in this issue: industry buzz | measuring engagement | interview: scripps' pardee | latest launches As you develop your publishing plans for 2008, consider budgeting funds to measure reader engagement. This type of research is becoming more of a "must" than a "should." In the November issue of Engage, we spotlight reader engagement and ask "Are you giving your target audience what they need?" We also interview the Senior VP of Scripps Media (yes, the Food Network and HGTV folks), who is a guru of measuring engagement. Don't forget to check out the new launches, and take a look at one publication that sums up the best news of the week. If you get even one idea, we'd like to think Engage is worth reading.
Rock and Read For the first time ever, Rolling Stone published its current issue cover to cover online—and FREE. The publisher gets extra credit on integrated marketing: Rolling Stone online gets an "audience push" from a blog. Take a look.
This Week... While some newsweeklies are experiencing a decline in readership due to busy and hectic lifestyles, one weekly publication is seeing just the opposite with double-digit growth over the last year. The Week "riffs through all the content in the known universe and digests it into a form that can be disposed of in 20 minutes."
Play Fair
Sharing content is one thing. Sticky-fingered stealing is another. Now Attributor software can track your content—articles, pictures, videos—across the Internet and alert you to unauthorized uses. Get the details...
Brand Fans
Facebook announces a new advertising initiative to let its users sign up as fans of the brands they love and refer them to friends. Can a social network work as a brand-referral network? Some publishers are betting it can. Find out why...
Disclaimer: Access to some sites may require registration.
back to the top
Measuring Engagement
by Judy Kirkland
Keynote Competitive Research just completed the world's first study to measure the engagement levels of promotional micro Web sites. Beyond traffic and clicks, this study probes how users engage with new media, aside from clicking, registering and making transactions.
Publishers already know the value of engagement, with metrics showing that readers typically spend 30 minutes browsing a single issue of a magazine. Now, online tools can help organizations discover what exactly will make their content valuable to readers and advertisers. In fact, by combining both online and print metrics, content providers have all-new power to identify their most valuable readers while connecting sponsors with highly targeted advertising placements.
From "readers" to "responders"
With the average reader's attention being pulled in so many directions, it's no longer enough just to gather metrics on reach, readership and membership. By also measuring engagement, you get the insights necessary to increase subscriptions, site registrations, and ad revenues. Plus, you have proof that your content is motivating your audience to remain loyal and active.
Want to learn more about how readers and website visitors are interacting with your content? These sources will get you started:
1. Future Now offers an excellent article on how to measure engagement for your specific site, plus a ready-to-use Metrics toolkit.
2. Measure Map shows you what people do at your blog and the influence it is having. It's easy—and free!
3. TMG Checklist: 5 Ways to Measure & Maximize Engagement
Connect: 5 Ways to Measure & Maximize Engagement
Engage: Do you have a tip for increasing or measuring print/online engagement we haven't covered in our checklist? We'd love to hear from you! Click here
How has Scripps Networks evolved over the years to remain a leading content provider?
How important are engagement studies to your branded media campaigns?
What information does Scripps try to capture when measuring engagement?
What is the biggest challenge Scripps faces when measuring engagement?
What words of wisdom do you have for association communication heads?
looking for more? suggest additional interview questions.
The E.W. Scripps Company is a long-standing media organization that was started by two brothers over 100 years ago as a newspaper agency. As technology has changed and innovation has grown, the company has never been afraid to take risks and expand into new media, and was one of the first newspaper agencies to have a television presence. Today, we have cultivated a complete portfolio of lifestyle media, and this has created multiple ways with which to reach new and existing consumers.
Over the last seven years, and through our various studies, we have found that there are different dimensions of engagement. The stronger our brands, the more engaged our target audiences are with our content delivery vehicles and the more responsive they are to the advertising. We also know that our consumers are faced with a multitude of choices on a daily basis, and we need to make sure our content is relevant to their needs. We use our studies to find out what our consumers are looking for, and to determine how we can line up our content and services to match their interests.
We regularly study consumer use and attitudes toward TV, Internet and print content and advertising through national telephone and online surveys, and have created a battery of questions that range from very general to benefit specific. There is a science to understanding different dimensions of engagement. Responses such as "It's one of my favorites" indicate broad appeal, but not necessarily a singular compelling common benefit nor strong "receptivity" to editorial and messages. Responses such as "a trustworthy source of information" and "helps me get more out of life" speak to more specific and engaging relationships with a media brand and translate to greater responsiveness to messaging. Audiences become more engaged with content when there is a personally relevant take-away so that they learn something useful. The highest level of engagement and "receptivity" to messages is generated by content that provides users with new ideas, inspires and motivates them to "try, do or buy new things," empowers them and gives them the confidence to act.
Industry inertia has always been a challenge for us to overcome in regards to measuring engagement; the media industry is very traditional, so a lot of measurement information collected is behavioral and not cognitive. The industry tries to equate engagement levels to Neilsen behavior measurement, and behavior metrics are not always a good indicator for engagement—in terms of inspiration and motivation—and that has been a big distracter.
The more specialized the interest group, the greater the engagement with the content; this should be carried into your publication and media. Find out what drives your members, what their real interests are, and speak to these interests! Create a personality for your brand! People want expertise and want to be guided and informed, so earn their trust and provide them with facts and new information that they may not know otherwise. Finally, the number of ways in which you engage your audience is important, because the more engaged they are with your content, the more responsive they will be to your message.
back to the top
The latest magazines to hit newsstands...
"Driven by an elite group of snowsport enthusiasts," this new magazine will come out three times each winter, showcasing the best of the best so readers can "pursue the resort lifestyle at its most luxurious level."
Do you have a home gym? Then this magazine is for you! This quarterly publication focuses on "training tips, gear and home product information," catering to the needs of a fast-growing population segment.
Indie music. Indie lifestyle. Indie magazine. This newly national, "equal-opportunity," quarterly pub is "well-versed and unbiased in the music industry," featuring new and unsigned artists and musicians.
"Imagine an elegant, new thoroughbred magazine that captures the essence, passion and lifestyle of the racing experience." This new biannual magazine attempts to attract new fans to the horse-racing fold.