From @digiday : How Gannett and The Atlantic are using surveys to increase their first party data PLUS JP Morgan to pay for the Washington Post to take down its paywall for a day

June 14, 2022

I'm fascinated by data and how it is used by businesses, both in media but elsewhere. In the operations management course that I took for my master's degree, my paper focused on how data infuses and informs almost every part of its business. It isn't just that data informs the algorithm that powers search, but they use data to optimise the performance, efficiency and environmental impact of their global fleet of servers. They even have used data to improve their HR and people management processes and employee satisfaction.

And similar to the surveys that Google has used to improve its people management, media companies are now using surveys to capture increasing amounts of data about their audiences, which is particularly important as privacy regulation reduces their ability to capture and use third-party data. Digiday has an excellent piece looking at how Gannett and The Atlantic are using audience surveys to build up their first-party data, which can become a major competitive advantage.

And Jacobs Media, a radio consultancy, has a look at how to use some of the data to do better segmentation with email. Their advice is obvious - better targeting leads to better performance. I am amazed at how frequently these efforts aren't actually in place.

Street Fight has a good piece on developing business agility so that companies can take advantage of these opportunities more effectively.

PLUS JPMorgan is running a sponsorship with the Washington Post that will allow them to take their paywall down for a day. Google is considering opening up YouTube to third-party ad placement in an antitrust settlement with the EU. Meta is halting several of its hardware-based metaverse projects. The major platforms are signing up to efforts to combat disinformation in Europe. Poytner looks at efforts to rethink social media policies in the wake of several high-profile blow-ups in the US recently.

Social Media Today

In this week's Digiday+ Media Briefing, media editor Kayleigh Barber looks at how publishers like Gannett and The Atlantic are surveying their readers in an effort to accumulate more first-party data that can boost their advertising businesses.

Most radio stations send the same emails to everyone in their database. But tailoring emails to audience segments improves performance.

Morgan Stanley Sponsors Washington Post Content, Takes Down Paywall - 06/13/2022

Meta Halts Multiple Metaverse-Related Hardware Projects - 06/13/2022

Social Media Today

Here are four steps to revise a social media policy, because a policy that staffers ignore is worse than no policy at all.

Business agility is not just a talking point; it’s a worldview that informs all of your organization’s decisions and allows the business to evolve.