NPR Digital Services Blog

The Client Services team here at NPR Digital Services is (finally) growing so we can better provide more services and support to our stations, and also get you set up on Core Publisher as soon as possible. I’m thrilled to be able to welcome some new members to the group. We’ll introduce you to the newest ones over the next few days.

The Client Services team includes, in no particular order:

• Rakiesha Chase: Core Publisher set up, other product set up and support
• Dan Gurin: Core Publisher set up and support
• Phil Johnson: SoundExchange Reporting
• Joe Orlando: Sales
• Sarianne Palmesano: Membership and fundraising/Quick Pledge and Pulse set up, support and best practices, special projects
• Sara Terpeny: Core Publisher set up and support, other product set up
• Janeen Williamson: Core Publisher set up, other product set up and support

We have some exciting new improvements on the way for our Pulse email marketing toolset. Not only will you see lower costs in the fall, but we are also adding some great new features.

We’re getting ready to upgrade the back end email application from the existing Emaillabs platform to the new Lyris HQ platform. This means access to many new tools and features including:

• improved usability
• a better wysiwyg html editor
• new templates to choose from
• ability to set up multiple lists
• ability to create your own demographics and control them better
• improved analytics tools
• sophisticated email deliverability tools including blacklist monitoring, a content analyzer and an inbox snapshot that allows you to see how your email will appear across various email clients
• …and much more!

We’re planning to start migrating Pulse accounts this fall and hope to have all accounts upgraded by early next year.

One new benefit of our new business model is negotiating power. Given the size of the network, we’re often able to negotiate better deals than stations would be able to individually, saving you both time, money and the headaches of contract negotiation. We can then easily pass the savings on to you.

We’re deep in negotiations on a few services right now, and you can expect to hear more about these cost-saving master services agreements (MSAs) in the months to come. We’re working on possible deals in metrics (web and streaming), in-stream ad injection  and content.

For example, we’ve already been able to reduce your Pulse email and Live Streaming costs starting October 1st. By pooling our bandwidth purchases with NPR, adding a second content delivery vendor and holding out the prospect of additional network buys, we’ve been able to negotiate lower pricing – savings we can pass on to you.

We all know that measuring the success of your campaigns is an important part of running a good email marketing program. But just what metrics should you look at?

Concentrating on the open rate will not necessarily give you an accurate picture, since an open is registered only if the recipient has images turned on. If the recipient reads the email with images turned off or receives the plain text version of the email, it’s not recorded as an open in the reporting.

To receive a more accurate picture of how your emails are doing, it’s a good idea to look at variety of metrics. It’s also helpful to compare trends between your own email campaigns to see how one campaign does compared to others you send.

Some metrics to consider:

• Click-thru rate: Number of people who click on links in your email.

The Core Publisher set up process is about a 4-6 week process, depending on the size of your current web site and the time you have to devote. We’re trying to keep the process as simple as possible, and we’re assuming that you don’t have a full time person to devote to this project. If you do, then the process can move faster.

Core Publisher Set up Process:

• Kick off/strategy: One week
• Design Sprint: 3 days
• Set Up and Train: One week
• Content: Station page build out and content migration: 1-3 weeks
• Go Live!

So, you’ve been to a Road Show, you listened to the webinar. You’re interested in Core Publisher. So what’s next? How do you get access to Core Publisher?

We’ve been doing a lot of work around this question, and trying to work out a plan that’s fair. This is what we’ve come up with. Stations that are:

• Current paying customers
• Use the core package (which is Public Platform, Public NewsRoom and Public Arts)
• Are NPR members

will be in the first group of stations to get access to Core Publisher.

This first group is just under 100 stations. Our goal is to have the vast majority of these stations live on Core Publisher by the end of this calendar year.

Joe and Janeen at the PMDMC

We had a great time seeing so many of you at PMDMC conference last week, whether it was at our session, at the booth, or at the hotel bar. We had a lot of great conversations about the new Digital Services and Core Publisher and appreciate the feedback we received.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the next conference!

We’re here at the PMDMC. Come chat with us about Core Publisher, digital strategy, Pulse improvements and more. Come and say hi to Bob Kempf, Suzanne Brendle, Doug Gaff, Joe Orlando, Sarianne Palmesano and Janeen Williamson.

Where to find us:

• Our booth is located in the lovely  Sky Ballroom.
• NPR Showcase: NPR Digital Services – Your Partner
  Thursday, July 14 2:30-3:45  (NOTE THE TIME HAS NOT CHANGED – typo in program)
  Conference Level: Phipps
  Learn more at Thursday afternoon’s breakout session, where Bob Kempf and team lead a discussion about our new services, including Core Publisher, will help stations produce better local online content, deepen audience relationships, and grow revenue. Learn about partnering with NPR DS to get to the ‘core’ of your digital strategies.

We have some exciting new improvements on the way for Pulse. Not only will you see lower costs in the fall, but we are also adding some great new features. We’re upgrading the back end email application from the existing Emaillabs platform to the new Lyris HQ platform. This means access to many new tools and features including:

• improved usability
• better wysiwyg html editor
• new templates to choose from
• ability to set up multiple lists
• ability to create your own demographics and control them better
• improved analytics tools
• email deliverability tools including blacklist monitoring, content analyzer and inbox snapshot that allows you to see how your email will appear across various email clients
• …and much more!

Stay tuned for information about the migration to the new system in upcoming weeks. If you’ll be at the PMDMC this week, stop by our booth for a sneak preview of all the great new functionality!