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‘We’re Trying to Build These Personal Ties’; Hybrid Office Sounds Good But in Reality…

by Media

We’ve heard for a while that a hybrid office is the way to go. But in no way is it perfect. Jealousies can erupt over who’s in and who’s out. Integrating new hires into the culture can be a challenge. A lot of the pressure falls on managers. A solid 43% of media middle managers report that they “feel burnt out at work.” Flexibility with intentionality, recommended one media executive.

In a Reuters Institute report in November titled Changing Newsrooms 2022: Media Leaders Embrace Hybrid Work Despite Challenges, 61% of respondents said that their organization has “largely implemented hybrid and flexible working with new rules in place for staff. The majority of leaders (57%) think their organizations are doing a good job with it.” (Though 20% report that they’re still craving the pre-pandemic, everyone-to-the-office model.)

On our BIMS Future of Work panel in February, Kevin Turpin, president of the National Journal said that, “Running a hybrid company brings challenges—trying to manage a group that is in the office sometimes. There’s a fairness perspective [with in-person people vs. remote], but more importantly from a communications standpoint.

“People under 30, or even 27, they have very specific ideas about where they want to work,” Turpin added, pointing to the challenges of recruitment and retention. Skills development is crucial. Can that be done remotely? “They’re trying to be a professional.” Can that be fully accomplished without in-person interaction?

In the survey, news leaders found the following ideas to be effective in persuading staff back into the office: organizing events and social activities; promoting “team innovation” or “work-from-work” days; ensuring more people are present on the same day; and, alas, providing free food. “No one wants to be the only person in the office. So, [we’re] focusing our efforts on particular days to create the best environment,” said the CEO of a UK publication.

Here are more findings from the Reuters study, balanced with some real-world observations:

A bigger talent pool but waters can be murky. Half the respondents think that hybrid and flexible working has made hiring and retaining talent much or somewhat easier, while 65% think it could increase their ability to hire diverse talent and have a positive impact on their DEI strategies. “We can hire better talent than we could before,” Turpin (pictured) said. But it brings complications. “Where people work from now matters, given the tax laws. We now have a 135-person business registered in 12 states. Taxes is one thing but then being up on labor laws is another. It brings a level of risk.”

Pick two. Almost half (49%) of the respondents require staff to be in the office for a minimum number of days a week/month. A further 29% indicated that their organizations follow a more voluntary approach, in which staff can be in the office a minimum number of days of their choice. A media manager told me last week that they started with employees getting to pick the two days a week they want to come in. But that quickly changed to two specific days for everyone. “I talk to people individually as often as I can,” said one editor in the study. “We’re trying to build these personal ties, especially for people who might be feeling isolated.”

Employees want to know why. Reuters found that “having explicit rules, setting clear expectations and communicating them transparently—and, most of all, articulating the purpose of going to the office and making sure that the benefit of doing so is clear—helps when implementing flexible working models.” Similarly, the most important question for Terri Travis, Industry Dive’s VP of human resources, is: “’What is the purpose of going to the office?’ We’re trying to take the best of both worlds. We had a great onboarding process onsite and now pivoted to a great onboard experience remotely.”

Diversity needs to be embraced… Most survey respondents think their organizations are doing a good job with gender diversity (79%), but less so when it comes to ethnic diversity (47%), diversity from less-advantaged backgrounds (30%), and political diversity (27%). “Diversity is here; it’s not just the color of our skin, but experiences,” Turpin said. “It’s something we have to embrace. It can’t just be something we’re checking the boxes on. The majority of high school grads last year were people of color. It has to be infused into how we’re running our businesses.”

…As does change. “People fear change,” said Nick Schacht, chief global development officer for SHRM. “You have to make it okay to fail, provided they fail fast, smart and not repeatedly. The opposite of change is death… When we start labeling people and generations, we do ourselves a disservice. What I find useful is, what are the capabilities and competencies that can help a company grow? If we start focusing on language that way, we focus on people more. People want to know where they can find expertise.” That can come from the “oldest or youngest in an organization,” he said.

Be intentional about belonging. Just over one-third (36%) of survey respondents believe that hybrid and flexible working has weakened the sense of belonging to the organization. “Not meeting each other really hurts the sense of community and shared purpose,” explained one director of a media company. “We now do formal reviews twice a year,” Turpin said. “So the staff always knows where they stand. People who are top performers, we know we want them growing here… As a leader, you have to operate more in empathy and truth, and make choices [from those places].” Added Travis: “Each generation looks at something differently. The similarity is that people want autonomy.”

 

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Email to ‘Inspire Subscribers to Act’; Customer Onboarding Starts Day One

by Media

You’ve recruited a new member or signed up a new subscriber. It’s time to celebrate, right? Maybe for a day or two. Then it’s time to think how to keep that member/subscriber in tow for years to come. Two common denominators from experts: Check in early and often, and make sure they know the breadth of information and resources that you offer.

In an article in INMA recently, Anjali Iyer, head of lifecycle marketing for The Washington Post, wrote that, “based on internal research, subscribers who have zero to two visits [early on] have a 15% lower retention rate compared to subscribers with more than 15 visits. Also, subscribers who use the app and visit more than 14 times have a higher NPS than others.”

Their current subscriber journey begins with multiple email messages “designed to educate, engage, and inspire subscribers to act.” First step: encourage subscribers to select their interests, best time of day and newsletter recommendations, and to download the app. Post authors personally welcome them and share the Post’s mission. Each subscriber then receives tailored messages based on their individual actions.

“Our goal is to ensure that subscribers only receive information that is most relevant to their personal interaction with us thus far,” Iyer writes. Emails are then sent highlighting content ranging from “exclusive investigations and opinions to educating subscribers on WP Live events, gifting articles, and exploring The Post via other platforms like a podcast or TikTok.”

Their primary metrics are: Article pageviews, total visits and days visited in 30 days, habit adoption (newsletter engagement, app downloads, interests, and author follows) and retention over 90 days. Since its launch, their onboarding journey has seen a 2% lift in retention and an increase in three-year customer lifetime value (CLV) after 12 weeks.

Here are more 6 more customer onboarding tips:

Monitor early. “If a subscriber doesn’t have at least 10 page views a month, we run campaigns to engage with them, send them letters from the editor and the CEO, try to understand what they are looking for, and make relevant changes,” said Vaibhav Khanna, senior manager, subscription growth, for The Indian Express and formerly Bloomberg Quint. In a retention study last year from the American Press Institute, the biggest gap between what publishers deem valuable and what they aren’t doing well are: identifying at-risk subscribers; using metrics to evaluate churn; and tracking what subscribers read.

Check in often and survey. Hebba Youssef, chief people officer at Workweek, believes that the first 30, 60 and 90 days should conclude with a survey. If something is not going well at one of those marks, you still have the opportunity to make some improvements. (She was writing about employee onboarding, but the advice rings true for customers as well.)

Come up with clear questions to ask. Similarly, Youssef’s advice to her new employees works for customers as well:
I know what is expected of the programs you offer;
I have the resources I need to succeed with you;
I understand your company culture;
My goals in this relationship are clearly defined.

Perfect your welcome letters. I recall one open-rate survey that had welcome letters far ahead of any other type of communication. We like to be welcomed and made to feel special. The more value you can throw in, the better. And the more people you can welcome will also help you come renewal time. Almost everyone (90%) encourages new subscribers to sign up for their newsletters. However, only some publishers send educational information about how to use their products (46%) or send personal notes from a person in the newsroom (43%).

Dedicate specific space on your site. The Health Industry Distributors Association (HIDA) created a new member guide and a special page on their website with practical tips for new members. During the pandemic, HIDA went away from sending out physical packets but then heard from members who preferred receiving something tangible in the mail. Perhaps you could get a sponsor for that.

Provide the breadth of what you do. “If you are one of the almost a million people who subscribed to our COVID-19 email newsletter, what are the other newsletters that may be valuable to you?” asked Jeremy Gilbert, then of The Washington Post, now of Medill, early on in the pandemic. “What kinds of coverage did you click through from the email newsletter and how can we use those interactions with our site or native apps to get you to stay?” The Atlantic does the same thing with their range of newsletters. “You signed on for this but we also have this.”

 

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Mapping Themes in New State Legislation on Artificial Intelligence

by Policy
By Sharan Sawlani

Discourse around artificial intelligence (AI) policy continues to grow considerably, animated by attention to generative AI and large language models, facial recognition, algorithmic bias, and geopolitical competition. Across the United States, state legislators have been especially active. Dozens of bills have been introduced in 2023 alone. We have identified the following key legislative themes which help to make sense of what is happening at the state level.

  1. How AI is used in employment decisions. After last year’s joint report by the EEOC and Department of Justice, states around the country are paying close attention to the use of artificial intelligence and automated technology in the employment space. In Vermont, H 114 by State Rep. Presley (D) seeks to restrict the electronic monitoring and use of employment-related automated decision systems. In Texas, HB 3633, proposed by State Rep. Lalani (D), aims to establish a program by the Texas Workforce Commission to train individuals in skills related to AI systems. At the local level, we’re also tracking the New York City AI Bias Law (Local Law 144) that prohibits employers’ use of automated decision making tools to screen candidates for hiring or promotion unless a bias audit has been conducted.

  2. Transparency into automated decision making tools. While algorithmic bias has always been at the forefront of the AI policy landscape, several states are taking further steps to create guidelines around the use of automated decision tools. For example, AB 331 in California, SB 5356 in Washington, and the Stop Discrimination by Algorithms Act (B25-0114) in Washington D.C. all seek to increase the transparency and explainability surrounding automated decision tools. While the Washington bill is specific to the government procurement and use of ADM systems, the proposed legislation California and Washington D.C. would also cover private entities if passed. 

  3. Generative AI. ChatGPT and other generative AI tools have become incredibly popular since the end of 2022 and have created a host of questions for legislators surrounding deep fakes and the misuse of this technology. As a result, states are taking different approaches to addressing this issue. In Illinois, the Artificial Intelligence Consent Act (HB 3285) would require AI content creators to provide a disclosure on the bottom of the image or video that the image or video is not authentic unless consented by the individual or group whose likeness is being used. Similarly, HB 721 in California hopes to create a working group to study the feasibility around digital content provenance guidelines and standards. Elsewhere, legislators in Massachusetts are looking to regulate the commercial use of large-scale generative AI models with S 31.

  4. AI in the mental health context. Finally, some states are looking to regulate the use of AI in providing mental health services. H 1974 in Massachusetts and HB 4695 in Texas create guidelines for when and how mental health service providers are allowed to use AI tools. 

  5. More study of AI’s benefits and risks. Following advancements made in AI over the past year, states around the country are creating commissions or advisory councils to study, discuss, and audit the benefits and risks that come with the technology. Legislators in states like Hawaii (SR 123), Texas (HB 2060), California (AB 302) (Maryland (HB 1068 & HB 1034), Rhode Island (SB 117), and Connecticut (SB 1103) are hoping to establish general commissions to study AI risk. Other states like California (SB 398) are looking to do impact assessments within specific contexts (such as AI used within the state’s Department of Justice).
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SHE Trucking, Alaskan Mining, Perk Up Podcast; Neals Finalists Cover Lots of Ground

by MediaNeal Awards

The Neal Awards represent the best of the best in B2B journalism, and more than ever, that best is expanding the leading players of our members’ respective niches. Tension will mount this Friday at the Marriott Marquis in New York as the 69th Annual Neal Awards are presented. There are an amazing 215 finalists, all with wonderful stories to tell. Here are four of them.

“This year, FleetOwner spoke with nine different women across the industry’s ranks,” wrote Cristina Commendatore. “Each professional sees the potential that the industry has not only for women, but for the next generation of younger workers in trucking.”

A Neal Awards finalist for Best DEI Coverage, Endeavor Business Media’s FleetOwner put together a stirring Women in Transportation issue.

The package highlights many types of diversity in its profiles. Sharae Moore is the CEO and founder of SHE Trucking. (I may have to tune into their weekly podcast.) Moore was invited to the White House as part of President Biden’s Trucking Action Plan, and now SHE Trucking partners with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s driver apprenticeship program. SHE Trucking has nearly 30,000 members.

Another profile centered on Lindsey Trent, president and co-founder of Next-Gen Trucking. “High schools—and even middle schools—need more trucking programs if the industry has any chance of recruiting the next generation of talent,” wrote Commendatore. “That’s where the Next-Gen Trucking comes into play.”

Said another profiled woman, master-certified technician Missy Albin, “When people see me and I say what I do as a job, they say ‘no way.’ I am only 120 lb. and when people hear what my profession is, they think that I should be a larger man, strong, and look dirty and that my nails should be dirty.”

Here are descriptions of three more accomplished Neal Awards finalists:

Reveal an interesting history. A finalist for 11 Neal Awards on Friday, IEEE Spectrum showed why with its nominated Subject Related Package: “The Transistor at 75: The past, present, and future of the modern world’s most important invention.” There’s a wide-ranging list of articles, some—like The State of the Transistor in 3 Charts and The Ultimate Transistor Timeline—use excellent graphics to depict the information.

While The Transistor of 2047: Expert Predictions presents the future—“Will transistors still be the heart of most computing in 25 years?”—John Bardeen’s Terrific Transistorized Music Box delivers the history. “In 1949 an engineer at Bell Labs built three music boxes to show off the new transistors… The capacitance was selectable using the switch bank, which Bardeen ‘played’ when he demonstrated the box,” wrote Allison Marsh. “Although Bardeen earned a reputation as an unexceptional instructor… he often got a laugh from students when he used the music box to play the Prohibition-era song ‘How Dry I Am.’ He had a key to the sequence of notes taped to the top of the box.”

Give voice to an under-represented segment. The music starts, an ad for the upcoming conference, Benefits at Work, is read, and Alyssa Place, executive editor at Employee Benefits News, starts this week’s podcast. “Perk Up” is a Neal Awards finalist for Best Podcast. In this episode, associate editor Paola Peralta “uncovers how employers are tailoring their financial wellness benefits to different generations in the workplace and why Gen Z’s financial habits might be getting a bad rap.”

The podcast runs 23 minutes—smartly, a transcript is also run. Peralta notes that she is a Gen Z member herself. “I’m here to once and for all dispel the myth that Gen Z workers aren’t invested in their financial futures.” Her first interview is with Duffy Collins, a 2019 Boston College grad and a financial advisor with Northwestern Mutual. He’s known for taking on Gen Z clients pro bono.

“I spend about a third of my overall time and effort in my practice dedicated to specifically people I’d say under the age of 30,” Collins says. “The reason I dedicate a lot of my time with younger people is the impact is significantly more measurable.”

Take readers to a distant destination. “Bornite Camp is beyond all the roads in North America, on the southern edge of the massive Brooks Range. It’s home to grizzly bears, and the caribou, moose, and salmon essential to the survival of Alaska Natives who live off the land. The only way in is by bush plane. If the weather goes bad, there’s no telling when you might get out. Yet in early autumn this tent city above the Arctic Circle—where satellite internet is spotty, bear encounters are expected, and visits to family are rare—is bustling with workers.”

Thus begins Bobby Magill’s thrilling story for Bloomberg Law titled, EV Mineral Bonanza on Alaska Tribal Land Turns on Disputed Road—nominated as a Neal Awards finalist for Best Climate Change Coverage. The article is designed with a captivating video of the Brooks Range, taken by Magill himself, followed by his pictures of the tent camp and the Amber Lowlands. Talk about multi-tasking.

It’s quite an achievement and does not go softly into the Alaskan night “The Ambler Road would enable new mines to proliferate all along its path and threaten the big game hunting that forms the foundation of Alaska Native village culture, the villages and the Tanana Chiefs Conference argued in their lawsuit,” Magill wrote.

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Video and Content Spend, Event Leads Stand Out in Endeavor Marketing Survey

by Media

“Our clients want us to do more than be a media company—[that means] lead gen, data, marketing,” Endeavor Business Media CEO Chris Ferrell told us before BIMS. Marketing services are becoming more integrated and multi-channel as we speak, enabling publishers (and others) to engage their audience 365 days a year. To learn more, Endeavor surveyed their audience. There’s a lot to learn from the results.

As successful as content marketing can be, it does come with challenges.

In a 2023 B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey (download here) of over 320 respondents from Endeavor Business Media, budget was reported as the biggest challenge—no surprise there—followed by not enough internal resources, developing a strategy, producing engaging content, producing enough content, measuring success/ROI, leadership does not understand the value and need technical writers.

In response to the challenges outlined in the B2B Marketing Benchmark Survey, many businesses are turning to social media marketing strategies to amplify their content efforts and engage with their audience on a more personal level. Leveraging platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, and even emerging channels such as TikTok, companies are expanding their reach beyond traditional methods.

Crafting a successful social media marketing blueprint involves understanding the nuances of each platform and tailoring content accordingly. Whether it’s sharing insightful industry articles, behind-the-scenes glimpses of company culture, or interactive polls and quizzes, effective strategies foster meaningful interactions that resonate with the target audience. By consistently delivering valuable content and actively engaging with followers, businesses can cultivate a loyal community that not only consumes their content but also advocates for their brand. As social media continues to evolve, staying adaptable and innovative in one’s approach is key to maintaining relevance and driving tangible results.

To streamline these efforts, many businesses are turning to social media marketing automation tools. These platforms allow companies to schedule posts, track engagement metrics, and analyze performance data across multiple social channels, all from a single dashboard. This not only saves time but also ensures a consistent and cohesive brand presence online. By automating repetitive tasks, marketers can focus more on creating high-quality content and engaging directly with their audience.

Using tools like https://www.scrollmark.com/, businesses can optimize their social media strategies by identifying peak posting times, tailoring messages to specific audiences, and quickly responding to trends and customer inquiries. Moreover, automation can enhance personalization in social media marketing. By leveraging advanced algorithms and AI, companies can deliver customized content that aligns with individual user preferences and behaviors. This level of personalization fosters deeper connections and boosts engagement rates. As social media landscapes become increasingly crowded, the ability to stand out through targeted, automated, and personalized interactions will be crucial for driving long-term success and fostering brand loyalty.

Also interesting are the types of marketing content that businesses are using. The most common are press releases, followed close behind by video—a little surprising that it’s already that high—product content, website articles, blogs, lead gen (short form content) and webinars. As for the type of video being produced, 67% are product-related, 60% education and 48% company overview. (Money-Media has a great company overview video on its homepage.)

Emphasizing product content makes sense for marketing emails. In one of its top-performing letters, The Atlantic emphasized its vast topic range. Their surveys had determined that was one of the main subscription drivers. So Down Syndrome, private schools, slavery, houseplants, Amazon Prime and national parks all made it into the marketing email. “These are just a few of the bold ideas you’ll find in The Atlantic…”

The Endeavor survey represented key business sectors including: Buildings, City Services, Design & Engineering, Energy, Healthcare, Manufacturing, and Transportation.

Here are more of their findings:

Budgets matter most. For most B2B marketers, budgets will remain the same [54%] or increase [37%] year over year, with content creation, content marketing, video creation, lead generation, and in-person events leading the way as key initiatives—when the budget is increased.

Video without a video person. More than half (54%) outsource their video production. This makes sense considering the growing impact of video vs. the resources available to organizations. Design (45%), digital content production (41%), marketing research (40%), copywriting (33%) and technical writing (31%) are the next most outsourced elements. Email marketing is the least outsourced service.

Customer experience and satisfaction are biggest focal points of research. Most respondents [76%] “leverage B2B research to inform their marketing strategies. Over a third [36%] conduct internal employee research and a growing number [17%] are conducting B2C research to gain insights. With similarities getting more common between B2C and B2B, that number should grow each year.

Quality over quantity. “Respondents consider quality to be the most important aspect of leads.” Almost 80% get those quality leads from input forms.

The value of in-person events. “In-person events were ranked by respondents as being the most effective tactic for generating leads with 66% touting the effectiveness, followed by website marketing,” webinars and SEO.

Taking the leads. Almost half of respondents said that measuring and documenting lead gen success is a challenge. Finding the correct tactic to drive quality leads was the next biggest challenge followed by having the resources to actually execute on the plan.

Taking the time. Almost 70% of respondents “primarily rely upon web-based/online surveys for conducting research.” But it’s interesting to see that 36% still conduct in-depth interviews, and 33% use web-based tools.

Again, you can download the Endeavor survey here.