2021 Staff Audience Survey

We want to hear from everyone about how we’re doing as an audience team. Please take (no more than) 10 minutes to answer the below questions. We do want to hear from everyone on staff! The questions are divided into sections — by our 10 audience engagement buckets. Not all questions are required, but we do hope you’ll answer as honestly and completely as possible. The survey is anonymous, and we appreciate any constructive criticism you want to share.

The last section addresses the space we’ve created for audience within the organization through emails, meetings and check-ins. Your answers will help guide us on exactly how we will continue that work. Thanks for taking the time to complete this.

Staff Audience Survey

What role does our audience play in the work you do?
How do you define audience at Mississippi Today?
Do you understand the role of the audience team at Mississippi Today?*
- Yes
- No
- I'd like to learn more
What can we do to help you understand the work we do?
Branding
What value do you place on branding in your work? (1 being lowest value; 10 being highest value)*
Please enter a number from 1 to 10.
What resources or tools do you think would help us strengthen our brand?
Engagement
What value do you place on engagement in your work? (1 being lowest value; 10 being highest value)*
Please enter a number from 1 to 10.
Do you read the comments below our stories?
- Yes
- No
What value do they bring to your work?*
Why not?*
Outside of story comments, what’s the best way to receive reader feedback on stories?
Have you used our text line as an engagement tool for your reporting?
- Yes
- No
Are you happy with the workflow or do you have suggestions on how it could work better for you?*
Are you interested in using texting in the future?*
- Yes
- No
How should we be using texting? (check all that apply)*
- Select All
- Sourcing
- Link to stories
- Reader feedback
- Promote coverage
- Help answer readers’ questions about coverage
- Share updates on recurring coverage: COVID, Legislature, etc…
- Donation appeals
Do you think we should use surveys more to engage audiences?*
- Yes
- No
- No preference
Why?*
Why not?*
Data & Multimedia
What value do you place on data and multimedia in your work? (1 being lowest value; 10 being highest value)*
Please enter a number from 1 to 10.
Are you interested in having more data visualizations in stories?*
- Yes
- No
Do you want to create the visualizations or have them made for you?*
- Create them myself
- Work with someone to create them
What elements would you like to see more of in stories and on the site (mark all that apply)?*
- Select All
- Graphics
- Audio
- Video
- Data visualizations
- Interactive timeline
Story & Site Presentation
What value do you place on story and site presentation in your work? (1 being lowest value; 10 being highest value)*
Please enter a number from 1 to 10.
In what ways can we enhance story and site presentation?
What additional content or reader resources would you like to see on our site to help support news coverage?
How do you think we can keep readers on our site longer?
SEO/Site Traffic Reports
What value do you place on search engine optimization in your work? (1 being lowest value; 10 being highest value)*
Please enter a number from 1 to 10.
Do you think SEO is a tool for reader engagement?*
- Yes
- No
- Not sure
Please tell us why it's valuable to you.*
Please tell us why it's not valuable to you.*
Do you think getting trained on SEO will help reach more readers through organic search?*
- Yes
- No
- Not sure
Do you view the top keywords we share in the MT 10 Things email?*
- Yes
- No
- Sometimes
Do you think knowing what people are searching can help inform reporting?*
- Yes
- No
Do you look at our weekly traffic reports?*
- Always
- Sometimes
- Hardly ever
- Never
What metrics, if any, do you look at to measure the success of your work?
Any tools you’d like to explore to help understand the audience you’re reaching?
Is there any information you’d like us to share as it relates to traffic?
How often would you like to see traffic reports?*
- In Real-Time
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Quarterly
- Annually
- Upon Request
Social Media
What value do you place on social media in your work? (1 being lowest value; 10 being highest value)*
Please enter a number from 1 to 10.
What are some of your favorite Instagram accounts to follow for news and why?
If we were to add one new social platform this year, what should it be?
Anything you’d like to see more or less of on our social media platforms?

On thing we can do to grow our following on:

Instagram	Facebook	Twitter

Do you have any feedback on how soon stories are posted to social media?
Audience Growth
What value does growing our audience have on the work you do? (1 being lowest value; 10 being highest value)*
Please enter a number from 1 to 10.
What can we do to reach a more diverse audience?
What partnerships could help us reach our desired audience?
What products do you think can help us grow our audience (check all that apply)?*
- Select All
- More podcasts
- Additional newsletters
- Texting lines
- Newsletter courses
- Virtual event series
- Elected officials directory
Loyalty
What value do you place on loyalty in your work? (1 being lowest value; 10 being highest value)*
Please enter a number from 1 to 10.
Do you receive web push alerts from Mississippi Today?*
- Yes
- No
- How do I start receiving them?
Do you have Mississippi Today's mobile app on your phone?*
- Yes
- No
- How do I get it?
Any questions or feedback on how web and mobile push alerts work to bring readers back to our site?
Newsletters
Do you receive and read Mississippi Today newsletters?*
- Yes
- No
- Sometimes
Great. Which newsletters do you enjoy most?*
- Select All
- The Today, our daily
- The Report, our weekly
- The Bell, our monthly education edition
- The Inform[H]er, our monthly women and girls' edition
- The Delta Beat, our monthly Delta Bureau newsletter
What could we change to make you read the newsletter more frequently?
What's missing from our daily newsletter?
What's missing from our weekly (The Report) newsletter?
What topic or topics do you think we should use to create a newsletter course (similar to our election course)?
We plan to launch a Marshall Ramsey newsletter this quarter. What additional monthly newsletter would you like to see?
What non-Mississippi Today newsletters do you read and what do you like about them?
Membership
What can we do to reach our goal of collecting $300,000 in membership revenue this year?
How can we engage more deeply with our current members?
What questions do you have about membership at Mississippi Today?
How would you like to interact with members (donors of our newsroom)?*
- Texting
- Email
- Virtual and live events
Making Space for Audience
We want to continue giving everyone on staff the tools, resources and information needed to help grow and engage with our audience. We need you to help us tailor the way we create this space. Please answer the following questions honestly:
Do you read the MT 10 Things staff email?*
- Yes, every word.
- Yes, certain parts.
- Sometimes.
- I don’t have time to read it.
- It’s not useful or relevant.
What are the most important parts of the newsletter for you? (check all that apply)*
- Select All
- Upcoming dates
- Engagement section
- Branding section
- Site traffic section
- Data and multimedia section
- Story/site presentation section
- Search engine optimization (SEO keywords) section
- Social media section
- Audience growth section
- Loyalty section
- Newsletters section
- Membership section
- Resources section
- The Staff Share section
How often would you like to receive the MT 10 Things?*
- Keep it weekly.
- Monthly would be better.
- Quarterly is all I need.
- I don't care what the frequency is.
- Never. It’s not helpful.
How often do you think we should have all-staff audience meetings?*
- Monthly
- Quarterly
- Only when there is something important to share
- I prefer small group meetings or one-on-one
How would you like us to structure audience meetings (check all that apply)*
- Specific trainings from audience professionals
- High-level topics covered by audience team
- AMA (Ask-Me-Anything) or Q&A style sessions
- Casual conversation or small group discussions
What training topics would you like to see offered?*
- Select All
- Headline writing
- SEO
- Texting
- Data & Multimedia
- Analytics/traffic reporting
- Push notifications
- Reader loyalty
- Social media
- Distribution platforms
- Newsletters
- Other (please list below)
What other training topic would you like us to offer?
How likely are you to sign up for our weekly office hours at some point to discuss audience initiatives? (1 being highly unlikely and 10 being very likely)*
Please enter a number from 1 to 10.
How can the audience team serve you and the organization better?*
Here's your chance! Ask (or tell) us anything.*
All responses are anonymous, but if you want us to know who you are, you can enter your name here:

We still need you!

Together, we can make a difference.

Staff Audience Survey

Branding

Engagement

Data & Multimedia

Story & Site Presentation

SEO/Site Traffic Reports

Social Media

Audience Growth

Loyalty

Newsletters

Membership

Making Space for Audience