Using 'CPI' to shape our story choices and selections - but it has nothing to do with inflation
Lessons learned from using the SmartOcto insights tool on Blog Preston
Good afternoon,
A different digest this afternoon - after a week’s break last week to kick off the summer holidays - I’ve reflected on using the SmartOcto tool…
For the past few months on Blog Preston we've been using the SmartOcto insights and analytics tool. It plugs into our Google Analytics and gives us rich insights into stories and topics which are resonating with our readership, beyond just 'this was viewed a lot'.
Why is this important? As a community news outlet then while we want to ensure we're being read we also want to ensure we're having an impact - that's part of being a Community Interest Company and reinvesting any surplus made back into doing more, original, community reporting about Preston and the surrounding area (like taking on these additional freelance writers for example).
SmartOcto has a tool called CPI, this is a measure and score for every story. It doesn't just look at which stories got the most viewed, or the most shared on social, or had the longest time spent reading them, or the most loyal audience (i.e. people who visit regularly) it fuses these metrics together to give us a meaningful score of which stories really engaged our audience.
It takes a while to get used to using something which in the UK is also the measure for inflation (terrible finance/journalism joke there) but it has been very useful for understanding beyond the headline number what's driving our audiences.
Has it worked? Yes, I'd say so - and we're seeing good solid audience trajectory at the moment in what is a difficult period. And another reason I guess it's worked is we've had some Google Discover volatility recently (who hasn't) and the site/audience hasn't fallen off a cliff as so often can be the case. Because we know, and understand, what readers want.
Looking through the top stories, ranked by CPI, here they are listed and a few learnings from the types of stories which really resonate over the last few months.
Meeting the multi-millionaire Yousuf Bhailok who wants to be Preston’s next MP
Corporation Street bus gate branded ‘absolute farce’ and ‘should be reversed’
Preston City Council fire back over Yousuf Bhailok’s city regeneration criticism
‘Bully boy tactics’ leave popular Preston burger restaurant just the latest to be smashed out
Preston Bus in latest routes shake-up with some services axed and new ones created
Preston City Council local elections 2024 rolling results updates
Yousuf Bhailok claims he tried to buy Preston Guild Hall for £1m
Revealed: The cost of Preston Guild Hall standing empty and the path to re-opening
A cheese pie and a premature goodbye at this Longridge pub and restaurant
Alleged ‘rundown’ state of Preston city centre blamed on car policies and cost-of-living crisis
Preston City Council local elections 2024: Updates, results and reaction
Review: Eastern Charm – order authentic at the new restaurant that went viral
Busy Preston routes would see new lanes added under plans to reduce delays
The 20 roads in Preston and South Ribble with the most pothole reports and the total repair bill
Sir Mark Hendrick remains as Preston’s MP but majority is reduced
Preston’s landmark Guild Tower to be converted into more than 100 flats
Fried chicken shop to open on Penwortham’s main shopping street despite outcry
‘Sweetheart’ pocket bully Moon who has been waiting a year for a new home
Barclays Bank in Preston targeted as part of nationwide action
‘Sinister’ tactics of ‘neighbour from hell’ who terrorised a community
Fishergate Shopping Centre could be demolished as part of railway station plans
New public space compared to Winckley Square as part of new 19-storey flat complex
‘Death-trap’ empty Winckley Square offices a ‘blight’ on famous suffragettes memory
Preston shopkeeper faces prison if payment not made for selling over-sized vapes
The Lea woman living with light, joy and gratitude six years after incurable cancer diagnosis
A Preston love story as couple celebrate platinum wedding anniversary
What's the themes for us?
Buses. Often overlooked in favour of trains (and cars) but they are well-used and a combo of the county council here deciding to steam in a bus gate (essentially creating a no-through route between the city's university campus and city centre) as well as the city's bus firm making a lot of changes to its services have really engaged our readership. We also probably skew slightly older (more likely to use a bus?) and slightly younger too (again, more likely to use a bus?). Either way, we've really focused in on updates about buses from the bus firms as well as the county council.
Politics. Turns out lots of political goings on in the city do have a resonance, the key for us is having unique, exclusive content. While the Local Democracy Reporting Service stories (provided by the superb and dilligent Paul Faulkner) feature, it's when we take an issue and go really deep that drives up the CPI. The Freedom of Information Request is a powerful tool too, as our exclusive on the cost of the Guild Hall showed. The live reporting and quick reactions on local and general elections also really engaged our audience.
The power of the interview. You can see the impact of getting time with individuals, be that in business or politics, makes as people want to read what people in power/influence have to say - and see us, as journalists and editors, ask them questions (sometimes difficult ones). Right of reply remains crucial too, as the city council firing back at Bhailok shows.
Redevelopment. The good, and the bad of it, from new flats to clapped-out buildings and nothing being done.
Food and drink. Two types of food writing seem to engage our audiences, the first is about the licensing and issues around food and drink - from dodgy chicken shops, to difficult lawyers and smashburgers and a long-running saga about a tap room which descended into a den of inequity. There's the lighter side too, we have two foodie reviews, Karen and Louise, both with their own styles of writing and they both feature in this list.
Opinion. We've been trying to write more opinion, to go alongside big news events, but also giving readers who have a particular view on something to give theirs (where it is well-grounded and researched) as Steve Harrison's superb piece on the new hospital showed.
And some old favourites of the local journalism genre, I think it's quite reassuring that a dog looking for a new home from a local dog shelter and also a couple celebrating their platinum wedding anniversary are in this list.
Lots of things change with local journalism, but a good story remains a good story - especially where it pulls at the heart strings and lists emotions.
One nifty thing we have is an automated report, which drops into our inbox pre-wake up time, with the previous days stories ranked by CPI. It's very useful for knowing straight away what engaged people. I've been impressed with the consistency this appears with.
What isn't in here? Although it shifts the views, generally crime, crashes, stabbings, all the things we do as bread and butter as local journalists doesn't tend to cut through unless it has a particular depth like the neighbour from hell. It doesn't mean we don't cover these things, but it's important we have a mix and something with ballast underneath that mix.
The sample above is based on the past four months, I'm sure we'll learn more as we go along too and there will be some seasonal fluctuations.
There was a good follow-up question from Khalil at The Conversation after I initially posted this on LinkedIn, he asked:
Very cool to see that it's been useful. Curious to know how you implement changes based on the insights from CPI. Do you publish more of certain topics (e.g. those you've listed) and less of others? Do you try to better optimise articles with lower CPI scores?
My reply:
That's probably another post in itself, but very practical example if something is scoring highly for CPI e.g. the Corporation Street bus gate changes then we double down and find a new line, move it on etc. For example, the new hospitals being scrapped in the Chancellor's announcement yesterday is scoring well for CPI so we will see if the Local Democracy Reporter is planning a follow up.
I guess importantly at the moment we don't see something with low CPI as a failure, it isn't the only criteria of success for us. And I think that avoids knee-jerk decisions.
Hope you found this insightful. Digest back as usual next week and I’ll share some more SmartOcto learnings in the months to come.
Ed