Category results for "Innovation"

Why Dow Jones’ new Leadership Institute will have peer learning at its core

October 10, 2024 Esther Kezia Thorpe – Independent Media Reporter

In September, Dow Jones announced the creation of the Dow Jones Leadership Institute, a commercial proposition focused on executive learning and leadership.

Plans are still in their early days. But Alan Murray, former Fortune Media CEO and newly appointed President of the Dow Jones Leadership Institute, believes that senior executives are in need of a trusted authority to guide them through leadership challenges. They also think that Dow Jones is in an ideal position to do this.

“I’ve been covering business for more than four decades. I don’t think in those four decades there’s been a time quite like the present, where the speed of change is so rapid, and the multiplicity of issues that leaders of large organizations have to grapple with is so great,” Murray explained, outlining the opportunity Dow Jones spotted. “You’ve got a technology revolution going on that’s moving very fast. ChatGPT was announced in November 2022, and within 60 days, the people who run large companies were being told their whole company was going to be disrupted by this technology that they’d never heard of 60 days ago.”

Murray also pointed to other global forces affecting businesses, from energy transformation and decarbonization to geopolitical threats. Many larger companies were founded in a world where they could operate freely globally. “That’s no longer the case any more,” he noted. “There are all sorts of geopolitical threats, massive rethinking of supply chains, and realigning manufacturing facilities.”

As global pressures affect the way businesses run, Murray is emphatic that executive leadership has to transform as well. Given Dow Jones’ position as a world leader in business information and news, he believes he can create an offering to help executives navigate these changes.

Bringing together communities under one umbrella Institute

Dow Jones already has an existing collection of executive communities. The Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council is one of the most well-known. It also boasts CFO, CMO, CIO and CCO Networks.

These vertical networks are valuable as they bring together C-suite executives from different industries but with similar responsibilities to share experiences and advice. What Murray hopes to do with the Dow Jones Leadership Institute is create a horizontal ‘umbrella’ network, which links them together.

“We’re thinking about: who are the groups of people who we can bring together, who can learn from each other? And what are the other information services, data and research services, education and coaching that we can provide to help them through that journey?” he said, explaining that many of the challenges such as AI disruption are the same across job roles. “How do you lead in the face of such rapid change? How do you rethink what you’re doing?”

One of Murray’s key observations from his experiences moderating C-suite technology panels over the past few years is that the conversation may start on technology, but it always comes back to people. “We’re talking about, how do I get my middle managers to embrace this technology, not reject it? How do I get people to adopt new ways of working?,” he illustrated. “Those conversations have left me convinced that while technology is evolving very rapidly, and lots of people are focused on how we make technology evolve rapidly, not enough people are focused on how leadership evolves to match it.”

The Dow Jones Leadership Institute will focus its attention on addressing this, rather than specific technology solutions. But it also faces another challenge: time. Senior executives are notoriously time-poor, and continuous learning is a particularly acute challenge for them. Murray said that they are also reluctant to show their vulnerabilities to their board or employees.

The value of peer learning communities for executive leadership

Addressing the time issue will mean creating opportunities for executives to stay up to date with what’s happening in ways that suit them best.. Murray outlined that the Dow Jones Leadership Institute will be serving those needs through creating thought leadership content, videos, education programs, surveys and research data.

But first and foremost, the priority will be on peer learning. This is, from Murray’s experience, what senior executives value most: “having the opportunity to share ideas, experiences and plans confidentially with someone who is in a job similar to their own.”

Virtual events will have a role to play, especially as Murray’s mandate is to “make this a global organization.” But in-person gatherings in the US will be the main focus as the Institute starts out. “There’s something different about being together in-person, things happen when you have an in-person interaction that don’t happen virtually,” he observed. “So there’s a role for both, but I do believe in-person gatherings tend to be more powerful.”

Other outputs will depend on the demands of members. As a business with membership as its primary revenue stream, Murray emphasized that they need to be “relentlessly focused on our members and provide them with any services that they think would be helpful.”

Details of membership pricing are still being planned out. A membership to the WSJ’s CEO Council comes in the ballpark of around $25k. So, a similar range would seem appropriate for building up a pricing plan for the Leadership Institute.

Sponsorship will be an additional revenue stream, but the driver will be membership. Dow Jones is in a strong position to build this, as it has doubled its digital news subscription footprint over the past four years under CEO Almar Latour. Murray noted that Latour is dedicated to making the Leadership Institute a “significant pillar of the future of Dow Jones,” and has joined the executive leadership team as a show of commitment.

Complementary to news coverage

Dow Jones is a leading provider of business news, and is home to titles like the Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch. Education and community services are a very different proposition to news, but Murray believes that their deep well of expertise, and robust business news acumen, gives them an edge in building an executive Leadership Institute and communities around it.

“A lot of the changes in how you lead are very news-driven. It changes around new concepts, new technologies, new things happening,” he explained. He also points out the fact that traditional universities, and even private professional service companies can be slow to adapt. [Dow Jones] “is an organization that’s all about the new, it’s all focused on the leading edge. What’s happening right now that is going to change the way you have to look at leadership in the years ahead? That’s going to be our secret weapon.”

For Murray, the measure of success for the Dow Jones Leadership Institute in the years to come will be the response of its members. “It’s member appreciation, member engagement, member renewal,” he said. “Whether it’s measured by an NPS score or by the size of the membership, our goal is to provide value to members, and the members will show us if we provide that value.”

Although there are many elements of the Leadership Institute which other publishers could look to for inspiration, Dow Jones has a clear advantage in having its own established C-suite networks which it can bring together. While first party data, particularly information about registered and premium subscribers can help an organization develop an offering such as this, few media companies have successfully built their own community initiatives. However, particularly as social networks decline for distribution and audience building, extensions like these show the value of leveraging audience relationships to drive deeper connections and new revenue.

Innovation | Supporter Spotlight

Balancing efficiency and authenticity in journalistic use of AI

September 30, 2024 Naomi Owusu, CEO and Co-founder – Tickaroo

Two small letters – AI – are proving major disruptors for the digital news industry. Already, 70% of journalists and newsroom leaders use generative AI in some capacity. While we hear much excitement over its potential, opinion remains divided. Senior editorial representatives at titles such as UK newspaper The Sun have expressed concern that AI in journalism will deliver a “tsunami of beige” content. And readers say they prefer AI-free news.

As such, there is a balancing act to be performed for AI and human input in newsrooms, pitting its potential to revolutionize the industry against the risks of over-reliance and ethical concerns to find a middle ground that benefits all. Against a backdrop of budget and team cuts, however, it’s crucial to realize that AI can enhance workflow efficiency, allow journalists to do more with less. That, in turn, can allow teams to focus on what matters the most: creating human-centered, authentic content that engages the reader.

Using AI to bridge the gap with users

Primary motivations among journalists for using AI technologies include automating mundane tasks. But as Ranty Islam, Professor of Digital Journalism, pointed out at the 2024 DW Global Media Forum, this isn’t the be-all and end-all of AI. The key lies in integrating AI into a holistic strategy that brings journalism closer to readers. Using AI to perform necessary but time-intensive tertiary tasks means that journalists—notably those in local newsrooms with smaller budgets and teams—can get more actual journalism done. They can get out there to connect with real people and stories.

Moreover, as audience needs change, AI can help newsrooms track and enhance the stories and formats that perform for them in an audience-first strategy. Using AI alongside tracking means newsrooms can harness suggestions about when to write stories and the kinds of topics and formats that audiences want to see. Content suggestions can be made based on AI tagging systems,while algorithms that suggest stories based on user behavior or interests can help tailor content for different audiences. This enhances the reader experience for greater engagement and retention while also helping boost subscription offerings through data-driven personalization.

Doing more with less

There is a wealth of opportunities for newsrooms to use AI to help with everyday tasks, and the benefits for understaffed newsrooms are clear. The local news sector has particularly felt the impact, losing nearly two-thirds of its journalists since 2005. AI can serve as a helping hand for tasks that would otherwise require multiple staff members. We have integrated AI into our liveblogging software, for example, to enable users to generate liveblog content summaries in seconds, assimilate live sports results, adjust tone and language, create social media posts, and generate image captions for enhanced SEO.

AI’s potential to localize content and engage new audiences is widely recognized. FT Strategies has highlighted AI translation as “truly disruptive in the context of news”, particularly for multilingual communities or multinational publishers seeking to replicate regional content across multiple sites.

Indeed, AI excels at summarizing and extracting information, making it extremely useful for summary generation. While most reporters aren’t keen on full AI copy generation, enabling teams to recycle their content quickly and easily or suggest headlines based on keywords can be a huge help. Moreover, since the training data is their own, the summaries reflect the author’s original, authentic style.

This summarization can be carried through to data analysis to create charts and infographics. AI can even create text descriptions for supporting media to help with search engine optimization or social media posts and matching hashtags to promote stories. Journalists aren’t typically SEO or social media managers, but small teams sometimes need to wear multiple hats. Using AI as a virtual assistant allows reporters to focus more energy on their reporting.

AI can also be harnessed to support a journalist’s development or to augment collaboration or brainstorming that might once have been done in a newsroom among a large team. AI can be used to create identify story gaps or flaws, a tool to suggest improvements, or to proofread, make composure suggestions, and adapt tonality to the situation at hand. This is particularly useful when wanting to address various user needs or even different age groups.

Liveblogs offer a prime example of how AI can be harnessed to enhance reporting, helping manage and update live content in real-time, automatically pulling in relevant information, images, and social media posts. This allows journalists to focus on providing valuable insights and context, delivering a dynamic and engaging experience for readers.

Trust and transparency while using AI in journalism

Using AI behind the scenes in this multitude of ways chimes with reader comfort levels. The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism revealed that while readers are skeptical of AI-generated content, they are generally happier with AI handling behind-the-scenes tasks under human supervision—as long as newsrooms are transparent about AI usage.

While AI can help to detect disinformation, fact-check, or moderate online comments, adding to the integrity of journalistic content, its tendency to hallucinate and invent also means that human oversight is vital. We must train journalists to work alongside AI, using it to enhance, not supersede, their skills, striking a balance between AI utility and the preservation of the human element in news reporting.

AI is a tool, not a substitute. It can automate mundane tasks, save time and assist research and brainstorming processes, but its power lies in complementing human effort, not replacing or overshadowing it.

The future of journalism lies in a hybrid approach in which AI supports, not replaces, the essential human touch that defines quality journalism. Whatever the medium—print, online, liveblog—by fostering collaboration between technology and editorial expertise, newsrooms can navigate this evolving landscape, ensuring that AI enhances, rather than diminishes, the integrity and creativity of journalistic work.

Featured Post | Innovation | Revenue | Video

How Crooked Media leverages video for podcast audiences

September 26, 2024 T. J. Raphael – Independent Media Reporter

It’s been nearly 20 years since Apple took podcasts mainstream, but the tech giant seems to be losing its grip on audio audiences: A recent study out this summer found that YouTube is now the most used podcast platform in the U.S.

That’s left some publishers and podcast production houses scrambling to figure out a video strategy to complement their audio-only offerings. But there’s at least one player in the game that seems well prepared for the platform shift: Crooked Media.

The company, which is focused on news, politics, and liberal-leaning commentary and analysis, currently boasts more than 40 podcasts in its portfolio. And video is a big part of Crooked Media’s strategy — but they’re not just playing on YouTube. The company is also pushing video content on TikTok, Instagram, and X (formerly known as Twitter). And even better? Crooked Media is generating revenue along the way.

The YouTube video-podcasting strategy

“We started putting streams of Pod Save America on YouTube in early 2018,” says Matt DeGroot, the company’s vice president of production.

These days, every audio-only episode of an ongoing and regularly published Crooked podcast also has a video component, which is uploaded to YouTube. For Crooked, the foray into video has been part of a deliberate plan to grow its audience.

“Really the biggest impetus there and why we’ve pushed so hard is that people who consume podcasts on a traditional platform like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, tend to go to those platforms knowing exactly what they’re looking for. So, there isn’t a ton of discoverability,” DeGroot says.

“Everyone uses YouTube, and YouTube — for better or for worse — knows what people want to see. YouTube will find our shows and basically serve it up to people,” he says. “And people on YouTube might be a little more curious and willing to take a chance on new content.”

Over time, Crooked has built a significant audience that is unique to the platform. It has 10 channels and playlists that are updated regularly, and the company currently claims more than 1.2 million YouTube subscribers.

When a big news event happens, Crooked can leverage its political commentary and analysis from a show like Pod Save America and tap into an audience who may already be searching YouTube for information. “If there’s a big story happening and Pod Save America is doing an episode, reacting to it or explaining the context, that’s a great opportunity for someone new to sort of stumble upon it,” DeGroot says.

For example, earlier this month, the company posted a segment from Pod Save America that featured the hosts of the show discussing Vice President Kamala Harris’ debate performance, and global superstar Taylor Swift’s endorsement of the Democratic candidate.

Those events were dominating broadcast news, digital media outlets, and social platforms. And Crooked was there, ready and waiting for curious YouTubers to find them. Their video on the subject got nearly 730,000 streams as of this writing, and is one of the top 15 most popular videos on their channel.

“We’ve really been able to harness that power and seize those moments in a way that is hard to do on a podcast platform, where, like I said, people really know what they’re looking for when they open the app,” DeGroot says. “YouTube just gives us more opportunity to find new people.”

Beyond giving people a new entry point to their content, video gives audiences a new format to access the Crooked universe. “More and more with the advent of smart TVs, we’ve been seeing a lot of people who are really consuming the YouTube product from their televisions and treating it like watching the evening news,” DeGroot says.

This is especially true for older audiences.

“My mom, bless her heart, she does not know how to use a podcast,” DeGroot says. “She doesn’t know how to find a show there. But she knows YouTube and she knows how to type in Pod Save America and get to the channel and pull up the latest episode.”

However, while video has helped build Crooked Media’s audience, the experience remains audio-centric. “We get anecdotal comments of people saying, ‘Oh, I put this on while I’m making dinner.’ They may not be watching it a hundred percent with their eyes on the screen the whole time, so it’s still somewhat of an audio experience, because they’ll have it on in the background while they’re cooking.”

Cashing in on YouTube

Because the company publishes Crooked Media’s podcast content as YouTube videos, its ad sales team has more touch points to offer potential sponsors.

“YouTube runs ads and we have that aspect of monetization. But then our sales team also does sell against that for the podcasts,” DeGroot says. “So an episode of Pod Save America, for example, the ads that appear in the podcast when you listen are also in the YouTube version.” In this way, a client gets a two-for-one. It can buy ads from one media company and get two distinct audiences.

In addition to selling to two audiences, Crooked is also leveraging video content to create exclusive offerings for advertisers. “That’s something we’ve started doing this year — having a single sponsor,” DeGroot says. “Someone like ZBiotics sponsors Hysteria’s ‘This F*cking Guy’ series. So we’ll include a 30 second ad read in the middle of the video, and maybe a short mention of the sponsor at the beginning. It’s a great way to add that additional revenue and help pay for the production costs that do naturally come with video, because it is a time consuming and work intensive thing.”

However, Crooked is looking beyond advertisers when it comes to monetizing video. The company has a paid subscription offering — called “Friends of the Pod” — which provides subscribers with ad-free podcast feeds, bonus content from Crooked hosts, and the ability to talk directly with on-air talent on Crooked’s subscriber-only Discord server.

“Friends of the Pod” also get subscriber-only YouTube shows. “One is a weekly, called, Terminally Online, and then we have a couple biweekly shows — Dan Pfeiffer’s Poller Coaster, and another election special called Inside 2024,” DeGroot says. “Those are available as both audio and video components to subscribers.”

While Crooked Media is going big on YouTube, it’s not the only social video platform the company is publishing on. “There are real opportunities in that sort of shorter form content,” DeGroot says. “We are not oblivious to the fact that a lot of people, if they see a video on YouTube even if it looks really appealing to them, if it’s 90 minutes long, they’ll say, ‘I don’t have time for that. I’m not gonna take a chance on this random video.’”

To counter this, Crooked Media will splice one of its full length episodes into shorter clips — something that’s 60 or 90 seconds long — and upload that content to TikTok, Instagram, or X. “People are willing to give that a chance,” DeGroot says. “They’ll see a video short clip and be like, ‘Oh, what are these people saying?’ And from there it draws them in and makes them curious to hear more,” which could lead them to YouTube or a podcast platform.

Pod Save America has about 14,000 followers on TikTok, but their short videos reach way more people than that. A recent post discussing a press conference that former President Donald Trump had garnered more than 100,000 views.

Crooked’s podcast host will also create what DeGroot calls “ancillary” content — behind the scenes moments that still speak to the brand’s broader tone. That might include the hosts’ live reaction to Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his recent criminal trial, or an on the ground video message from the Democratic National Convention.

“For those videos that live on TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube shorts, it’s a feature that we’ve been really pushing lately and finding a lot of success with,” DeGroot says. “We’ve found that doing those types of things really helps the content spread on those platforms and bring in new people who then get excited to watch the podcasts.”

For DeGroot, the video strategy across platforms is all about creating more touch points — for audiences and advertisers.

“It’s gonna take some time to build that audience, and you really have to nurture it over time,” he says. “As long as you keep on your patterns, stay with it, and stay consistent, you will get the rewards from that.”

Featured Post | Innovation | Perspectives

Is the fediverse the future of news distribution on the social web?

September 19, 2024 Mathew Ingram – Independent Media Reporter

Not that long ago, using the social web as a news distribution platform was a relatively straightforward process: all you had to do was grab the headline and maybe a photo and then post it to Twitter and Facebook — where most news publishers and journalists already had verified accounts with thousands or even tens of thousands of followers — and then watch the pageviews and clicks roll in. Over the past year or so, however, changes to both Twitter and Facebook have made the social-web approach less and less useful; in many ways, both services have gone from being either neutral or somewhat useful as a distribution mechanism to being actively hostile environments.

In the case of Twitter, now known as X, the acquisition by Elon Musk has changed the nature of the service in a number of ways. For one thing, the algorithm that determines who sees what has been altered, based on unknown criteria. So, many publishers and journalists now say they get less engagement from the platform than they were used to in the past. There also seems to be a lot more content that is racist, sexist, or is otherwise disturbing and/or uncomfortable — as a result of what Musk claims is a commitment to freedom of speech. All of this makes the platform seem like a much less hospitable environment for traditional news and journalistic content.

Facebook, meanwhile, has backtracked on some or all of the commitments it made in the past to journalism and the media, by canceling or downsizing funding it used to provide through a variety of programs under the former Facebook Journalism Project. Most of the staff associated with those programs have left or been reassigned, and the platform has made it clear that the newsfeed algorithm will not be promoting or recommending news content in general. Facebook and its parent Meta have removed news from the Canadian version of the service as a protest over a new law designed to force digital platforms to pay publishers for the news content they carry.

What is the fediverse?

Some see the emerging “fediverse” as a potential solution to these issues, or at the very least a workaround. As Rande Price recently wrote for DCN recently, the word fediverse is an umbrella term that covers dozens of different social platforms, from Mastodon (a Twitter alternative) to Lemmy, one of the fediverse’s would-be replacements for Reddit.

Each of these services has different features and a different design, but they all have a few things in common: they are all open source, meaning the source code that powers them is freely available for anyone to download and modify. They are also all “federated,” meaning they can interoperate with each other — posts or content from one service can be easily cross-posted to another platform, or at the very least they can be exported and then imported. This is all powered by an open-source programming system called ActivityPub.

That may not sound like a big deal, but when you think about the way that content is siloed in the current environment, it definitely sounds like an improvement. Twitter or X allows you to download all of your posts and other data in bulk — something that the previous management regime put in place — but it doesn’t make it easy to import it anywhere or do anything with it. Crossposting of tweets or posts can be automated with third-party tools such as Buffer or dlvr.it, but the process inevitably fails at certain points because Twitter and Facebook don’t really want you to crosspost things. Each of them wants your content to live on their platform and nowhere else.

One recent exception to this rule is Threads, the new-ish service from Meta. Launched in July of 2023 as a spin-off from Instagram, Threads grew rapidly — so rapidly that it was one of the fastest-growing social services in history, gaining 100 million users in a matter of days. In another first, Threads also said from the beginning that it wanted to join the fediverse by allowing Threads posts to be federated, so that people using a fediverse client could follow a user on Threads without having to set up their own Threads account. Others are also working on fediverse integration, including Tumblr, Flipboard, and Medium, and so are some individual publishers, including 404 Media and The Verge. While it’s difficult to say exactly how many people are part of the fediverse, one estimate puts the number at almost 12 million.

Meta has kept its Threads promise

It’s probably fair to say that there was a massive amount of skepticism about Meta’s pledge to join the fediverse, since the company is not exactly known for being open to other services. In fact, Facebook is notorious for down-ranking posts that contain external links, and Instagram won’t even let users post links with their content. Instead, they have to use a third-party service to add links to their bio, and then point users there, something that is so user-hostile it’s hard to believe that it still exists. Therefore, it seemed hard to believe that Meta’s hostility to external links would suddenly change.

As difficult as it might have been to believe, however, Meta actually followed through on its promise. In March, the Threads accounts belonging to Threads manager Adam Mosseri and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg joined the fediverse, when the company implemented a sharing or federation mechanism that allowed anyone with a Mastodon account to follow them from the Mastodon app without having to have a Threads account. Meta has said that it is now rolling out this feature across the service.

Why would Threads do this? One possible answer is that, since Threads is the underdog compared to Twitter, Meta is hoping to use integration with the fediverse as a lever to quickly expand its user base. One internet rule of thumb has been that platforms and services that see themselves as the underdog are alway much more interested in interoperability than incumbents or monopolies are. Whether smaller incumbents are willing to look favorably on this behavior is very much an open question. A number of servers have blocked Threads integration because they believe it is going to overwhelm their services, or because they view Facebook and its ilk as a negative element.

The upside of fediverse distribution

That’s one possible downside. However, for publishers and others interested in reaching the broadest cross-section of users, Threads joining the fediverse provides a potential positive solution. One of the problems with the fediverse from an institutional standpoint is that it consists of so many services — Mastodon, PeerTube, Pixelfed, and Friendica to name a few — with so many different terms of service and behavior rules and other criteria that it can be hard to navigate the landscape as a publisher or news outlet interested in distributing content in the most efficient way possible.

If Threads continues its push into the fediverse, that problem could be mitigated. In this case, all a publisher would have to do is post to Threads, and have that content distributed through all of the other services that Threads is federated to. While that may solve one problem, however, doing so could create two new potential problems. One is that posting content indiscriminately to multiple social networks can be seen by users as spam-like activity, and therefore might not be received well. A second problem is that doing this would mean ceding a lot of control over a publisher’s social strategy to Threads, and therefore to Meta, which some might see as a step backwards.

In some senses, it’s a Catch-22: publishers who try to make use of all of these different platforms individually could wind up stretching themselves too thin, producing little return from a social strategy. But those who outsource their distribution to Threads and the fediverse could also wind up getting hit by a backlash, which would blunt the effectiveness of the strategy. The only possible upside is that since the fediverse is still relatively new, it’s not totally clear how it is going to evolve. But those who spend a little time experimenting with it could find themselves ahead of the curve, and wind up learning a lot about social interaction along the way.

Five expert tips for a successful podcast launch

August 29, 2024 T. J. Raphael – Independent Media Reporter

As more and more media companies and brands hop into the podcasting space, they’re turning to tried-and-true tactics to launch new shows. But podcasts live within a unique ecosystem, and podcast listeners themselves have distinct habits when it comes to consuming audio content.

If you’re planning to launch a podcast, there are five key marketing and audience development strategies you need to be thinking of, according to Christy Mirabal, an independent podcast marketing executive. She’s spent more than a decade building audiences for audio power players like Sirius XM, Sony’s Global Podcast Division, Stitcher, and HarperAudio. Here, she shares her five tips for success in podcast marketing.

1. Get to know your listener

“You can’t really build a marketing strategy without first knowing who you are building your podcast for,” says Mirabal. “If I had a nickel for every time somebody was like, ‘Well, this podcast is for everybody,’ I’d be rich. Because that’s not true – you know, no movie is for everybody – and that’s true for podcasts, too.”

Many podcasts are hyper-focused on a topic, so they attract specific, niche audiences. And people who market audio content need to think about how to specifically connect with that niche.

“For example, if you’re making a music podcast that’s trying to reach someone in their mid-to-late ‘30s, you’re not gonna reach them on TikTok, But you might reach them at a music festival, right?” she says.

Connecting with your target audience way before launching — whether in person or through online surveys – will help a media company find out if the people they’d like to target would actually want to listen to the program they’re cooking up. Knowing why the listener wants to consume a podcast will then inform how it’s marketed when it comes time to launch.

2. Ask: What is your podcast’s end goal?

When setting key performance indicators (KPIs) for a podcast marketing plan, Mirabal recommends backing up and asking a key question: What is your company’s end goal with a podcast? That will “help establish your north star metrics,” she says.

A media company may launch a podcast with the hopes of monetizing a series through paid advertising. If that’s the case, the end goal is likely clear cut: Grow a scalable audience that’s attractive to advertisers.

“But for a lot of brands, that’s not necessarily the end goal,” Mirabal says. “Maybe they’re looking to extend their brand and get it in front of a different audience. Maybe it’s just somebody’s passion project — like someone in the c-suite really believes in something and they want to do a podcast to get the word out there. And so the KPIs that you develop, if you are making a passion project, that’s gonna be a completely different path and a different set of KPIs than if you’re trying to monetize your work.”

Setting clear goals as a team from the jump will help determine the answers to key questions: Should we have a paid marketing and audience acquisition budget? Should our strategy be focused on organic growth? Do we need to set an audience bar to sell to advertisers?

3. Bring your entire company on board

As you begin to plan your podcast’s launch date, it’s crucial to make sure there’s cross department collaboration within your organization to make sure the show’s roll out is a success.

“Map out all of your own channels where you might promote the podcast to your audience,” Mirabal says. “With bigger media companies, sometimes these channels can be very matrixed.”

Coordinate with the team who owns newsletters, those who run a site’s content operation, and the groups who steer social.

“Somebody who owns a newsletter channel might need completely different assets and different collateral than someone managing a homepage,” Mirabal says.

Bringing in the art department to work with each vertical is also key. Even though podcasting is often an audio medium, launching and promoting a show requires engaging visual imagery.

When a potential listener is searching for a podcast to listen to, they’ll come across your show’s visual identity first.

“If you’re making a show about shoes, there are probably a decent number of podcasts that also have shoe content,” Mirabal says. “So if people search ‘shoe podcast,’ and your art is not jumping off the page, people are just not ‘gonna click on it, and you’re never going to get the chance for that listen to happen.”

4. Establish a multi-channel storytelling plan

When bringing on a podcast editorial team, it’s important to communicate early on that part of their role will be to capture content that will go beyond the podcast product itself.

If the creative team shepherding the podcast is not thinking about promotional assets while they’re conducting interviews or recordings, a marketing team may be at a loss months down the line when it comes time to launch.

“A producer would tell me about this amazing interview that they had six months ago,” Mirabal says. “And I’m like, ‘Did you get anything from it — did you get any images or did you get any video?’ And they’re like, ‘No.’ And I always ask why, because I could totally do something with that. If you’re not thinking about the promotional assets while you’re actually making the podcast, it’s such a missed opportunity for fun things that your marketing team can really utilize.”

Have your podcast production team meet with your marketing and social departments when they begin to create a new show. Ahead of interviews, reporting trips, or in-studio recordings, have the creative team share their editorial plans, and discuss what assets can be created for engaging behind-the-scenes content.

5. Work with platform partners

The vast majority of podcast listeners don’t consume content on a media company or brand’s website, They’re doing it through audio apps like Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or video-based social media platforms, like YouTube.

“So digital service providers — like the Apples and Spotifys of the world — it’s important to work with them because you are getting in front of an audience that’s already listening to podcasting,” Mirabal says. “They’re looking for something to listen to. You’ve got a captive audience and more importantly, you’re preaching to the choir — they’re already listening to podcasting. You don’t even have to talk ’em into the medium.”

Mirabal says it’s important to coordinate with audio platforms on your launch strategy because they can prominently feature your podcast to hungry listeners.

“It’s a very useful way to get in front of an audience that’s literally searching for what to listen to,” she says.

Coordinating with a platform should be done months before launch – they may require special visual assets to feature your show.

“Apple Podcasts, for example, they’re looking for something that is like on par with [the type of marketing] you would find on like the movies or TV side of the Apple ecosystem — they want it cinematic, they want it lush, they want it to really stand out on the page so it can call people to listen,” Mirabal says. “You can’t just have one asset like the show art to try and tell that story.”

Four newsletter strategies from leading publishers

August 22, 2024 Esther Kezia Thorpe – Independent Media Reporter

Despite the challenges thrown at publishers by obfuscating metrics or deliverability changes, newsletters continue to grow in importance. Media companies increasingly use email newsletters as a key tool for maintaining relationships with audiences away from social media, finding new readers, building habits, and opening new revenue streams.

At The Publisher Newsletter Summit, publishers came together to share strategies, advice and case studies on everything from newsletter monetization to audience growth.

Here are some of the strategies that they shared:

1. Don’t be afraid to center personalities

The role of journalists with followings has grown more complicated than ever in recent years. One theme that emerged at the Summit from a number of the sessions was that – if managed right – individual members of your team can serve as an incredible audience-building tool.

Women’s membership and community publisher Black Ballad started a newsletter from founder Tobi Oredein as a way to create a bond with the reader, because people build connections with humans, not brands. “Social media is very noisy,” Oredein outlined. Given that Black Ballad has paywall, she finds that “there is a barrier with people who can’t afford a membership. The newsletter is free, so everyone that’s signed up with their email gets that newsletter every week. So it’s a way to create that personal relationship.”

Leaning into this has also opened up revenue opportunities, although Oredein said that she chooses partner organizations very carefully. A recent campaign with the Founder’s Letter newsletter saw Black Ballad work with Maltesers around maternal mental health as Oredein was about to give birth to her second child.

“I wrote this newsletter on letting go of the Superwoman complex as a mum, second time around,” she explained. “It all came together and the newsletter opened the partnership; we had an editorial video that went alongside the essay, and it just went nuts. People loved the partnership. We realized that my personal newsletter opens up partnerships. Now the newsletter stands alone as the most requested advertising channel and is the most popular source of revenue for Black Ballad.”

There are risks with building newsletter audiences around individual journalists, but these can be managed. It’s an issue UK news brand The Telegraph faced when a big-name writer for their political newsletter left, and the team had to decide what to do next.

“We’ve grown [the newsletter] substantially since then,” Head of Newsletters Maire Bonheim said, explaining that they gave another political journalist a chance to fully front the newsletter. “He’s in your inbox at exactly 1pm every day. He’s really passionate about it, and he gives it his own edge. People have built up a habit and a relationship with him.”

2. Prioritize newsletters for retention and conversion

Special interest publisher Immediate Media monetizes many of its brands like Good Food and Gardeners’ World through subscriptions. Head of CRM and Customer Retention Matt Nash sees newsletters as playing a vital role in their subscription strategy, especially for long-term relationships.

“One of the big reasons why we’re so focused on newsletters from a subscription capacity is that 25% of our app subscribers received or read a newsletter before going on to subscribe,” he said. “So on average, there’s about 18 months between someone registering on Good Food and then converting to an app subscriber.”

“We also find that conversion from trials – mainly we run free trials going into paid subscriptions on the app – is around 10 percentage points higher for people that have previously been on our newsletter base before converting to a subscription.”

Nash shared that they have a two-part email strategy for pre- and post-subscription. The first half is focused around getting eyes on the website, showcasing the product and the subscription offers. “Every newsletter we send is an opportunity for us to try and convert someone if they look like they’re likely to subscribe,” he explained.

Once someone has converted, the focus switches to the “core readership phase,” where newsletters are part of a multi-channel tech stack optimized to try and get existing users to continue their subscription. The publisher uses a range of personalization options, from content type to send frequency and time to hit the readers at just the right frequency for them.

3. Consider repackaging content for educational courses

A number of publishers offer newsletter “courses” with a clear start and end point as an alternative way of engaging audiences. As part of its newsletter strategy, Pew Research Center launched an email course, which allowed them to leverage their reports and blog posts on U.S. Immigration. More recently The Guardian released a five-week email coaching plan called Reclaim Your Brain, which has attracted over 140,000 sign-ups.

Seeing examples like these, Ruth Hardy-Mullings, Head of Content at Community Care, a publication for social workers, wondered if newsletter courses could help solve some of their challenges. Their biggest driver of traffic was their weekly newsletter. She was also aware of the friction readers faced finding time to log onto the website and proactively seek out training content. A course delivered straight to their inbox would be a good way to prove value.

They launched some test courses in March 2021, delivering six emails a week over a three week period. “We took the content from longer guides and hosted it within the body of the email itself, so it solved that problem of having to go and log in on the site,” Hardy-Mullings explained. “Someone was able to open up their email, read the content and get that learning wherever they are, whether they’re in a car before they go and do a home visit, on their commute home, making use of those small amounts of time that people do have.”

Each email had a recap section at the beginning, a progress bar to keep people motivated, further reading links, and a reflective exercise at the end. Hardy-Mullings noted that signing up for a finite period of time was helpful for professionals who get thousands of emails. “The general feedback was that people really loved the convenience of the course and that format of learning, a good way that could genuinely fit into their working week,” she said.

Email courses may not suit every publisher. However, they can be a strong way of repurposing evergreen content, reducing friction points for membership organizations, or giving samples of journalism for paywalled publications, to name a few use cases.

One of the most revealing sessions at the Summit was Maire Bonheim and David Alexander, Head and Deputy Head of Newsletters respectively at The Telegraph. They talked about how to turn around an underperforming newsletter, and noted that they often have to use different tactics across almost 40 newsletters in their portfolio.

Alexander was keen to emphasize that although metrics have a place in your newsletter strategy, they need to be the right ones. “If you put all your effort into getting a massive list, and you trick people into signing up to your newsletter, they’ll get it. But no one will care because they didn’t mean to get it in the first place,” he explained. “You’ll have a massive list, and over time, your email provider will think it’s spam, and they’ll just put it in everybody’s junk. Pursuing vanity stats is a fool’s game. Massive lists are not the aim. You want people to read your stuff.”

Clearing lists and pursuing slower, more genuine engagement is a braver path to take, especially with other commercial and business pressures publishers face. Bonheim said that they have different time periods for list cleaning different newsletters. “If a newsletter is a daily send, then we wait a shorter amount of time before we list cleanse, whereas if something’s weekly or even monthly, we wait longer,” she explained.

The Telegraph was also facing an issue where when some marketing emails were sent to editorial newsletter segments, readers were getting confused and newsletters were ending up in the promotions tab.

“As a whole at The Telegraph… the volume of emails had gone up hugely, and we needed to get smarter about our overall email strategy and cleverer about who we segment and target,” Bonheim said, explaining that they send warnings about removing readers from lists if they don’t ‘Click to stay’. “So to combat that, we became much more stringent with our list cleanse emails, and that seems to be having a positive impact.”

The takeaway

These strategies may not work for every publisher, and one theme which emerged strongly from the Publisher Newsletter Summit is that newsletters can be used for a wide range of different purposes. The key is to be very clear for each newsletter what its purpose is, and how that will be measured.

“[Key metrics] are so different across all our titles,” said Alexander of his work on The Telegraph’s newsletters. “I’ve worked on newsletters that have had almost 1,000 words in them, and people want to read them more than anything. I’ve also looked after newsletters where it’s all about getting people through to the site. You have to be really clear on what’s important.”

Whether it’s exploring the potential of short email ‘courses’ or letting editors take a personal lead, there are plenty of ways to freshen up a newsletter strategy. But whether this is through iterative changes, pivots or launches, keep the newsletter’s purpose front and center.

Innovation | Supporter Spotlight

Go beyond basic chatbots to unlock the value of AI

August 12, 2024 Joey Marburger, Director, Vice President of Artificial Intelligence – ArcXP

For media companies investigating how to incorporate AI into their operations, open chatbots like ChatGPT, Claude, or Google Bard are often a natural starting point. Thanks to OpenAI’s game-changing launch of ChatGPT for public use in 2022, AI has essentially become synonymous with chatbots in the public mind, so it’s unsurprising that’s where many media companies turn first when experimenting with AI.

Open chatbots certainly have useful applications, but they also have some serious limitations. The user experience for these chatbots varies widely. They place a burden on the user to know how to engineer prompts that will generate good results, which can lead to significant user fatigue. Media companies will get more value from AI by going beyond basic chatbots to build capabilities that will deliver better results and a better experience for users.

Creating a better chatbot

The success of any AI-powered chatbot comes down to what’s underneath. The Washington Post has launched an excellent climate chatbot, which works well because they invested in building the underlying functionality from the ground up. They also emphasized providing trustworthy responses because the underlying large-language model synthesizes information from Washington Post articles published since 2016 in their Climate & Environment and Weather sections. The chatbot is also highly controlled and tightly framed to focus on climate coverage, which delivers a better experience than open chatbots.

Building a good chatbot requires many different technologies. First, a chatbot needs to have a solid system prompt behind it that defines what it is and is not supposed to do. Second, the chatbot needs to be based on a fast, performant model, which could include OpenAI’s GPT-4, Google’s BERT, or other large-language models. The platform needs to be quick in order to deliver answers in real time. And finally, the chatbot model needs to be trained to ensure it does what you want it to do.

It’s also important to remember that AI doesn’t have to be synonymous with a chat- or prompt-based interface. Based on the use case, a button, an automated feature, or a call to another application might be more appropriate.

Leveling up with fine tuning and vectors

To truly deliver meaningful applications of AI with significant business value, media organizations should look to fine tuning and vector databases. These advanced capabilities allow chatbots and other AI applications to be customized to meet an organization’s specific needs and operate with a deep understanding of its content base.

Fine tuning trains an AI model to deliver results that are tailored to your requirements. It essentially tells the model to read all of your content and learn exactly what you want it to do and what the results should be. For example, with fine tuning, an AI model can learn to generate headlines in a specific length or style. This can be done even down to the author level, with the model learning how to detect who the content creator is and return a headline or summary in their tone of voice.

Vector databases go a step further by building a knowledge map of all of your content— you could even think of a vector database as a miniature brain that serves as the “memory” for your AI applications. At a basic level, a vector database stores data or content in various formats (a single word, a story, a photo, a video, etc.) and creates a numerical representation of that content. The numbers assigned to each piece of content are used to calculate its distance from other content in terms of relevance. Mapping content relationships in this way enables powerful search and recommendation applications.

To understand fine tuning and vector databases in practical terms, we can look at the example of using AI for content tagging. A general-purpose AI model like GPT can look at a story and identify keywords or topics that could be used for tagging, but it doesn’t understand your specific tagging requirements.

Fine tuning the model will incorporate your tagging requirements. For example, if you have a specific set of approved tags, it will return a result that’s tailored to those needs. A vector database will not only know your whole tag library but will also understand the relationships between tags and identify overlaps that will help with powering search and content recommendations.

It’s an exciting time for AI in the media industry, with new developments emerging every month. Building your own AI capabilities can be daunting, and software vendor offerings for AI vary widely. If you spend some time learning about the possibilities for AI, including chatbots and beyond, you’ll be well positioned to create your AI strategy and identify the technologies and vendors that can help you achieve your goals.

Industry-Research | Innovation

Does Generative AI aid or homogenize human creativity?

July 23, 2024 Rande Price, Research VP – DCN

Creativity fuels innovation and expression across various media disciplines. With the advent of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs), many question how these technologies will influence human creativity. While generative AI may effectively enhance productivity across sectors, its impact on creative processes remains questioned. New research, Generative AI enhances individual creativity but reduces the collective diversity of novel content, investigates AI’s effect on the creative output of short (or micro) fiction. While the research focuses on short stories, the study examines how generative AI influences the production of creative expression, which has larger implications.

Creative assessment

The study evaluates creativity based on two main dimensions: novelty and usefulness. Novelty refers to the story’s originality and uniqueness. Usefulness relates to its potential to develop into a publishable piece. The study randomly assigns participants to one of three experimental conditions for writing a short story: Human-only, Human with one Generative AI idea, and Human with five Generative AI ideas.

The AI-assisted conditions include three-sentence story ideas to inspire creative narratives. This design allows the researchers to assess how AI-generated prompts affect the creativity, quality, and enjoyment of the stories produced. Both writers and 600 independent evaluators assessed these dimensions, providing a comprehensive view of the stories’ creative merit across different conditions.

Usage and creativity

In the two generative AI conditions, 88.4% of participants used AI to generate an initial story idea. In the “Human with one Gen AI idea” group, 82 out of 100 writers did this, while in the “Human with five Gen AI ideas” group, 93 out of 98 writers did the same. When given the option to use AI multiple times in the “Human with five GenAI ideas” group, participants averaged 2.55 requests, with 24.5% asking for a maximum of five ideas.

The findings from the independent evaluators show that access to generative AI significantly enhances the creativity and quality of short stories. Writers who use AI-generated ideas to produce stories consistently rate higher in creativity and writing quality than those written without AI assistance. This effect was particularly noticeable in the Human with five GenAI ideas condition, suggesting that increasing exposure to AI-generated prompts leads to greater creative output.

However, the study also uncovers notable similarities among stories generated with AI assistance. This suggests that while AI can enhance individual creativity, it also homogenizes creative outputs, diminishing the diversity of innovative elements and perspectives. The benefits of generative AI for individual writers may come at the cost of reduced collective novelty in creative outputs.

Implications for stakeholders

Despite several limitations, the research highlights the complex interplay between AI and creativity across different artistic domains. These limitations restrict the creative task by length (eight sentences), medium (writing), and type of output (short story). Additionally, there is no interaction with the LLM or variation in prompts. Future studies should explore longer and more varied creative tasks, different AI models, and the ethical considerations surrounding AI’s role in creative text and video production. Examining the cultural and economic implications in creative media sectors and balancing innovation with preserving artistic diversity is essential.

Generative AI can enhance human creativity by providing novel ideas and streamlining the creative processes. However, its integration into creative media processes must be thoughtful to safeguard the richness and diversity of artistic expression. This study sets the stage for further exploration into generative AI’s evolving capabilities and ethical implications in fostering creativity across diverse artistic domains. As AI technologies evolve, understanding their impact on human creativity is crucial for harnessing their full potential while preserving the essence of human innovation and expression.

Innovation | Supporter Spotlight

From custom to community: the evolution of product management in media

July 22, 2024 Doyle Irvin, Senior Product Marketing Manager – WordPress VIP

To stand out in the “AI-age,” media companies are emphasizing direct relationships with the audience. We’re also seeing the resurgence of the homepage, the emergence of AI-powered editorial workflows, and an increased need for strong data management. As we wrote last month, this is being driven by the fact that quality is of utmost importance as generative AI drives the cost to produce generic content down to zero and Google search shifts to focus on offering “answers” instead of driving traffic.

Now, we’ll walk through trends we’re seeing in media product management, and how teams are aligning to drive results in this new paradigm.

The ascendancy of product management

As media organizations refocus on delivering content of the highest quality, combined with an excellent user experience (that people want to pay for), the role of the product manager is changing somewhat as various teams try to institute changes on the digital experience.

These changes might be editorial teams creating new workflows, revenue teams adding more ads and popups, engineering teams building fancy bespoke front ends—normal stuff that has been part of media forever. What’s changed somewhat is product management’s share of voice. Do product managers just take orders and make it happen, or can they say no? Who is speaking for the user? Who is advocating for a clean content experience? What makes your subscription stand out?

As direct relationships and the homepage get more important, product management is finding itself in a more strategic position. The challenge is in balancing the needs of discrete teams with the needs of their audience—and the needs of everyone with the needs of the business.

Focus on innovation and fundamentals

Organizations are taking an extremely hard look at where they spend their engineering dollars. These organizations are assessing how much of their team’s work is dedicated to maintenance versus creating new revenue-generating features.

For example, the ability to handle traffic spikes. If they’re doing all the maintenance of keeping the site up for traffic spikes and similar occurrences, leadership are thinking about whether that can be outsourced to a managed platform that specializes in that work and can thus do it more cost-effectively.

This focus on innovation introduces the drive towards open-source. With open source, you can let the community maintain the software, for free. You just customize on top of it.

Those not using open source are burning money and missing out

If the engineering team is celebrating introducing something like Authors and Permissions to the tech stack, it’s time to ask critical questions. These features have been available in open-source CMSes for more than a decade. Why is anyone reinventing the wheel? “We’ll make it ourselves and it’ll be better” is a common trap. Couldn’t something more productive have been done with those engineering hours?

Besides embracing open source, we’re also seeing more consolidation in tech stacks—a broad organization with many distinct properties might be moving from having four CMSes down to just one. This reduces friction from new feature releases and enhances learnings across publications or business units.

The most interesting thing we are seeing in this area is a major spike in contribution back to the open source community in terms of code, best practices, and more. This is perhaps a tacit acknowledgement that content, not technology, is the real differentiator for media organizations.

Headless architecture is losing steam

Headless was all the hotness in engineering for a while. Now we’re seeing media organizations choose monolithic (or “full stack”) implementations. Simply put, the bet on headless hasn’t paid off for many media use cases.

Frequently, the needs of these sites are pretty simple—serving written content to the end user. Most open-source CMSes can power both the front end and the back end. Choosing to develop their own headless front end is choosing to create costly tech debt—and most media engineering teams don’t have money to spare. This change opens up all the time they spent creating and maintaining basic front-end technology for reprioritization towards revenue-generating engineering.

The “desire line” we’re walking

A desire line is an “unplanned route or path (such as one worn into a grassy surface by repeated foot traffic) that is used by pedestrians in preference to or in the absence of a designated alternative (such as a paved pathway).” Frequently it’s because this path is simply the most efficient path between points A and B.

With media products, the desire line is straightforward: the platforms are unreliable sources of traffic, and there isn’t enough money to fund anything but the most efficient paths forward. This is why we are seeing organizations across the industry align on direct, subscriber-based relationships. And, to support these efforts, media organizations are focused on the efficient use of engineering resources via open-source technology. The most exciting part here is that—because we are not all just producers but also consumers of news and media—the reader experience itself is getting better. It has to be better, in order to justify a subscription.

Innovation | Supporter Spotlight

Why custom solutions are the smart AI investment

July 15, 2024 Unni Kurup, Head of Consulting – Theorem

In the fast-paced world of digital publishing, the latest wave of developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a welcome solution to the organized chaos of ad operations. Yet, despite its transformative potential, many media companies struggle with the adoption of AI technology. Costly implementation, complex integrations, and a shortage of AI-savvy professionals are hurdles slowing adoption to a snail’s pace.

For media executives looking to move faster, the answer is simple: purpose-built AI solutions. Forget everything you know about generic AI technology. The real magic happens with AI solutions specifically built – for a very specific purpose. By embracing a tailored approach, media executives can accelerate AI adoption with purpose-built solutions that deliver immediate value and growth.

But to harness AI’s power, understanding the strategic advantage of purpose-built AI solutions is crucial. These specialized tools can help media companies reduce implementation issues and offer tangible benefits. Let’s explore the common challenges in media operations that custom AI tools can address.

Unpacking the challenges in digital media operations

Operationally, digital publishers have their work cut out for them in today’s digital media ecosystem. Fragmented data, inefficient, manual workflows, and complexity management in ad operations create significant challenges. These issues slow down processes and hinder the ability to quickly adapt to market changes.

This is where a purpose-built AI solution can deliver a strategic advantage over a generic AI tool. Think of a generic AI tool as a Swiss Army knife – versatile but not specialized for any one task. In contrast, a purpose-built AI solution is like a precision scalpel, expertly designed for a specific function, ensuring optimal performance and efficiency in that area. Now, let’s explore how these tailored solutions can specifically address implementation challenges.

Purpose-built solutions reduce implementation challenges

Finding and implementing AI solutions involves extensive testing and high costs. However, purpose-built AI sidesteps these challenges with pre-designed functionalities that can be implemented quickly and efficiently. Here’s how these tailored solutions address common implementation hurdles.

Lower implementation costs

The initial investment in AI technology, including hardware, software, and skilled personnel, can be prohibitively expensive. However, purpose-built AI solutions are pre-designed for specific tasks, reducing the need for extensive custom development. This lowers both initial investment and ongoing costs.

Simplified integrations

Integrating AI systems with existing workflows often proves difficult, requiring significant time and resources. But purpose-built solutions are designed to integrate seamlessly with existing workflows and technologies, minimizing the complexity and time required for setup. They offer specific capabilities that streamline the integration process.

Unified data management

Disparate data sources and poor data quality hinder AI performance. According to Theorem’s research, 33% of ad professionals cite a lack of centralized tools as a major pain point. Purpose-built AI solutions consolidate data sources, improving quality and consistency. This unified approach enables more accurate insights, better decision-making, and more effective ad targeting.

User-friendly

There is often a shortage of professionals with the expertise needed to develop, implement, and maintain AI systems. With user-friendly interfaces and automated features, purpose-built AI solutions reduce the dependency on specialized AI talent. This makes it easier for existing staff to utilize and manage the AI system.

Faster deployment

These solutions are designed for specific workflows and processes, which reduces the development cycle, while accelerating deployment, and team training. Organizations can rapidly implement the solution and hit the ground running.

With implementation challenges out of the way, more on the tangible benefits and rapid results purpose-built AI solutions have to offer.

Benefits and strategic growth opportunities

Purpose-built, custom AI solutions offer a number of benefits and opportunities for growth, including:

Immediate value

With an AI solution specifically designed to automate ad operations, implementation and adoption shift from labor-intensive to quick and easy. This allows media companies to quickly realize productivity gains by tapping into ready-to-launch solutions almost instantly.

Scalability

These solutions are built to scale seamlessly with the company’s growth. As your business expands and evolves, purpose-built AI solutions can adapt to new requirements and increased workloads. This flexibility ensures sustained performance and supports long-term success without the need for constant reinvestment in new technologies.

Cost-effectiveness

Purpose-built AI solutions offer significant cost benefits. Processes are streamlined, makegoods and errors decrease. And, as a result, implementation and operational costs are reduced.

New revenue generation

Purpose-built AI solutions can identify new revenue streams and optimize existing ones. For example, an AI solution built specifically to increase engagement through more targeted, personalized advertising can generate more ad revenue. Or consider the impact of a solution designed to predict what type of content will be popular in the future. This solution would allow publishers to focus on creating content that is more likely to attract and retain users, driving more revenue.

Maintaining a competitive edge in digital media’s turbulent ecosystem today requires the ability to act swiftly and strategically. Understanding the benefits is just the beginning, now it’s time to take action.

Practical steps to drive quick adoption of purpose-built AI solutions

Implementing purpose-built AI solutions can be streamlined with the right approach. By following these steps, your organization can swiftly integrate AI technology and start reaping the benefits.

Start by identifying key areas where AI can have the most impact with a thorough assessment of current processes.
Prioritize those that promise the quickest wins and greatest value. Next, research and select AI solutions with capabilities that align with your business goals and workflow challenges.
Measure the potential impact on data, infrastructure and governance to ensure smoother AI adoption.
Identify training needs and assess any ethical considerations.
Carefully evaluate vendors based on functionality, ease of integration, and proven success.
Begin with a pilot implementation, test the solution in a controlled environment, gather feedback, and make necessary adjustments before a full rollout.

Investing in a purpose-built AI solution is a long-term strategy that yields ongoing benefits as the technology evolves. Much like choosing a tailored suit that fits perfectly vs a suit off the rack, it offers the precise fit and functionality needed to drive strategic growth. Those who embrace it now stand to reap immediate productivity gains, scalability, and cost-effectiveness.

Featured Post | Innovation | Perspectives

How hyper-local news can win back young audiences

July 10, 2024 Richard E. Brown, Media Revenue Consultant

The data is clear: a chasm exists between what traditional news offers and what younger audiences crave. Decades of research haven’t bridged this gap, and proposed solutions often fall short. Blumler and McQuail’s (1970) Need for Gratification Theory suggests people use media to fulfill specific desires. You do have to wonder if the problem a mismatch in needs. Perhaps traditional news fails to satisfy younger generations’ hunger for in-depth analysis or a more positive outlook, driving them to seek information elsewhere. This disconnect demands a fresh approach – one that bridges the gap and fosters genuine connection.

A Spring 2023 Harvard Youth Poll reveals that young Americans prioritize economic concerns like inflation, healthcare, housing, and job availability, alongside social justice and environmental issues like reproductive rights, climate change, and immigration. This focus mirrors global trends. However, traditional media coverage often falls short on these topics. The rise of “alternative platforms” and the demand for short, relatable, and authentic content signals a broader shift in news consumption. Furthermore, Gen X’s declining interest and the perception of traditional media content as distant, pedantic, and delivered on outdated platforms underscore the need to completely rethink how we deliver news.

Despite the challenges, a bright future awaits news media built on growth and audience engagement. The key lies in a shift towards hyper-local coverage. This doesn’t mean abandoning national and global news. Rather, it means prioritizing content that resonates with the local audience. Imagine relatable journalists delivering stories on local issues through engaging formats like social media posts, listicles, explainers, and high-quality video content. This focus has demonstrably built loyal readership and increased audience size for news organizations around the country.

A decline in news interest among Gen X and Millennials, as reported by the Pew Research Center, and a growing preference for authenticity in news presenters, according to Reuters 2022 Digital News Report, paint a clear picture of the current news consumption landscape. Addressing these audience preferences and tailoring content to local issues can foster greater trust and engagement with news media.

The solution seems straightforward: connect the dots between state or regional events and their impact on local communities. However doing this effectively is harder than it seems. News outlets must transition from high-level reporting to a more responsible and objective approach. This means translating complex issues into clear, concise explanations that highlight the specific impact on people’s daily lives. For example, a national story on rising gas prices might be tailored locally to show how much transportation costs have increased in your city and how residents are coping.

Take, for instance, the Miami Herald’s recent spring climate change article on sea levels rising. This article uses multimedia storytelling to explore the rising sea level’s impact on Miami, a city particularly vulnerable to coastal flooding. The article features data insights from local scientists and researchers and explains how climate change is affecting the city’s infrastructure and communities. By connecting the global threat of climate change to the specific challenges faced by Miami, this article highlights the urgency of addressing sea level rise. This focus on local impacts can potentially empower younger audiences to engage with the issue in their city, and “actionability” is something that is particularly resonant with this group.

As we navigate the evolving media landscape and changing news consumption habits, traditional media must redefine its role. It should not only inform, but also serve as a vital resource for today’s and tomorrow’s generations. This shift is crucial for both local and national news outlets as they strive to bridge the generational gap and earn trust.

Younger audiences increasingly seek news that offers practical and useful information for their daily lives. This demand highlights the need for journalism to evolve beyond reporting. News organizations must provide guidance and resources on various topics, offering actionable insights that empower readers.

The challenge lies in transforming news into actionable resources that not only inform but also empower and engage audiences. Organizations like NPR have shown the way by expanding their coverage to include comprehensive guides and interactive tools on topics like financial planning and mental health resources. These resources equip readers to make informed decisions and take meaningful action based on factual reporting.

By providing practical resources alongside factual reporting, news organizations can empower readers with deeper understanding and the tools they need to take action. This ensures content remains informative while upholding journalistic integrity. In an era where accessible knowledge and meaningful impact are highly valued, this approach fosters informed decision-making and strengthens audience engagement.

Embracing hyper-local coverage and authentic storytelling will enable news organizations to bridge the chasm that separates them from Gen X and Millennials. Focusing on issues that directly impact these audiences’ daily lives fosters a sense of relevance and connection. Authentic voices, relatable formats, and clear explanations that empower readers with actionable insights will cultivate trust and engagement. This also translates to a more valuable audience for advertisers, potentially leading to increased revenue streams.

In essence, a focus on local issues and a commitment to genuine storytelling that makes issues personally relevant represents a strategic investment in the future of news. By prioritizing content that resonates with younger generations, news organizations can not only ensure their long-term sustainability but also cultivate a more engaged and informed citizenry. A future where news is relevant, sustainable, and fosters meaningful connections between audiences and journalists is entirely within reach.

Innovation | Perspectives | Supporter Spotlight

Deliver Olympics coverage that engages the ‘purpose generation’

July 8, 2024 Naomi Owusu, CEO and Co-founder – Tickaroo

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics heralded the digital transformation of Games coverage. Fans no longer need to stay glued to the TV to see what they want. Nor do they have to or solely rely on news titles to keep them up to speed on the big picture. Younger audiences in particular consumed highlight clips rather than watching linear coverage and followed their favorite athletes on social media to gain a more in-depth, behind-the-scenes insights. In fact, the IOC clocked 6.1 billion digital engagements on Olympic social media channels during the competition.

Four years later, as we approach the Paris event, these trends are again set to influence international consumption of Olympic content. News and sports organizations have already learned from these new social media-inspired audience dynamics, with live blogs offering a valuable means of competing with social channels for mainstream media share of voice. The delivery of real-time, snackable content that enables interactivity will continue to be essential in 2024 Olympics coverage. Still, there are also new, broader issues to address to capture audience share – particularly among Gen Z, or ‘the purpose generation‘.

Beyond the sport

Olympics coverage is no longer simply about sport. Athletes and governments have always used the Games to spotlight pertinent social and political issues, from Black Power and anti-apartheid to LGBTQI. Now, younger generations increasingly see the potential for activism from the sidelines. Environmental sustainability and the participation of transgender athletes have emerged as important topics for Paris 2024. There’s also likely to be an impact from the substantial political tension caused by the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Hamas conflicts on the event. Newsrooms will need to have one eye on the sport, and one eye on the bigger picture to ensure audience engagement.

News providers covering the Olympics must, therefore, up their game (pun intended), adopting audience-first strategies that cater to the needs of Gen Z and beyond to ensure they compete in the race against social media for audience share. They must deliver authentic, personalized, and interactive content that addresses both the event and the wider issues surrounding it.

Incorporating multiple, intertwined storylines to provide greater depth and insight and encourage engagement will be vital. By doing so, they can boost traffic, dwell time or subscription conversions and encourage brands keen for Olympics association to spend money on advertising.

Prepare for the marathon, not the sprint

However, with the Games lasting two weeks and spanning 320 different competitions across 32 sports, it’s no easy feat to keep audiences up to date on the sports that interest them, provide athlete and behind-the-scenes insights and tune into the wider news stories that intersect with the Olympics. Newsrooms must, therefore, box clever when it comes to delivering on audience expectations.

Live blogs offer an important starting block to help reach this goal. They allow newsrooms to create an engaging and responsive experience tailored to the audience’s preferences by offering real-time updates, encouraging active participation, and enabling a multimedia-rich format. But live blogs can also go beyond real-time news to deliver much more.

Curated content to meet multiple audience needs

The beauty of the live blog format for long events such as the Olympics is that it allows content to be curated, drawing on a range of mixed media to tell the wider story and showcasing numerous perspectives in easily digestible snippets. From integrating Q&As with athletes and coaches for greater depth of insight to fans’ social media posts, multimedia clips of key moments or retrospective and contextual news bits relating to the environmental, political and social issues surrounding the games, live blogs can effectively serve a wide range of audience expectations.

The 2022 European Championships ably demonstrated how live blogs can communicate complex event information in simple terms for spectators, volunteers and employees. From rain delays and available transportation to coverage of medal winners, funny anecdotes and heart-wrenching athlete stories, reporters delivered both range and depth of coverage, harnessing the live blog’s visual storytelling power to share close to 600 photos of what made the event so unique. Custom tags allowed each post to be categorized so that users could easily search for and access the information they wanted.

User-generated content (UGC) creates a more engaging and inclusive narrative beyond just text. Surveys, polls, unique social media hashtags, and live comment blocks all enable a two-way flow of information. Stufffrequently uses this to good effect in their live blog coverage, giving its passionate sports community the chance to engage on topics such as the All Blacks World Cup Squad Announcement, and the team’s return home. This involves audiences in the reporting process and establishes a sense of community to strengthen the media-audience relationship.

Live blogs also allow individual journalist and editorial styles to shine through, creating further audience bonds. We see many young journalists creating social-style videos to tell stories, with their personalities influencing how viewers consume content. DER SPIEGEL’s reporters demonstrated the power of personality in their coverage of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in 2023, expressing personal opinions, cracking jokes and reacting with emojis in a lively dialogue. This gives the audience a deeper understanding of the people behind the content, injecting personality and making it more relatable and authentic.

On your mark, get set, go!

The evolution of Olympics coverage reflects the changing preferences of audiences, particularly younger generations. As we look forward to the Paris 2024 Olympics, it’s clear that news and sports organizations must continue to adapt to digital and social media consumption to compete. In order to capture and maintain audience engagement, a focus on delivering real-time, interactive, and curated content that addresses both the sporting events and the broader social, political, and environmental issues surrounding the Games is crucial.

Live blogs have emerged as a valuable tool for providing both real-time and in-depth coverage while catering to diverse audience needs and preferences. As newsrooms prepare for the marathon-like coverage of the two-week event, prioritizing audience-first strategies will be essential to ensure a meaningful and immersive Olympic experience for all. Leveraging live blogs during the Games enables publishers to inform, educate, engage, and connect with audiences on a new level.

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The takeaway

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Creative assessment

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Implications for stakeholders

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Unified data management

User-friendly

Faster deployment

Benefits and strategic growth opportunities

Immediate value

Scalability

Cost-effectiveness

New revenue generation

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Beyond the sport

Prepare for the marathon, not the sprint

Curated content to meet multiple audience needs

On your mark, get set, go!