Portuguese news outlets receive support to increase audience engagement

The International Center for Journalists is partnering with the Facebook Journalism Project to launch, for the first time, the Portugal Audience Retention Accelerator, an initiative aiming at increasing audience engagement and related strategies. Partnering with a diverse group of Portuguese media organizations, this program focuses on building key skills related to audience engagement and the retention of paying supporters. Our goal is that by the end of this 6-month program, all newsrooms will be able to: 

1. Understand their users’ needs and build or adapt products that connect with those needs. Show a measurable improvement in paid retention strategy (for example, a new subscription/membership strategy).
2. Help publishers forecast their audience growth and paid audience retention to inform their business planning.
    

The first phase of Portugal Audience Retention Accelerator is a series of virtual training (webinars) conducted by industry experts focused on: putting the audience at the center of product development; building paths for a permanent conversation with loyal audience members; using reader involvement, trust, and loyalty development to foster collaboration and alignment between the editorial, business, and technology functions; boosting conversion rates; building revenue strategies for all audience sizes; turning loyal usage into paid support; understanding retention, including retention over time and learnings from other member-driven industries. 

After the training phase, participants in the program will be invited to apply for the mentoring phase, which includes strategic and tactical coaching for four months with industry experts. This part of the program will also provide financial support that will assist participants to build, implement and measure the impact of an initiative (project, product, or new process). With this grant, newsrooms will be able to build their retention program by hiring consultants/trainers, acquiring new tools/technology, or hiring tech support time.
 

The participating news outlets are:

• Observador 
• Mensagem de Lisboa 
• Sapo 24
• Público 
• Expresso
• ECO
• Jornal Económico