Growing Community Media (GCM), a nonprofit media group serving seven communities in the Chicago area, joined the LNA with a goal of growing one of its four independent local publications, Austin Weekly News. The publication aimed to improve its understanding and coverage of the Austin community. The Austin Weekly News team utilized survey results to learn how to better serve its audience.
Medill-sponsored research revealed the demographics, news preferences and news consumption habits of the Austin neighborhood. As a result, GCM tailored coverage toward topics of interest—food and dining, local government, and arts and culture—and focused on social media and digital newsletters as methods of distribution.
Increase in social media engagement
Increase in newsletter subscribers
New newsletter subscribers gained
The LNA helped our team achieve our goals by creating an accountability structure with our meeting times and project deadlines. We had to commit to actually doing the things we set out to do, which can be difficult to stick to with our busy schedules.
Stacy Coleman, senior audience manager
The GCM team also implemented popup ads, inline asks and paid social. This led to 201 new newsletter subscribers and increased Instagram reach while also expanding coverage. LNA tools helped the team clearly lay out strategies to get them to their goals. For example, using a three-part project statement provided actionable methods to increase newsletter subscribers through popups and social growth. These tactics resulted in measurable successes as GCM went from underserving the Austin community to improving efforts to inform and engage the neighborhood.