Digital Ad Fraud Keeps Growing
This article shares an update on the state of digital ad fraud. Kevin Rehberg includes these 4 points publishers should know:
Discovered via Editor and Publisher.
The Impact Of Product Thinking On Publishing
Publishers are finding it crucial to begin (or continue) product thinking to compete in today’s market.
"Introducing product thinking is not a simple tweak or restructure. It is an organisational change and as such, a journey which is ever evolving."
This piece is a summary of takeaways from a larger report published by INMA that breaks down the impact of product thinking into categories including:
Discovered via The Media Roundup.
Related: Check out this assessment of the current state of local newsletter landscape.
Coming In September: A New (Well-Funded) Media Company
Axios has reported that Laura McGann, former politics editor of Vox.com and Politico, and Mark Bauman, previously with the Smithsonian, National Geographic and ABC News, are launching a new media company (name pending).
Types of topics they’ll cover:
Funding status:
They’ve raised more than $10 million in series A.
Interesting hook:
“We’ll be creating new formats that give our audience a fuller look at big news stories that can be confusing if you read them piecemeal.”
Matthew Yglesias is joining as editor at large.
Related: New newsletter Tomorrow Will Be Worse by journalist Julia Ioff triggered a strong response from Joan Walsh: Yes, Tomorrow Will Be Worse—Because of Journalism Like This.
Also Related: Tech news newsletter company The Information is partnering with outside newsletters to expand the brand’s reach and is launching its first standalone publication, The Electric. It’s going to be about batteries and vehicles.
Could Texting Build Audience Engagement?
Publishers looking for new ways to engage and grow audiences might want to consider texting, k?
Last winter when the storms in Texas hit, the Texas Tribune started sending texts about lack of power, internet outages, and conserving phone battery. They promoted the sign-up via their web and social media accounts. After the storms, texting continued as a way to help readers, build loyalty, and increase engagement.
In this article, Michelle Ailport explains that texting could be a new way to meet people right where they are: on their phones. She also includes practical considerations for publishers who plan to adopt this strategy.
Could texting (breaking news) coexist with your newsletter (daily digest)? Something to think about.
Discovered via The Media Roundup.
Ever thought of your biggest competitor as the key to collaborative success? That’s what some for-profit publishers are doing. And it’s working.
When local publishers in Spain were hit hard, both local and national publishers formed an alliance to share data and technology. The result? Thorough, accurate insights into advertising for everyone.
Any of our competitors up for an Opt In Weekly collab? 😉
The State Of News Newsletters
Who’s set to triple in size this year? 6AM City, aka “the fastest-growing newsletter-first media company.”
Local business newsletter, The Charlotte Ledger, is on pace for $175,000 in annual revenue.
Bloomberg is launching newsletters centered around two of its top reporters.
Gift me a news story? Now New York Times subscribers can.
Post-Pandemic Newspaper Employee Shortages
In this post-pandemic culture (am I allowed to say that yet?), newspapers have more openings than they have applicants. Jerry Simpkins breaks down what’s going on by examining work environment, unemployment, minimum wage, and more.
Discovered via Editor and Publisher.
Did The Pandemic Pave The Way For Audience-Centered Culture?
There’s no denying the pandemic presented publishers with new challenges, but it also pushed us to work in new ways. Joyce MacDonald thinks that building an audience-centered culture by asking the questions, “what does our community need?” and “how can we provide it?” is key to digital survival and media as a whole.
Discovered via American Press Institute
Related: Social Media is where we build community, but it’s also where we tip-toe around policy and trolls. CJR has a solution. Discovered via American Press Institute.
Publishers Are Improving Reader Engagement With Online Education Programs
In this Digiday article, Sara Guaglione explains how online education classes (think fitness challenges, writing prompts, math help, etc.) are an additional way for readers to engage online.
The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Rolling Stone are all getting in the game (even partnering with online education platforms) and seeing payoffs in terms of higher reader engagement.
“The Fitness Challenge had ‘one of the highest open and click-through rates we’ve seen for a WSJ newsletter,’ driving readers to the Journal’s website,’ said Ebony Reed, The Wall Street Journal’s new audiences chief, in an emailed statement.”
I’m suddenly tempted to create a course about courses.
Discovered via The Media Roundup
Related: Is focusing on courses really a good idea for publishers? This article breaks down what you’d need to do to get it right.
Could Apps Solve Your Reader Relationship Problems?
In this piece, Mark Jacob explains how news outlets are using apps to boost engagement, provide better experiences, and upgrade regularly.
It’s an attempt to wean off reliance on social media platforms and news aggregators to stay top of mind and relevant to readers.
“You can hope they continue to find your content on Facebook or you hope they find it in Google News or all those other aggregators who are taking our stuff. … The app allows you to have a firsthand relationship … without having to go through third parties.”
One of the most compelling app features is the ability to break news via push notification.
The catch? They’ve got to get people to download first.
App users currently represent a fraction of total subscribers.
Click through to read insights from publishers who’ve launched them and learned a thing or two through the process.
Discovered via American Press Institute
