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The Rockford Register is using a surveying tool to get quality feedback from a newly launched online advisory council.
We often talk about how valuable reader advisory boards are, the idea of bringing in a group of readers to provide you raw feedback on how you're doing. The Register Star model surely accomplishes that feedback portion, but is done through online surveying tools.
I asked the paper's executive editor, Linda Grist Cunningham, how they went about doing the council and asked her to provide a tip for anyone who is considering jumping into a similar project. Here's what she had to say:
This advisory council, which we began about two months ago, reviews both print and online news and advertising content. We are using Research and Analysis Marketing, RAM, to manage the survey process. There are about 500 members of the advisory council and they participate via online surveys. They are selected to mirror the demographics of our market. They can review prototypes, advertising effectiveness and specific content and/or stories. We are able to track results over time and to compare results within a national context. RAM also can do customized research for us.
One of the first surveys conducted was a Page One Quality study to determine how the market was responding to our front page digest format. It's safe to say from the results that after 12 years, the format connects solidly with the market. The study also gave us a specific list of things we can improve, including a reduction in the number of entry points to alleviate the "clutter" effect.
We just completed an interest inventory and satisfaction gap analysis that will help us decide where to deploy reporting and content resources over the next year. While there was strong interest in and satisfaction of local news, we need to boost our state, nation and world news to meet the market's interests. We need to find a much better balance between local content and state, nation and world. Local is our franchise, but it appears we may cut too much of the bigger world content in news, business and sports.
If this is your first time: (1) Always "seed" an advisory group with smart, connected people. Call for volunteers, then draft folks as needed to ensure diversity of gender, race/ethnicity, age, politics, education, etc. (2) Target your audience and then include a strong cross-section of representatives of that audience. (3) Include advertisers, current, former and potential. You need to know what they're thinking both as clients and as readers.(4) Learn how to be an effective moderator. Or get someone who knows how to do it. Otherwise, you'll spend the time being defensive. (5) Don't put all the eggs in one basket. Do small groups (5-7), larger groups (9-15), do some things in writing, some online, some face-to-face, some in town hall-style, some over coffee. The more you listen, the better. You'll soon see trends. (6) Do not do stupid or unethical things just because someone on an advisory panel said to.
Tip: Don't do research of any kind if you don't intend to do something constructive with the information. It's a waste of time.
David Arkin is the Vice President of Content & Audience for GateHouse Media. He oversees all matters related to print and online content, strategy, and online development and support related to the company’s content management system. From 2007-2011 he served as the executive director of the News & Interactive Division for GateHouse Media. Prior to that, he served as the executive editor of Greater Niagara Newspapers (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) and served as the top editor for the Cullman Times (Ala.), the Porterville Recorder (Calif.) and the Huntsville Item (Texas).
