Managing corporate self-media starts from becoming a "growth editor"

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I wrote an article about Growth Hacker in 2016. Some people may think that this emerging industry is only related to engineers, marketers or product managers. But can you imagine? These hybrid (opens in a new tab) new job titles have also entered the media circle. Nowadays, “community editor” (or editor) is no longer enough. Many news organizations have added “interactive journalist”, “engagement editor” and “growth editor”. editor) and other new roles (opens in a new tab).

The ultimate goal of every “Growth Hacker” is to build a marketing machine that can reach millions of people and operate sustainably.

The new professional title revolution in the media circle

I recently paid a visit to my former colleague Siren (opens in a new tab), I learned that foreign media have added new roles in recent years. In the process of pursuing media transformation, they not only pursue a clearer division of labor, but also strive for diversified innovation in content and business models.

Take the New York Times as an example. In fact, Simone Oliver was hired as growth editor as early as 2014.

In this new position (opens in a new tab) she will be charged with partnering with the features desks on their audience development initiatives, working with them on social strategy, analytics dashboards and training, newsletters, mobile engagement, SEO and more.

Responsibilities of Growth Editor

“Growth Editor (opens in a new tab)” sounds so cool, what exactly do you need to do? To put it simply, “growth editing” needs to reach more target readers in the right way. Their daily work scope includes formulating social strategies, establishing data analysis mechanisms, and organizing relevant training. They also need to regularly send e-newsletters (newsletters), and engage in mobile device participation and interactive operations. In addition, search engine optimization (SEO) is also one of the tasks of “growth editor”. Of course, “growth editors” are also indispensable for cross-departmental cooperation and experimenting with various possible solutions that can promote growth.

To put it more directly, the “growth editor” shoulders the important responsibility of increasing the audience for the media (opens in a new tab). Daily Responsibilities (opens in a new tab), including uncovering trends and analyzing data to understand and take action on reader interests, while also tailoring content to specific social media platforms and fostering relationships with content partners. In other words, the role of “growth editor” is far more important than that of “community editor” and must combine cross-field expertise in writing, editing, technology, community, marketing and communication.

Growth Editorial Director of Quartz (opens in a new tab)Thomas McBee (opens in a new tab)（Thomas McBee describes his job (opens in a new tab): “My editorial role is to find opportunities to connect our editorial strategy with our operational strategy to reach more people.”

Everyone can become a growth editor

After reading this, I believe you can already understand the importance of “growth editing”. But don’t think it’s just the New York Times, BBC (opens in a new tab) or Atlantic Media (opens in a new tab) and other large media, or online media with a certain scale like End Media (opens in a new tab) only need “growth editors”! In fact, as long as you help the company run the official website (https://www.vista.tw/en/blog/a-brief-discussion-on-corporate-official), fan pages, or even run your own blog, YouTube channel or Instagram, you can become a “growth editor”.

Another former colleague of mine Li Xinyue (opens in a new tab) once said: “Every company needs at least one self-media editor-in-chief.” Before becoming an independent editor-in-chief, you might as well try to look at the daily operating processes of writing, editing, and marketing from the perspective of a “growth editor.” In addition to improvements in content production (opens in a new tab), we must also pay more attention to social strategies, data analysis, and interactions across vehicles, media, and organizations.

BBC Growth Editor Job Description

I really like the BBC’s [responsibility description] for the “Growth Editor” (https://careerssearch.bbc.co.uk/jobs/job/Social-Growth-Editor/17300 (opens in a new tab)). I would like to excerpt it as follows:

• Pinpointing and acquiring new audiences on social and beyond.

• Distributing stories to new audiences.

• Building partnerships inside and outside the BBC.

• Helping to shape the editorial process to take into account new audiences including, but not limited to, identifying new sources of stories, identifying topics and themes that will resonate with a social audience, commissioning content for use on social platforms.

• Analytics. Lots of analytics.

To briefly translate, the BBC hopes that the specific responsibilities of the “Growth Editor” include:

• Find new audiences on social and other areas.

• Communicate stories to new audiences.

• Build partnerships within and outside the BBC.

• Help shape editorial processes to consider new audiences, including but not limited to identifying new story sources, identifying themes that resonate with community audiences, and debugging various types of content for use on social platforms.

• Analysis. Lots of analysis.

After reading the above description of the responsibilities of “Growth Editor”, are you interested in challenge (opens in a new tab)?

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