Simplify and contextualize your audience data
Case studies with newsroom partners using Metrics for News
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Today’s Agenda
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�You can DM Liz Worthington or Hanaa Rifey with access needs, questions or if you prefer to be anonymous.
Learning agreements
Share in the chat how you feel about data in emojis?
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Meet your speakers
Liz Worthington
Director of Product Strategy
American Press Institute
liz.worthington@pressinstitute.org
Erin Lebar
Manager of Audience Engagement for News
Winnipeg Free Press
erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca
Roadmap + takeaways
How do you know what’s working?
What tools do you use and how has MFN helped simplify your analysis?
“It’s Adobe Analytics with training wheels”
MFN helps identify actionable trends and solve mysteries:
Are we covering the right things?
Using MFN as a tool for conversation. Refining beats, pop-up and mini beats
Our metrics philosophy at Crain’s
We are data-informed, not data-led
We use metrics to help us do impactful journalism, not “chase clicks”
Metrics without action are just numbers
Our metrics toolkit at Crain’s
Chartbeat
Gives us insight into our traffic as it happens
Helps us win the day
Helps us spot audience engagement opportunities for individual stories
Metrics for News
Gives us insight into past traffic
Helps us win the week, month and beyond
Helps us spot audience engagement patterns and big-picture opportunities
Using data to answer important
audience questions
Are we posting too many wire stories?
This project takes a lot of time – should we do it again next year?
Why are my stories never at the top of the big board?
Using data to protect our brand
Expanding “downtown” coverage
Using data to launch new products
When deciding on newsletter topics to pursue, metrics helped guide our focus.
Food and gardening emerged as popular topics
Both newsletters have maintained an open rate of more than 70%
Launching a new newsroom!
Crain’s Grand Rapids Business launched in April 2023, marking our first new city brand in a generation.
We knew there was an opportunity here, based in large part on what we saw in our audience data.
Building data literacy:
How to make data accessible and actionable
Keeping metrics “middle of mind”
A no-pressure approach that built habits and sustained a yearlong mat leave
Own your beat with data intel
Data-driven newsrooms to track productivity + opportunity
How to make the significant interesting?
Some coverage is mission critical. MFN can help craft a strategy to ensure audiences respond.
Current audience challenges
Winnipeg:
Maintaining Books section
Can’t post on social media
Crain City Brands:
Strategic use of data
Empowering teams to act on data
Questions to consider
Your turn!
What are your audience data challenges?
Top Tips to take away:
Erin
Elizabeth
A web-based application and strategic tool that allows publishers to track journalism qualities that drive engagement
MFN provides a signal to your newsroom
Metrics for News does: | Metrics for News does NOT: |
✓ Help you test and improve judgment | ✗ Replace human editorial judgment |
✓ Surface quick, targeted insights | ✗ Demand a lot of time or new work |
✓ Help you make better decisions | ✗ Make decisions for you |
✓ Make measurements that matter | ✗ Measure everything that matters |
Those who have the most success with Metrics for News typically go into the program with a mindset of transformation
Thank you!