Defining and Measuring Purposeful Engagement
Not all attention matter.
Below you find examples from the top players of the industry to define and measure engagement. Every model has it's own unique angle to evaluate overall performance. To read more about the core principles on engagement, go to the chapter Engagement. To read more about measuring engagement and performance frameworks go to Goals of audience engagement.
To get more inspiration on goal setting, get to know KPI’s, OKR’s and North-Star Metrics in Performance measurement frameworks.
SMART framework
To measure success you first need clear goals and agreed definitions of success. Those goals should flow directly from the company’s strategy, not merely align with it. After the organisation sets its primary objectives, each team should define supporting goals that ladder up to the overall plan. If the corporate objective is to grow reader revenue, the newsletter team might set a goal to raise weekly open-rate from 38 percent to 45 percent in H2.
How precisely and reliably you can measure success depends on the nature of the work. In audience engagement, benchmark metrics have evolved. Unique page views still matter, but publishers who aim for deeper relationships now focus on visit frequency, time spent, return rate, registrations, and conversions. Metrics that correlate more strongly with habit-building and retention.
Rather than trying to measure and report out—and rally people around—six different engagement metrics, we decided to focus on one: newsletter-subscriber growth. One number everyone can get behind.
Alexandra Smith, The 19th
No matter which performance measurement framework you use to measure overall success, each individual goal should be clear, focused, and attainable. While there are many ways to define goals and metrics, the SMART framework remains one of the most widely used for writing effective goals.
Example of a SMART goal: Raise engaged readers (≥ 4 visits in 30 days) from 22 % to 30 % by 30 Sep 2025
Table summarises how each SMART dimension applies to the example goal above. SMART is an excellent framework for writing clear, actionable goals because it helps ensure each objective is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. However, while SMART goals are effective for structuring individual targets and team-level objectives, defining overall strategic metrics often requires a broader approach.
Frameworks like Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), North Star Metrics, and Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) can complement SMART by setting overarching measures that reflect long-term strategic success. To effectively define your strategic metrics and better understand how leading publishers approach this, read the chapter Goal-setting frameworks and explore what key metrics Condé Nast, The Atlantic, and The Wall Street Journal are prioritizing in 2025.