How Lee Enterprises transformed from print to digital with AI-powered efficiency

The Challenge:
Lee Enterprises faced the complex challenge of transforming a large, historically print-focused organization into a nimble, digital-first media company. With numerous publications serving unique local communities, Lee needed to leverage its broad reach while maintaining the local focus valued by readers. The company faced challenges in efficiently distributing and monetizing its wealth of exclusive content across digital platforms. Additionally, as readers increasingly discovered news through search engines and social media, Lee had to ensure its content was optimized for discoverability without compromising journalistic integrity.

The overarching challenge was to implement solutions that could work across its diverse portfolio of digital products, streamlining operations while allowing for the local customization central to Lee's value proposition.

1. Digital Transformation: Adapting traditional print workflows to meet digital-first demands.
2. Content Distribution: Efficiently repurposing and distributing content across multiple platforms.
3. SEO & Discoverability: Ensuring visibility of content from various publications in search results.
4. Audience Engagement: Adapting content strategies to align with changing reader preferences.
5. Revenue Diversification: Exploring new digital revenue streams while maintaining traditional advertising channels.

The Solution:
Lee Enterprises implemented a suite of Nota's AI-powered tools in a five-market pilot to address the challenges of digital transformation, content distribution, SEO and discoverability, audience engagement, and revenue diversification. The tools included:

Nota SUM
Deployed to optimize headlines, meta descriptions, and keywords for improved SEO performance.

Nota SOCIAL
Utilized to create tailored social media content for each digital product, enhancing distribution and engagement across various platforms.

Nota VID Pro
Used to create short video content from articles, diversifying formats and improving engagement on social media. These tools were integrated into Lee Enterprises' existing workflow across the five pilot markets, allowing for easy adoption by their newsroom teams.

The Outcomes:
The implementation of Nota's tools led to significant improvements across Lee Enterprises' operations. Social media posts generated by Nota achieved up to 10 times more user interactions, while editorial teams reduced their routine content optimiz ation time by 30-50%.

These efficiencies enabled Lee Enterprises to better leverage its publication network, resulting in higher audience engagement and revenue growth.

	1. Increased Social Engagement In a pilot, Lee ' s properties reported up to 10x increases over average in social interactions with Nota generated social media posts.
	2. Improved Content Efficiency Editorial teams reported a 30-50% reduction in time spent on routine content optimization tasks such as summaries and SEO, depending on the type of work performed by the reporters or editors using Nota.

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Summary:
By adopting Nota's suite of tools, Lee Enterprises successfully navigated many challenges associated with digital transformation in the news industry. The solution enabled Lee to uphold its commitment to local journalism while significantly enhancing its digital performance. The increased efficiency in content creation and distribution allowed the company to better leverage its extensive network of publications, leading to improved audience engagement and revenue growth.

This case study illustrates how AI tools can assist traditional media companies in adapting to the digital landscape while preserving their core strengths and values.

About Lee Enterprises:
Lee Enterprises is a prominent provider of local news, information, and advertising, primarily serving midsize markets across the United States. Founded in 1890, the company has a rich history in print journalism and is currently navigating the shift to digital media. Lee's portfolio includes 72 markets in 25 states. Lee reaches more than 50 million readers weekly. Innovating to meet the evolving needs of readers and advertisers in the digital age, the company remains dedicated to delivering high-quality, trusted local news.

About Nota:
Nota empowers storytellers by combining creativity with cutting-edge technology. Our suite of assistive AI tools helps content creators amplify their stories’ impact and reach while we handle content optimization and distribution. Guided by core values of intention, integrity, and ingenuity, we develop tools that make AI accessible and practical for storytellers across industries. From generating headlines to creating dynamic videos and engaging newsletters, Nota seamlessly integrates into existing workflows, enabling storytelling to thrive. At Nota, we’re committed to ensuring that human stories remain at the heart of innovation.

To learn how Nota can help transform your organization, just email sales@heynota.com or go to our site www.heynota.com and click on REQUEST A DEMO.