Not saying that our list is the best but it is definitely the only one rooted in news media data and online reader behavior. So, it’s definitely worth a try. Let’s deep dive and find out why.

The Usual Media List

As the name suggests this is the media list that you have been using currently. What do we know about these lists?

1. It is pretty much Influenced by word of mouth i.e. our industry peer discussions on what media outlets work better, where the reputation is great, and what is most loved.
2. If a competition gets featured in specific media publications then that definitely got to be on our list.
3. That’s great but we always need some data as well to layer this up, so here comes the domain traffic i.e. the overall traffic size on a news publication e.g. this would range from a few ‘000 to million user visits per day on the likes of NYtimes, Economic Times, or The Washington Post ). We used this to measure overall reach, the PR value, and the proverbial ROI.

What’s wrong with this approach?

Nothing! it makes sense (kind of) but here’s the catch. It lacks one big element and that is DATA.. not just any data but objectively defined DATA focused on actual engagements, not just social media interactions on published news media content.

I know what you are thinking – why not social media interactions?

Social media interactions are the byproduct of your content being published, as and when few (I mean very few) of the readers share it on social media or engage with the article links they find there.

So, what DATA is important for published content on online news media? Here are three good data points that your media list should come true on:

Three good reasons:

Number 1: Who did you reach out to? i.e. Audience persona
Number 2: In what measure were you able to reach out to them? i.e. Potential reach
Number 3: Did the visitors really engage with the article? i.e. Sustained audience size

(sustained audience size: (Definition) Visitors who take more than one action (e.g. click), and spend quality time consuming the content on the site.)

Now, let’s see how the Arkreach media list is different.

For starters keep in mind the three good data points we just mentioned.
Now, let’s see how Arkreach leverages these.

These are interconnected aspects through which the Arkreach media list is crafted using its algorithm fuelled by AI models. We solve these by overcoming a series of challenges and here we go…

Challenge number 1: What do we know about the people we want to target?

Using the targeting criteria set we look at news media domains that host visitors with similar characteristics like location, age, gender, income, occupation, education, household size, etc. The focus is to collect information about persona-specific behavior and figure out where they go on the content publishing websites to consumer content.

That brings us to…

Challenge number 2: Where are the most number of people who meet this specific criterion for a particular media category going to read?

….and what do they do there? Well, we know that they consume specific content which can be always categorized among popular themes like health, tech, business etc. This is easy to predict in niche sites but for large news media domains, this becomes a challenge since media category content is contextual and hosted all across the portal.

This brings us to…

Challenge number 3: This is how to isolate this content-specific behavior and start to pick up reader engagement trends.

…and we solve this by focusing on Sustained Audience Size. Most news media websites have loads and loads of visitors but 65% to 85%++ do not stay on the site for long. Either people are either really choosy about what they want to read or they don’t like what they see when they land on the news media site. They were possibly misdirected to this web location through online ads, affiliate traffic, or clickbait.

Thus, we focus on quality visitors who take more actions on the news media site and spend some quality time, usually more than 5sec to 10 secs++ (Yep, that’s a lot in the lifetime of an online visitor :D)

This brings us to…

Challenge number 4: How do we make sense of all this ‘jargon’?

{ ARK score }

Ark Score is a universal metric used to grade media list-specific sites through precise parameters focused on online user behavior for a particular media list category rather than overall domain traffic size. It is calculated on a scale of 0 to 100, with 100 being the highest value. The score considers various factors such as available content quality, sustained user traffic on specific content themes, and the targeted audience persona.

… and that’s the reason the Arkreach media list looks different than your usual list.

In summary,

While you craft your next media list, and if the numbers start to overwhelm you, remember…

When in doubt trust the Arkscore!

Quick links:

1. Website: {Arkreach }
2. Dashboard: {login to} start your free trial.
3. Blog post on Ark score {here}

The post Why is Arkreach media list different from my usual list? appeared first on Ark Reach.

1. Initiate the process by creating a media list for your category using the search function https://app.arkreach.com/media-planning/media-lists/create
2. Download this list and carefully select the high-impact news domains you wish to retain.
3. Now, navigate to the Upload section https://app.arkreach.com/media-planning/media-lists/upload and enter these domains into the ‘Publication URLs’ section.
4. In the same section (Publication URLs), add the niche domain names you wish to analyze.
5. Finally, click ‘Save and Create List’ and get a media list tailored to your specific needs, combining the power of high-impact and niche domains.
6. By following these steps, you blend high-impact news domains with your niche list, capturing an ideal balance.

P.S. If you require a more extensive media list beyond the limit of 30, don’t hesitate to reach out to us via email at support@arkreach.com.

The post Crafting the Perfect Media List: A Step-by-Step Guide appeared first on Ark Reach.