShift Survey: Newsroom Leaders’ Top Priority Is Audience Growth
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The 15 Biggest Local News Sites On Facebook In January
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Jason Alcorn (@jasonalcorn) is the Metrics Editor for MediaShift. In addition to his work with MediaShift, he works as a consultant with non-profits and newsrooms.

The post Media Metrics Roundup for February 28, 2018 appeared first on MediaShift.

Tricky Podcast: Attentional Serfdom
Emily Bell and Heather Chaplin / Tricky
The first episode of this highly listenable new podcast looks at “the fight to capture your attention.” (Or just read the transcript.)

7 Tips to Get Better Newsletter Metrics
Jason Alcorn / MetricShift
The best things we learned from our expert panel.

Snapchat Finally Gives Creators Analytics
Josh Constine / TechCrunch
Independent creators can now see time spent, total story views and more.

The Upside Down: Negative Goals In Google Analytics
Samantha Barnes / Luna Metrics
How to set goals that warn you when things go wrong, like unsubscribes or customer support requests.

Brands With Their Own Viewability Standards Are Causing Headaches For The Ad-Tech Industry
Lauren Johnson / Ad Week
Brands like IBM are setting their own, higher, standards. An opportunity for high-value publishers?

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Jason Alcorn (@jasonalcorn) is the Metrics Editor for MediaShift. In addition to his work with MediaShift, he works as a consultant with non-profits and newsrooms.

The post Media Metrics Roundup for February 21, 2018 appeared first on MediaShift.

As we’ve done the last two years, we surveyed our readers here on MetricShift. We learned what you do and what you want to learn this year. We also learned some of the ways that metrics are evolving as metrics professionals are moving up the newsroom masthead.

Your top priority? Audience growth, followed by impact measurement. Here are six more highlights from the 2018 MetricShift reader survey.

Metrics matter to senior newsroom leaders

Question: Where are you in the org chart?

A majority of MetricShift readers hold senior positions in their newsrooms. That points to something we wrote a lot about last year: the increasing responsibility of many who started their careers in social media and have carried an analytics mindset with them as they have moved up.

Audience growth is again your top priority

Question: What analytics topics will be most important for you in 2018?

Audience growth is a priority for more than 7 in ten MetricShift readers. A close second is impact measurement. These are two of the topics we will be writing about regularly in 2018. And as we have written in the past, they are related. Showing impact is a differentiator for news organizations that can actually help drive audience growth.

At the bottom end of things, just over a quarter of readers say that video metrics will be important in 2018. To me that says video isn’t going anywhere. It will remain a priority for outlets who are heavily invested, but widespread investment in video may be slowing.

Wider adoption of metrics

Our survey found a wider adoption of metrics in newsrooms compared to previous years. Compared to our 2017 survey, more readers and organizations have access to analytics, measure analytics and make decisions based on that data.

We also asked what metrics readers tracked and grouped the most popular ones. Here are the top 10:

1.  Page views
2.  Time spent
3.  Unique visitors
4.  Referrals
5.  Clicks/CTR
6.  Engagement metrics
7.  Google Analytics
8.  Social media metrics
9.  Video views
10. Ad metrics

Impact tracking still lags behind audience analytics

The gap between newsrooms that measure audience analytics and those that track impact is shrinking. In this year’s survey, more than 56 percent of readers say they track their newsroom’s impact on the their audience. But that figure still falls well short of the number of newsrooms — more than three-quarters — that measure audience analytics.

Analytics coverage needs more in-depth stories

Question: What gaps do you see in analytics coverage today?

What gaps do our readers see in analytics coverage? The biggest gap is that there’s not enough actionable advice out there. I take this to mean that we see a lot of the same stories being written about common challenges, but media metrics professionals need more coverage of solutions and guides to solving those challenges. Related to that, nearly 40 percent of readers said there are too many analytics tools, with not enough information about them. Stay tuned on that front.

Readers specifically asked for more in-depth stories from MetricShift. We’ll be taking that into account as we plan our coverage going forward.

What can MetricShift do for you?

Question: How useful are these features around metrics provided by MediaShift?

Once again, 60 percent of readers said MetricShift is helping them understand measurement and impact better, and we’re very glad to hear that. Nearly an equal number said MetricShift provided information they could share with colleagues and management. We see both of these questions as really important measures of our own success… so thank you!

You told us that our weekly Media Metrics newsletter and case studies are especially helpful. (In the chart above, lower is better and one means extremely helpful.) Sign up here if you’re not yet subscribed to the newsletter, which I write and send out every Wednesday.

Once again, thank you to all our readers who filled out our survey. We look forward to another exciting year of media metrics with you!

Ivan Lajara

We have a winner!

We picked a random respondent to our survey to win an Amazon Echo Plus, and the winner this year is Ivan Lajara, who is the life, audience, social and digital editor with Daily Freeman (NY) and Digital First Media. Congratulations to Ivan!

Jason Alcorn (@jasonalcorn) is the Metrics Editor for MediaShift. In addition to his work with MediaShift, he works as a consultant with non-profits and newsrooms.

The post MetricShift Survey: Newsroom Leaders’ Top Priority Is Audience Growth appeared first on MediaShift.

The 15 Biggest Local News Sites on Facebook in January
Liam Corcoran / MetricShift
The New York Post and the Los Angeles Times lead the list.

How Long Should You Run Your A/B Test?
MailChimp
These are best practices for testing opens, clicks and revenue.

How Facebook Is Changing the Way It Reports Organic Reach for Page Posts
David Cohen / Adweek
The new methodology counts organic reach like paid reach. (Did you know organic reach used to include posts that users never saw?!)

Consumers Give Up On Slow Content
Sara Fischer / Axios
Speed matters, so here’s some new Adobe Consumer Content Survey data to share with your boss.

Organizations That Turn Data Into Insights Are Gaining Competitive Advantage Through Improved Connections With Consumers
Sam Ransbotham and David Kiron / MIT Sloan Management Review
A big new executive survey shows that the competitive advantage from analytics continues to grow.

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Jason Alcorn (@jasonalcorn) is the Metrics Editor for MediaShift. In addition to his work with MediaShift, he works as a consultant with non-profits and newsrooms.

The post Media Metrics Roundup for February 14, 2018 appeared first on MediaShift.

How To Write For MetricShift
Jason Alcorn / MediaShift
A call for contributors.

Sometimes, Impact Isn’t All It’s Cracked Up To Be
Jason Grotto / ProPublica
An official claimed to respond to your reporting? Be skeptical, or else.

January Social Media Platform Changes: Full Roundup
Tory Starr / WGBH Social
A “seismic” month on social media.

Public TV Begins Counting ‘Invisible Audiences’ For Education Content
Karen Everhart / Current
Beyond Nielsen Ratings: “Vegas PBS tracks 27 education-related data points.”

Opinary Is Building New Tools To Help News Orgs Use Polls To Inform Their Coverage
Ricardo Bilton / Nieman Lab
Can Opinary build a better audience insights dashboard?

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4 Ways Newsletter Publishers Can Hit Open Rates Between 50 and 60 Percent
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Why Scroll Depth Is A Key Metric for Individual Pages and Article Formats
Andrew Sweeney

Which Publishers Benefit Most from Facebook’s News Feed Change?
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What Movie Will You See This Weekend? That Depends On Where You Live
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Who Gets The Most Traffic Among Conservative Websites?
Howard Polskin

Upcoming Trainings and Events

FREE! — How to Get Better Newsletter Metrics [Feb. 7]
MediaShift’s Jason Alcorn and Special Guests

Jason Alcorn (@jasonalcorn) is the Metrics Editor for MediaShift. In addition to his work with MediaShift, he works as a consultant with non-profits and newsrooms.

The post Media Metrics Roundup for February 7, 2018 appeared first on MediaShift.

I really encourage you to contribute. Seriously, that’s why I’m writing this post. At MetricShift, we value a diversity of voices. You don’t need to have a lot of writing experience or be in a senior position at your newsroom to have something to say. If you have an idea for an article, I’d love to hear it — email me at jason@jasalc.com.

There are a few ways to make sure your article turns out great:

First, know who you’re writing for. Who is your target audience?

Second, identify the one thing you want them to take away. Is it a case study you want to share? Or tool or technique that could be helpful to others? A challenge you are facing and want to open a discussion around?

And finally, whenever possible, include examples. Details will keep your writing focused and accessible.

Our contributors come from all parts of the media world: journalism and communications school faculty and students, journalists, data analysts, engagement editors and directors of revenue, as well as many other experts and practitioners. We welcome first-person posts as well as reported articles. (Did we mention that we pay for reported articles?)

Here are some ideas to get you started.

Four Topics We’re Interested in Right Now

1. Changing Revenue Models

News organizations are pursuing reader revenue, including The Atlantic, Slate, The Guardian, Spirited Media, Wired, and The New York Times, along with public media and countless local outlets.

The analytics to track user paths, conversion and lifetime value are substantially more complex than volume or even engagement metrics. This year, MetricShift will explore the foundational concepts that audience and revenue teams need to understand to be successful.

2. Metrics Work of Students and Recent Grads

Journalism schools have incorporated metrics and analytics into their curriculums in many different ways, including mini-courses, semester-long classes, capstone- and real-world projects, and and entire tracks in social journalism. I expect another shift will happen now as Facebook becomes less critical in audience strategy.

Excited that the zine I made for my practicum @cunyjschool was featured on @MediaShiftOrg and #MetricShift! As a journalist, I read between numbers and value metrics differently. See how I went analog for #engagement (but with a twist) https://t.co/McQxcrUbXn pic.twitter.com/IBBm9R3yFq

— Kristine Villanueva (@kristine_ish) December 7, 2017

Students from CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, USC Annenberg and several other schools have written about their work from MetricShift, and this year we want to add to that list. If you are a journalism school professor, please invite your students to write about their projects and share their work with MetricShift.

3. Listening metrics

The News Integrity Initiative is calling 2018 the ‘Year of Listening.’ “We will highlight creative, inspiring examples of newsrooms listening to and engaging with their communities, as well as civic dialogue projects that are fostering understanding and respect between people from diverse backgrounds,” Molly de Aguiar writes.

Attention newsrooms! “Innovation” in local news doesn’t need to be a fancy app or platform. Our innovation was doing community organizing to find out about local info needs. The innovation was listening differently. You don’t need tons of money or resources to do that. https://t.co/ssYsBFObMc

— Mike Rispoli (@RispoliMike) February 3, 2018

But they aren’t the only ones talking about listening. News outlets of all sizes are considering how they develop closer, two-way relationships with their communities. Digital metrics and quantitative metrics are only so useful when you are building connections in person, at smaller scales. MetricShift will look at the ways these effort define and evaluate success.

4. Impact in commercial and non-profit media

Impact is no longer just the province of non-profit news. Commercial publishers are rolling out impact trackers, incorporating impact into their marketing campaigns, and training their reporters to consider the impact of their journalism. Public media, too, is beginning to embrace impact measurement.

In light of this growth, MetricShift will be examining the new best practices that emerge. How does impact measurement change when it’s not led only by non-profit newsrooms? Does it look different in much larger news organizations? And what new templates, tools and trackers will be developed to support a larger ecosystem of media impact?

The Nitty-Gritty

The typical length of a MetricShift article is 800-1,000 words. If you have screenshots, tweets to embed, newsroom photos or other art, that’s helpful. We can also provide additional art as needed. First-person and reported pieces are welcomed, as are cross-posts of articles published to your personal blog, Medium or a company website.

So please, send me your article ideas at jason@jasalc.com. I can’t wait to see them!

Jason Alcorn (@jasonalcorn) is the Metrics Editor for MediaShift. In addition to his work with MediaShift, he works as a consultant with non-profits and newsrooms.

The post How To Write For MetricShift appeared first on MediaShift.