OUR AREAS OF FOCUS
DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
Many legacy newsrooms remain tied -- both operationally and psychologically -- to the way they’ve traditionally done things. We can help you embed digital into your habits and processes by bringing an outsider’s eye and decades of digital publishing experience to bear. We don’t come in and simply yell, “Be digital-first.” That’s simply not realistic when your legacy products are more tied to firm deadlines. Instead, we will help you become “digital always,” in which digital is central to everything you do. Among the topic areas we can help you with are current product set, new product development, overall editorial quality and strategy, editorial workflow, business models, organizational structure, technology and more.
EDITORIAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Every editorial product you launch creates a fresh opportunity to engage your audience. But each requires a unique approach. Your home page and email newsletters should be as different in tone as they are in delivery, for example. We can help you brainstorm and develop a wide range of products, whether it’s your mobile or desktop site, email newsletters, podcasts, video series or reader engagement efforts.
MEMBERSHIP & EVENTS
With advertising dollars largely gobbled up by the platforms, growing revenue streams predicated on loyalty is proving to be a strong path forward for local media. At Spirited Media, we successfully launched membership and events programs on all three of our sites; Billy Penn, The Incline and Denverite before selling the properties. But it was not easy. Converting reader engagement into membership and throwing well-attended, lucrative events requires a different relationship between you and your audience, one that takes time and skill to build. We can help you plan, launch and execute successful membership programs, and also develop an events strategy that builds the loyalty necessary to turn attendees into members.
NEW LOCAL NEWS SITE DEVELOPMENT
There’s never been a time where communities are more desperately in need of strong local journalism. If you’re interested in launching a new site in your community but aren’t sure what to do, we can help. We can help you with the administrative work required to form a company, product conception, branding, hiring, developing a launch plan, setting up payroll or anything else related to launching a new site.
Editorial VOICE DEVELOPMENT
With reader revenue on the rise, connecting with your audience is no longer an option; it’s a necessity. Developing a lively, personal voice is an essential step in building the relationship necessary to generate reader revenue. But legacy newsrooms struggle with this transition. We can help you develop the appropriate editorial voice for your products without compromising traditional journalistic values.
EDITORIAL ANALYSIS & REPORTS
While you may feel good about where you are in your digital transformation, it’s incredibly easy to fall back into old habits. So it never hurts to have someone outside your organization keeping an eye on things. We provide analysis and feedback on the quality of your overall editorial product, headlines, social media efforts, email newsletters, site design, user experience and anything else that helps determine your newsroom’s overall digital success. These action-oriented analytical reports can be done weekly, bi-weekly or monthly.
NEWS COLLABORATIVE MANAGEMENT
We believe the future of local media requires news organizations -- even those who have traditionally been competitors -- to find ways to work together to increase the collective power of their journalism. We’ve worked in and on various news collaboratives, including Solving for Chicago, the Oklahoma Media Center and Resolve Philly. We can share our learnings on what makes for a successful and impactful news collaborative.
If you’re interested in our current clients, you can find a list here.
Want to talk about how we can help you? Give Jim Brady a shout at jim@spiritedmedia.com.