Digital innovation has reshaped?the media and public relations industry in APAC – and the COVID-19 has only accelerated the pace of transformation. Many news and media companies are strengthening their digital presence?– with more live?streams,?push notifications?and live blogging.?This?has?sparked the need for journalists and editors to equip themselves with new skills and?work performance metrics.??

Creating compelling?content?on digital platforms,?leveraging audience data to better engage readers?and maintaining an active social media presence are?prerequisites for media professionals?these days.?Naturally, PR practitioners also need to?evolve and?adapt their outreach and  to better serve the needs of their media counterparts.??

We invited 2 Hong Kong-based editors:?Sally Tse, Chief Editor of and Natalie Koh, News Editor of ?to share their insights?on how they have adapted their reporting practices in the?digital age of journalism. Sally and Natalie spoke at a recent PR Newswire webinar on?Digitalization:?How PR Pros Can Evolve?With?The?Media on a Digital Wave?that you can watch on-demand?.

Here’re the key takeaways?on how PR pros can work?effectively?with journalists in today’s digital age.??

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Sally Tse, Chief Editor, Cosmopolitan Hong Kong?

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1. Understand?the?audience?metrics?that?editors use to evaluate stories?

Sally?oversaw the transition of?from?a?print?magazine?to?a fully?digital?platform?last year. Besides its website, the magazine also has a?thriving?social?media presence on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and?MeWe.??

Producing content?on?new platforms means her editorial team has to?work with a?whole new set of KPIs.?Keeping a close eye on the audience metrics has enabled?her?to better plan?and evaluate?which content can connect with audiences efficiently?and?better retain?viewers?on the website.?

These?audience?metrics include:??

a. Monthly active users?and?page views??

As of?March?2021, the Cosmopolitan Hong Kong?website?received?1.6 million monthly active users?and amassed an average of 40 million page views per month. Sally shares that a key part of Cosmopolitan’s content strategy is to maximize?website traffic?by?putting out?on-brand and valuable content?through its?content pillars:? fashion, beauty and lifestyle.?

Organic search is a?vital?source?of traffic?to Cosmopolitan Hong Kong’s website. Sally shared that her team takes 2?months to plan?articles that require SEO inputs?– this involves researching for keywords with high search volume and?how they can be incorporated into the content. The?aim? To?have?their?articles included in?the first page of Google search engine results.?

b. Social?media engagement??

To?create?viral?social media?content, the team keeps track of timely news, trends?and what’s on the radar of celebrities that would appeal to their target audience.?Her team?also produces?videos?or live-streamed ones regularly, as?they?are known to boost reach and engagement?rates?on social media.?Sally?uses social media as a testbed to how audiences would react to various article angles and formats.??

c. User Loyalty?

In order to?retain viewers on their website,?Cosmopolitan Hong Kong incorporates?interactive tools?in online articles:?polls,?quizzes and “shop” buttons that enable readers to purchase?products?mentions?in?articles.?Articles are also filled with many inbound links to other?relevant?articles.??

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Natalie Koh,?News Editor,?AsianInvestor??

1. Be?agile and anticipate?the types of?media?coverage?in a 24-hour news?cycle??

Keep a close eye on what’s?stories?have been?put out by the media?and anticipate what?journalists are?likely to?report next.?Some?possibilities?include??

• Follow-ups?on?news stories?that have gone viral or?from a competing media?
• Announcements?from?major newsmakers?
• Follow-ups?on news that have another angle that is relevant to?the?media title?
• Hot?topics?and trends of the moment?

How news is reported in a 24-hour news?cycle??

Gone are the days when journalists?have?the luxury of having a few hours to work on a news story.?

For breaking news, journalists need to??

1. ?Break the news?within the first 15 minutes?by putting out?2?to?4 paragraphs?on the?crux of the news.??
2. ?Add background?information?and context?to the story?in the next 30 minutes.??
3. ?Within the next few hours,?they?have to?scramble to add?analyst comments?to complement their reporting.??

2. Journalists need comments from analysts – get your clients ready?

Natalie says:?“This?is where?we can use all the help we can get from our sources?or from?PR practitioners, who have?analysts or consultants as clients who can provide?quotes and?comments on?the impact and implications of?the?news.”?She adds that journalists tend to send out?these?requests for comments?from?mid/late morning onwards after the editorial line-up for the day has been firmed up.??

Another way?for brands to contribute inputs to editorial articles is through long-form features like trend?and in-depth analysis?stories. Journalists have a?longer lead time – a?week or more to complete such stories.?For such stories, journalists?need to?seek comments from multiple parties to?provide readers with?a?well-rounded view of the issue.??

3. Trendspotting: Using social media and data?analytics to come up with story ideas??

The digital wave?has?provided?editors and?journalists with new ways of coming up with story?ideas. Instead of making assumptions on what is newsworthy, they are tapping on?website?data?and social media analytics to help them make editorial decisions.?She adds: “Knowing that editors are looking at data and social media trends, you can also look at them as well to figure out?stories that we want to do next.”??

Look out for the?‘Most Read Articles/Top Stories’ box on the?home page of news websites.

Natalie shares?that editors?keep track?of?best-performing stories on their?and their competitors’ websites and would try to emulate them?for future stories.?

She says: “Usually if a story has performed well, there would be a follow-up and that’s your cue to pitch relevant clients?to us.”??

On social media,?editors?are looking out for trending topics on Twitter and buzz-worthy phrases on Google Trends.?“We are looking?at?how we can connect with our audiences, and social media has?helped?us a sense of public sentiment on the news,” she adds.??

3. Tap on social media to build relationships with?journalists??

Social media has become an important tool for reporting as it provides journalists with direct access to their sources and commentators?for their articles.?They can get quotes?directly?from industry experts?and?conduct online?polls on how?the public feels?about?certain issues.??

She says: “LinkedIn?is?great for relationship building – It’s more professional because people’s job titles are?verified?and I have used InMail to reach out for comments and quotes.”?In addition, journalists also?use?social media to distribute their stories and engage with users who?leave comments there?and even use?comments?for their stories.??

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This article is written by Kenneth Goh, Senior Marketing Executive at PR Newswire. A former journalist, he relishes keeping track of breaking news as much as telling stories with trends and data. Connect with him via?.