Location: Remote

BlueLena is the industry leading technology-enabled marketing solutions provider for newsmedia. Our audience management platform and strategic marketing services deliver sustainable revenue for community journalism by providing the technology, proven best practices and marketing expertise to develop loyal audiences and grow reader support. We provide publishers with hands-on help, aiding resource-strapped teams to execute with the efficiency of a global media organization.

We are seeking an Audience Strategist to join our fast-paced, mission-driven team.

BlueLena is:

  • Publisher-centric
  • Collaborative
  • Purpose-driven
  • Diverse and inclusive
  • The strategic partner for a diverse coalition of community-based media organizations

BlueLena drives rapid audience growth and monetization by working with publishers and editors to align their business models, content strategies and audiences’ needs. We believe high-quality, relevant and credible community-based journalism is vital to a democratic society and we are committed to building a long-term sustainable future for local media.

Position Description:

The Audience Strategist works with the Chief Strategy Officer to identify and implement growth and revenue opportunities for the nearly 200 news publishers in our portfolio by leveraging the entire suite of products and services available.

The Audience Strategist’s primary responsibility is to support our Solutions & Strategy Consultants, who provide front-line service to our publishers, and to oversee the benchmarking and performance of the client base as a whole. 

On a daily basis, the Audience Strategist will propose pricing structures, user registration, paywall and metering strategies (including free access), member benefits and perks for clients’ reader revenue programs, as well as provide feedback on content, site and newsletter design and overall reviews of their news product. The strategist will be the first person to whom Solutions & Strategy Consultants turn with critical strategy and performance-related questions. In addition to answering those questions, the strategist will upskill team members by sharing their knowledge and approach into publisher strategies. You will also collaborate with the Chief Strategy Officer, Solutions & Strategy Consultants, and the Head of Partnerships to identify potential services and devise publisher go-to-market strategies to use those services. 

The Audience Strategist will host regular “brainstorms” with the broader strategy team, leading conversations to surface new approaches to reaching publishers’ goals. 

Among other projects, the Audience Strategist will be a leader in informing the development of better performance tracking and benchmarking tools across our client base and the variety of platforms BlueLena services. 

The Audience Strategist is expected to be fluent in best practices and emerging strategies from across the industry, and will also contribute to BlueLena’s thought leadership through blog posts, case studies, webinars and more. 

Salary Range: $78,000–90,000 plus a generous benefits packaging including:

  • Full health coverage for employees and dependents (50% paid by company)
  • 401k retirement plan with 100% company match up to 3%
  • 20 days paid vacation plus 8 company holidays
  • Monthly allowance of $250 for home office, mobile and internet expenses
  • MacBook or PC with dual monitors

Responsibilities:

  • Become an expert on our product offerings, including tools for email acquisition, content access controls, data integration, and marketing automation processes, as well as our growing library of creative assets and partner services. This will include the ability to understand and articulate the technical capabilities of the BlueLena marketing platform and our solution offerings so you can advise and empower clients on all the tools and resources available through our managed services.
  • Build and grow relationships: you will be a first responder for BlueLena’s client base. That means advocating on their behalf within BlueLena, advising publishers on tactics and strategies to accomplish their goals, and providing feedback to the Chief Strategy Officer that could shape our product offering to better serve our clients.
  • You will be a prominent voice among our client base, and a “can-do,” “happy to help,” “go the extra mile” attitude is required to encourage publishers to succeed. You will be called upon to answer questions ranging from simple-to-complex, tactical-to-strategic, while involving other team members as required to support the resolution on behalf of the client.

Typical Daily Tasks:

  • Provide management support to Solutions & Strategy Consultants, including developing the depth and breadth of their strategic and tactical knowledge
  • Respond to client needs via email or zoom, in conjunction with Solution & Strategy Consultants
  • Review individual publishers’ performance to identify opportunities and craft plans of action
  • Devise new tactics that use our technology to accomplish publisher goals, especially in regards to elements of audience development and marketing that can be automated
  • Analyze and communicate insights from Google Analytics to publishers and Solutions & Strategy Consultants, with a focus on next steps and client empowerment
  • Monitor coalition-wide and cohort KPIs to guide prioritization
  • Share best practices through blog posts, newsletters, Slack and webinars
  • Host occasional topic-driven newsroom trainings on topics such as editorial SEO, as requested by clients
  • Advise clients on best practices in audience development and reader revenue growth and relevant use cases
  • Exceed client expectations on quality, timeliness of response and overall customer experience
  • Continuously train to become an expert on BlueLena’s marketing stack, digital marketing concepts, and media industry trends.

Position Requirements:

Must be able to multi-task and keep on top of multiple priorities and clients simultaneously. 

Organizational and strong interpersonal communication skills required; ability to think analytically and problem solve.

Must be conversant in audience development metrics and KPIs within editorial and reader revenue contexts. 

We’re very interested in candidates with experience in one or more of the following:

  • Google Analytics for content and performance insights, including the ability to offer recommendations and surface issues
  • Email marketing automation, including identifying opportunities to creatively engage from a variety of data triggers
  • Marketing and campaign management, including effective copy and distribution channels
  • Newsroom audience engagement best practices, for editorial and marketing
  • Newsletter product development and design best practices
  • Membership, donation, subscription and metering best practices and performance benchmarking
  • Email template design best practices and tools

Ideal candidate:

The ideal candidate is a creative, empathetic problem-solver with a good sense of a reader’s news reading experience, and the challenging environment of independent news publishing. Our clients’ jobs are difficult, and our primary goal is making financial sustainability a reality without overly burdening them. The ideal candidate is a good listener who understands the audience journey, and can review publisher metrics to identify opportunities and vulnerabilities therein. The ideal candidate will think beyond the solutions available today, identifying emerging needs within the client base and proposing solutions that we can build and scale across our network.

Experience in a news organization, working in audience development, engagement, community management, analytics or reader revenue will be highly regarded. Knowledge of email marketing, social media, editorial/content strategy, news audience development and/or user experience is a plus.

Not you but think you have something to offer? Job descriptions are tough to write and rarely comprehensive. The above is only one way we’ve envisioned this role. We welcome people of all backgrounds and experiences to apply; come with a passion for supporting the independent news ecosystem and an ability to learn and tell us how you think you can make an impact with BlueLena.

To apply, please send a short email to join@bluelena.io outlining how you would make an impact at BlueLena. Include a resume or LinkedIn link. Subject line “Audience Strategist.”

About BlueLena:

BlueLena was founded in 2020 by an experienced team of journalists and newsmedia marketing executives to create a sustainable future for independent local media. We do so by deploying world class technology and delivering the expertise and professional services to build and support subscription, membership and donation models for long-term success. 

Today we support over 180 newsrooms across the United States and Canada.

The BlueLena publishing membership represents a diverse mix of nonprofit and for-profit newsrooms, including pure digital and hybrid print + digital publications, as well as established and new media brands. Our clients represent membership with LION Publishers, the Institute for Nonprofit News (INN), Local Media Association (LMA), the National Association of Hispanic Press (NAHP), the Black Press Association (NNPA), and the Association of Alternative Newsmedia (AAN), 

We facilitate the sharing of best practices through a weekly newsletter, community Slack channel, and monthly Zoom meetings where we spotlight success stories from across the BlueLena publisher consortium.

BlueLena is committed to creating a diverse environment and is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, genetics, disability, age, or veteran status.

To apply, please send a short email to join@bluelena.io outlining how you would make an impact at BlueLena. Include a resume or LinkedIn link.