Damon Kiesow
Damon Kiesow joined the University of Missouri School of Journalism as the Knight Chair in Digital Editing and Producing in July. Previously he was the director of product for McClatchy, owner of 30 local media companies across the country including The Miami Herald, Sacramento Bee and Kansas City Star. He has also worked as a product manager at the Boston Globe and was the first Digital Media Fellow at the Poynter Institute.
How to tell if your culture has truly adapted to a reader revenue focus
Becoming a reader-focused organization is not about technology or data. This report provides a framework for building those tools, but they are just tools. Growing engagement and shifting to reader revenue requires actions across the organization that authentically support an audience-focused mission. Truly pivoting to readers is a cultural transformation, not a development project. A […]
Break silos and avoid turf wars: How to get all departments aligned on your reader revenue goals
As you build reader data and marketing efforts, questions about organizational goals and structure will inevitably arise. Your IT, audience, marketing, product, or technology groups may control different pieces of the solution. But as new systems and processes are developed and new skills are added, who is in charge? There is no single answer, but […]
How to apply data-driven insights that will grow reader revenue
The key cycle for audience and revenue growth is “analyze, experiment and iterate.” Your investment in business intelligence and marketing tools will pay off as you understand reader needs and behaviors, and make decisions and create processes that are data-driven, testable, and support organizational learning and staffing decisions. Many of these tactics are possible even […]
To shift to reader revenue you must improve your marketing skills
“Marketing” includes a broad range of decisions: what services to offer, what to charge, how to talk to your audience, and where to deliver your services. Marketers describe this as the “4 Ps” of Product, Price, Promotion, Place. To focus on readers, grow engagement and sell subscriptions, you must act upon all four of the […]
How to collect and use the right data about your news audience
To improve our websites, boost reader engagement and grow subscriptions, we don’t want “more data.” We want deep insights leading to a better understanding of visitors’ needs and how they interact with our journalism. The actual data (web metrics, advertising impressions, and newsletter subscriptions to name a few) are just the raw materials. It is […]
What it really means to shift to reader revenue
Let’s consider what it means to truly shift your business to prioritize reader revenues. Because to fully commit to that change, you have to commit to a new focus on trust, loyalty, data, and understanding your audiences. A “pivot” to reader revenue is a pivot to trust The consumer’s journey to subscribing is simple in […]
What it takes to shift a news organization to reader revenue
Launching a paywall is easy. Pivoting a whole business from an advertising-centric mindset to one focused on reader revenue is not. Despite 10 years of experimentation and increasing attention, the news industry still needs to develop some of the attitudes, technology and skills needed to sustain exceptional membership and subscription programs. To succeed with reader […]