Director of Audience Development, Sports Media Group
Req #22751
Our current portfolio of media assets includes USA TODAY, local media organizations in 46 states in the U.S., and Newsquest, a wholly owned subsidiary operating in the United Kingdom with more than 120 local news media brands. Gannett also owns the digital marketing services companies ReachLocal, Inc., UpCurve, Inc., and WordStream, Inc., which are marketed under the LOCALiQ brand, and runs the largest media-owned events business in the U.S., USA TODAY NETWORK Ventures.
To connect with us, visit www.gannett.com.
Director of Audience Development
USA TODAY Sports Media Group is seeking a dynamic leader for a new role: Director of Audience Development.
USA TODAY Sports Media Group is a collection of 70+ owned-and-operated sports websites including such properties as For The Win, Golfweek, MMA Junkie, Hoops Hype, as well as team-focused NFL, college football, and NBA Wire sites.
The Director of Audience Development will work across the network to identify the best strategies to grow audiences both on platform and off.
We are looking for a candidate with a deep knowledge of what sports fans like to consume on the internet and where they like to experience it, someone who delights in finding new ways to connect sports fans with the news, information, entertainment and insights they need.
The ideal candidate will use data to drive decisions and feel comfortable at the intersection of audience and editorial.
You will work closely with our analytics team, product team, and site editors to understand our sites’ unique audiences, and then use knowledge of SEO, social media, and digital trends to craft distribution strategies across the network.
This role will also have a significant impact on the Sports Media Group’s multimedia (video, podcast, etc) strategy and our growing affiliate content and product reviews business.
You will be a process-focused leader who works directly with editorial teams through regular training sessions and sharing of best practices.
The role will report directly to Sports Media Group’s leadership and will be responsible for managing a small team of strategists and content creators.
Responsibilities:
- Leverage knowledge of SEO, social media, digital industry trends and internal data to proactively identify strategies for further engaging our existing audience and growing new audiences. Leverage newsletters, social media channels, multimedia content, interactive experiences, etc. to execute these strategies.
- Interpret data and share insights with editorial staff that drive more high-performance content. Become an authority on audience and platform trends, and keep editorial teams informed through training and developing best practices.
- Have a deep knowledge of key moments during the sports calendar and a finger on the pulse of what audiences are looking for during those moments.
- Become a key part of the editorial process, seeding stories, working with key stakeholders to develop coverage plans for major sporting events across our network, especially tentpole events like the Super Bowl, Olympics, World Cup, NFL Draft, and more.
- In partnership with Sales and Product, develop plans for new sports site launches, offering audience insights as we look to expand our network and move into new sports, fandoms, and coverage areas. Help incubate these launches until sites reach maturity.
- Work with Product team to further optimize our sites based on audience trends and analysis.
- Work with editors to craft social media strategies by sports brand and identify the best platforms on which connect with unique audiences and maximize impact.
- Partner with the Sports Media Group video team to help determine video content strategy to best support audience engagement and ad sales.
- Manage product reviews and affiliate strategy across the Sports Media Group sites.
Requirements:
- Bachelor's or master’s degree in communications, journalism, marketing or related field preferred or equivalent combination of education and experience.
- Minimum 7 years of experience as a journalism leader, with emphasis on audience growth.
- Strong knowledge of SEO best practices, and experience building out coverage plans to maximize impact of search audience.
- Experience developing a social media strategy or working directly with social media teams at an editorial outlet.
- Strong opinions on digital community building, newsletters, and other methods of cultivating community among online audiences.
- Deep knowledge of the sports media landscape and sports calendar, especially building coverage areas around major tentpole events.
- Fluency in Adobe Analytics and/or Google Analytics.
- Experience with people management as the role will manage a cross-functional team.
- Experience with launching new digital properties a major plus.
- Demonstrated change leader who collaborates and communicates effectively.
- Employment is contingent on passing a pre-employment, post-offer background check.
We are eager to learn more about you and how you fit this role. When you apply, don’t limit your upload to a resume; show us what you’ve done. To do so, put together a single document file that includes the following, in this order:
1. Your resume – one to two pages.
2. A cover letter that outlines how you would approach the job.
It is important that these items be assembled into a single document and uploaded in PDF format. Completing these steps will ensure that your application receives the highest consideration.
#Content
#LI-NC1
#LI-Remote
Other details
- Job Family Content Management
- Job Function Consumer
- Pay Type Salary
- Required Education Equivalent Experience