How to make News engaging

Publishing cadence matters

Publish News items frequently

The Jostle customers with the most engaged users tend to be those who publish to News items multiple times each week. Our analysis shows that orgs who publish 2-3 News items a week have 25% more activity on their items (views, likes, comments) than orgs who publish less than 1 item a week.

Set your target cadence

Track your cadence by clicking on the action menu (three dots) top right in News view and selecting “View News metrics.” The “News items published” run chart shows your weekly publishing cadence.

Deliver News from different points of view

Sharing different viewpoints and voices from across your organization will result in much more informative and engaging News content. Our analysis shows that organizations that publish everything from a single user garner fewer News interactions (views, likes, and comments).

Recruit “Reporters” with different “news beats” and hold them accountable to a publishing cadence. For organizations under 250 employees, we suggest at least 5 Reporters. Double that if you are larger.

Reporter Groups make this easy to set up and govern. If you are an Editor, you can set up Reporter Groups by clicking on the Action Menu in News view (three dots top right) and selecting “View News Admins.”

Here's how to find your Reporters:

• Look for your “rabble-rousers.” People who understand your values and culture and are energized to share and promote it. People with distinct points of view and a passion for your company.
• Favor energy and voice over writing experience.
• Consider making your whole company Reporters. Depending on your culture, this approach can work even for larger organizations. However, even when everyone is a Reporter, you still need to assign some committed Reporters to be on-point to keep everyone abreast of the latest happenings on an agreed cadence.
• Regularly rotating your News Reporters or assigning "Guest Reporters" month-to-month can help keep things fresh.

Use News to bridge your organizational silos. Here are some “news beats” you might want to cover:

• Key departments or divisions
• Regions and locations
• Key projects
• Your social club, sports teams, etc.
• Experts on specific topics
• Your CEO (learn about ghostwriting)

Provide an engaging content mix

To truly engage people across your organization you cannot just publish “press release” type articles. With this in mind:

• Storytelling is your fastest route to engaging News. Nothing engages and connects better than real stories "from the frontlines." How a beta customer in Germany is using the latest feature. What happened at the company outing in London.
• Share stories from the field. Show your engineers how their design is taking shape in the real world, week by week. You can publish to News right from your phone.
• Encourage your Reporters to share interesting facts, fascinating people, customer feedback, team accomplishments, etc., from their region or department. Something funny or unusual that happened today in the warehouse. These "real human" stories will make your News more interesting.
• Announcements for new formal initiatives should be well-reviewed and carefully crafted. But never let your News view be only formal (press-release-like) articles. Make sure you mix in smaller, "real" stories that are published with minimal review.
• Capture stories about employees giving back, contributing to charities, and volunteering.
• Ask each new employee to write a short article (or publish an Album) about themselves. Make this an initiation rite. Or take the more formal, HR-published, new employee announcement approach.
• Consider creating a weekly 'employee spotlight' (‘Who am I,’ ‘Day in the life of,’ ‘Get to know...') that showcases individuals from different departments and varying levels of seniority. Use a simple Q&A format with photos of the person in action at work or play. Or video record a short interview.  Articles like these help to humanize your culture and help employees connect.
• Bring visibility to Social Committees and Clubs with feature articles in News, enabling your employees to get involved and connect with others in the organization.
• Recruit some experts. They can provide valuable insights that help keep News interesting and balanced. Look for people who can share industry news, provide intel on competitors, explain your underlying technologies, etc., in a knowledgeable way.
• Give your leaders a voice. Frequent articles from your senior leaders are important to a great News view. Note that it is easy for News Editors to ghostwrite articles on behalf of their CEO or other leaders. 

Use News to amplify and shift your culture

Use News to drive your culture by enabling your culture heroes, leaders, and experts to share stories that reflect and amplify your culture and values.

News is where your workplace culture lives, day to day. And the heart of your culture are your workplace values. News is a place to celebrate and reinforce those values and make your brand shine.

Find your culture champions! Recruit Reporters who are passionate about what you do and get them to regularly share 'little' stories - ones that will show the human side and example your values in action.

Tap into Analytics

The platform tracks a variety of News metrics to help you understand how your content is engaging different audiences. Learn more here.

Use these insights to see which topics and categories drive the most views and which departments and locations are most engaged.