POLITICO

Business Challenge

Recruiting panels of hard-to-find influencers was expensive and time-consuming. Using third-party services, it would take weeks to recruit participants that represented POLITICO’s target audience. 

“Before we started working with Alida, the process of understanding our audience and building those deep insights was missing.” shares Jeff Daker, Executive Director of Research and Insights. “We wanted to have the capabilities for a diverse style of research and expand engagement touchpoints,” Jeff explains. “We wanted to do this internally as something we could manage.”

Solution

To address this challenge, POLITICO built an insight community of influencers called “POLITICO Insiders” using the Alida platform. In one year, they recruited 6,500+ community members who sit at the nexus of U.S. government, industry, and power, with 45% representing top-level executives. Detailed profile variables help them select members without having lengthy screeners, so they can gather insights from specific groups. 

Now, recruiting a relevant, engaged audience for research now takes a matter of hours. As a result, POLITICO can surface results faster than before and support decisions for the editorial team as well as advertising clients. 

Shaping editorial content strategy 

POLITICO’s insight community helps to translate what the newsroom is looking to cover into the experience that high-value customers want. In addition to newsroom coverage for all readers, influencer input also impacts POLITICO’s premium subscription service and agendas for the policy summits and other conferences and events POLITICO produces.

Community members weigh in on decisions such as prioritizing topics, policy verticals, and content formats. They meet with editors and reporters and talk about the leading issues of the day through virtual “meet and greet” and “ask me anything” sessions hosted in their Member Hub. 

Refining the digital experience  

POLITICO’s product and UX teams also rely on feedback from the insight community to make sure users have a positive experience. They’ve tested and validated new products such as committee directories and dialogue tracking, as well as technical capabilities on the POLITICO online platforms such as Single-Sign-On and saved search alerts.

Gathering market and competitive intelligence

POLITICO is one of multiple publishers that these influential readers rely on for coverage of politics and policy. Through the insight community, they can understand how readers view their brand among the competition and understand how best to compete for their attention. 

Giving brands unique insights into influential readers

The POLITICO team was starting to hear a drumbeat of requests from advertising clients for more insights about this core group of readers. Surveys of broad consumption habits and list-building services weren’t sufficient for brands to deeply understand the target audience of influencers who affect legislation. They needed something more tailored.

Thanks to the insight community, POLITICO has built new research capabilities that grow commercial opportunities. The Media Solutions team now offers unique research products to advertisers, such as quarterly longitudinal surveys, research to support advertising messaging regarding policy initiatives, and brand intelligence studies.

Results

This unique approach to insights benefits POLITICO, its advertisers, and its readers. 

After research studies are complete, POLITICO shares results with community members and lets them know what decisions have been made. They appreciate a first look at product enhancements before they’re released as well as the networking opportunity of connecting with other influencers and media.

Making sure these readers feel a part of the POLITICO brand is an important aspect of community-centered research, according to Jeff. “If we’re going to ask for their time in helping us with a cornerstone of our growth, we’ve got to make sure that they’re getting value as well. We consider what POLITICO does as utility journalism, helping these people make decisions as they go about their professional lives.”

Based on their success, POLITICO is now looking to support the company’s growth strategy by expanding the insight community model globally as well as doing deep dives in California, New York, and in key policy verticals such as energy and environment.