1. What is audience engagement?
1.1. The presentation of news, ideas, entertainment or products in ways that keep the audience interested, listening, responding and to some extent participating.
1.1.1. Understanding your audience and knowing their needs is essential in journalism and strategic communication. It makes you a more effective communicator–whether you're telling a story, presenting an idea, delivering news or selling a product.
1.1.1.1. The days of presenting advertisements in magazines, or news on the front pages and assuming audiences are receiving the messages are over.
1.1.2. Watch the Digital News Report from Reuters Institute
1.1.2.1. For more more information about the report and the upcoming state of digital news, click the arrow.
2. What is a target audience?
2.1. One of the most important questions any journalist or strategic communicator must ask is who they are targeting for their message, service, product or news?
2.2. A target audience is the intended group for which something is created or marketed; the specific group to which advertising is directed.
2.2.1. Traditionally, an audience has been defined as one's viewers, readers, listeners or the consumers of an idea or message. Until recently, most journalist understood the composition of their audience but rarely focused on the specifics.
2.2.2. In today's media landscape, journalists, media managers and strategic communicators use research to understand specific characteristics about their audiences.
3. Research is key
3.1. Research is they key to understanding your target audience.
3.1.1. Primary research is original data conducted, including interviews, surveys, focus groups and analysis of user data for websites/apps.
3.1.2. Secondary research is a collection and summary of already existing research.
3.1.2.1. Journalists and strategic communicators usually begin by studying secondary research–finding out what is already known about your subject–then design and conduct primary research.
3.1.3. Evaluative research is conducted at the conclusion of a campaign or after a story has been published–this provides feedback for media organizations and helps pinpoint the strengths and weaknesses of the reporting/marketing strategy.
3.1.3.1. Evaluative research measures audience engagement–which can help improve a newsroom or media organizations' success in reaching people and generating revenue.
3.1.3.1.1. Audience research can be found by reviewing and analyzing Facebook interactions.
3.1.3.1.2. And by analyzing Tweets and Retweets.
4. Tools for audience engagement
4.1. There are numerous free tools that can provide additional metrics about websites and applications, giving newsrooms and other media organizations feedback on their content.
4.1.1. Metrics can tell us who visits a specific website, what they view, how long they stayed on a page, how they were "referred" to a particular page/story and how much of that content they viewed before leaving the site.
4.1.1.1. Google Analytics is used by many different newsrooms, companies and individuals to measure audience engagement.
4.1.2. Social media has an enormous impact on audience engagement for both news and strategic communication.
4.1.2.1. Apps and websites have given people the ability to access information instantaneously and communicate directly with people and organizations around the world about politics, sports, entertainment, current news, products, etc.
5. Audience engagement at the Missouri School of Journalism
5.1. Every newsroom, media outlet and communication agency associated with the Missouri School of Journalismcare about audience engagement.
5.1.1. KOMU-TV, KBIA, The Columbia Missourian, Vox Magazine, MOJO Ad, Adzou, the Global Journalist and Missouri Business Alert all use metrics and social media every day.
5.1.2. If students are especially interested in audience engagement, they may want to consider taking Journ 4700 Participatory Journalism or getting involved in their media outlet/organization's' engagement department.