Local Stories Project

July 2017

Anna Clarkson
Overview
NPRs Digital News team relaunched the Local Stories
Project (LSP) in July 2016. Through the project, editors at
NPR and member stations work together to drive station-
produced content to NPRs Facebook users.

The project curates story pitches from 31 member stations.

Stories cover a variety of topics and issues. Pitches are
reviewed and edited by NPR digital editors. Selected stories
are published to NPRs Facebook page as geo-targeted
posts to regional communities. Some stories are shared with
all of NPRs Facebook followers.

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Summary
In 11 months (August 2016 June 2017), the Local
Stories Project generated 2.9 million referrals to station
sites.
Nearly 90% of accepted LSP pitches are geo-targeted.
An average geo-targeted post accounts for roughly 10%
of that storys total traffic.
An average post shared with the entire NPR Facebook
audience accounts for 80% of that storys total traffic.
Geo-targeted posts typically have higher engagement
rates. However, these posts tend to reach fewer people
because they are limited to specific geographic areas.
For geo-targeted station posts, 4% of those reached end up interacting
with the post, compared to 3% for the typical NPR link post
Geo-targeted posts also have higher click-through rates than a typical
NPR post 3
Summary
On most measures of story performance, geo-targeted
posts for Station and Station lead among stations.
Were seeing three types of local story posts that perform
well: (1) national stories with a local spin, (2) posts that
answer community questions, and (3) posts that cover
community interests.

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Metric Definitions
Reach the number of people who saw the post in their feed.

Consumers the number of people who interacted with the post

in some way (may not have clicked-through to the story).

Link clicks the number of times the link was clicked on the post.

Percent reached who consumed of those who saw the post,

what percent interacted with the post.

Click-through rate the number of clicks divided by impressions.

Impressions the number of times a post was viewed, multiple

views by the same person are counted.

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 Station 1, Station 2 lead stations with posts
published on main NPR Facebook page
Posts Published to Main Facebook Page
(includes posts shared to entire audience and geo-targeted posts)
Station 1
Station 2
Station 3
Station 4
Station 5
Station 6
Station 7
Station 8
Station 9
Station 10
Station 11
Station 12
Station 13
Station 14
Station 15
Station 16
Station 17
Station 18
Station 19
Station 20
Station 21
Station 22
Station 23

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Facebook Insights, Main Page, August 2016 June 2017 6
 Majority (nearly 90%) of station posts
are geo-targeted
Station 16 had the highest share of posts shared to the entire
NPR Facebook audience.
Geo-targeted Posts Shared to Entire Audience
Overall
Station 1
Station 2
Station 3
Station 4
Station 5
Station 6
Station 7
Station 8
Station 9
Station 10
Station 11
Station 12
Station 13
Station 14
Station 15
Station 16

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Stations with less than 10 posts not included.
Facebook Insights, Main Page, August 2016 June 2017 7
 The LSP generated 2.9 million clicks to
station sites over 11 months
The majority of traffic was generated by approximately 40
posts that were shared with the entire NPR Facebook
audience.
Link Clicks
2,500,000
2,069,915
2,000,000 Geotargeted: 527 posts
Shared to entire audience: 67 posts
1,500,000 Total posts: 594
(does not include posts submitted but not accepted)

1,000,000 783,635

500,000

0
Geo-targeted Shared to Entire Audience

Facebook Insights, Main Page, August 2016 June 2017 8

 LSP Facebook posts account for a
decent percent of station story traffic
An average geo-targeted post drives about 11% of that
storys traffic. If the post is shared with the entire NPR
Facebook audience, it drives approximately 80% of the
storys traffic.
Percent of Station Story Views

81%

11%

Geo-targeted Posts Shared to Entire Audience

Google Analytics, August 2016 June 2017

Facebook Insights, Main Page, Geotargeted Posts, August 2016 June 2017 9
 Geo-targeted posts reach fewer people
but have higher engagement rates
Geo-targeted LSP posts may not reach as many people, but
they engage the audience they do reach at higher rates
compared to what we typically see from NPR links published
to our entire Facebook audience.

Typical geo- Typical NPR

targeted station link post
post
Reach 17,800 588,100 Reaching and
engaging fewer
Consumers 757 17,300 people
Link Clicks 540 9,300
Percent reached who consumed 4.0% 3.0% But engaging the
people they reach
Click-through rate 1.7% 1.0% at higher rates

Facebook Insights, Main Page, August 2016 June 2017 10

Performance for Geo-targeted
Member Station Posts

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 Geo-targeted posts for Station 1, Station 2,
Station 3 reach the most people
A typical post reaches just under 20,000 people.
Reach per post
0 20,000 40,000 60,000 80,000 100,000
Station 1
Station 2
Station 3
Station 4
Station 5
Station 6
Station 7
Station 8
Station 9
Station 10
All Stations
Station 11
Station 12
Station 13
Station 14
Station 15
Station 16

Facebook Insights, Main Page, Geo-targeted Posts, August 2016 June 2017 12
 Station 1 posts are engaging the most
people
Not all that surprising given that Station 1 posts are also
reaching the most people.
Consumers per post
Station 1
Station 2
Station 3
Station 4
Station 5
Station 6
Station 7
Station 8
Station 9
Station 10
All Stations
Station 11
Station 12
Station 13
Station 14
Station 15
Station 16

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000 6,000 7,000

Facebook Insights, Main Page, Geo-targeted Posts, August 2016 June 2017 13
 Station 1, Station 2, Station 3 have the
highest engagement rates
Again, engagement rates for geo-targeted LSP posts are
very high compared to posts shared to our entire audience.
Percent reached who consumed
Station 1
Station 2
Station 3
Station 4
Station 5
Station 6
Station 7
Station 8
Station 9
All Stations
Station 10
Station 11 Typical rate for NPR
Station 12
Station 13
links shared to main
Station 14 NPR FB account is 3%
Station 15
Station 16

0.0% 1.0% 2.0% 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% 7.0% 8.0%

Facebook Insights, Main Page, Geo-targeted Posts, August 2016 June 2017 14
 Station 1, Station 2, Station 3 also
receiving the most link clicks per post
Overall, the typical geo-targeted station post is generating
about 500 link clicks. But obviously that varies greatly,
depending on region.
Link clicks per post
Station 1
Station 2
Station 3
Station 4
Station 5
Station 6
Station 7
Station 8
Station 9
Station 1 outperforming other
Station 10 stations here is partially due to
All Stations
Station 11
higher reach per post; NPRs main
Station 12 Facebook also tends to over-index
Station 13
Station 14
in the Station 1 market
Station 15
Station 16

0 1,000 2,000 3,000 4,000 5,000

Facebook Insights, Main Page, Geo-targeted Posts, August 2016 June 2017 15
 Station 1 has the highest click-through
rate of any station for geo-targeted posts
Station and Station also see high click-through rates.

Click-through rate
Station 1
Station 2
Station 3
Station 4
Station 5
Station 6
Station 7
Station 8
Station 9
All Stations
Station 10
Station 11 Typical rate for NPR
Station 12
Station 13
links shared to main
Station 14 NPR FB account is 1%
Station 15
Station 16

0.0% 0.5% 1.0% 1.5% 2.0% 2.5% 3.0%

Facebook Insights, Main Page, Geo-targeted Posts, August 2016 June 2017 16
Factors that lead to higher engagement
for LSP posts
Here are a couple factors that lead to higher engagement
rates for posts that are a part of our Local Stories Project:

1. They are geo-targeted to a specific group of people

who are more likely to have an interest in the
content. Posts shared to the entire NPR audience are
seen by a much larger group of people, and many may
not have an interest in the content.
2. Our editors hand pick what they consider to be the
best local stories. This raises the average engagement
rate for these posts.

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Types of stories that perform well

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1. Taking a national story and putting a
local spin on it
What do your representatives think of President Trumps immigration ban?

In this case many stories

revolved around politics (given
the time period). For example,
Michigan Radio had a story
about how Michigans
representatives viewed the
immigration ban.

12% of people reached consumed, 7%

click-through rate

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2. Answering community questions
Why wont this pink stuff stop growing in my bathroom?

A local wrote into KUOWs

segment Local Wonder
asking about the red tint found
in bathrooms and whether it
was unique to the Pacific
Northwest.

15% of people reached consumed, 8%

click-through rate

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3. Reporting on community interests
Why is Vermont so Overwhelmingly White?
VPR did a story about the
history of Vermonts
whiteness, talking to locals
of different backgrounds
and races.

11% of people reached

consumed, 4% click-through rate

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