About Billy Penn

Billy Penn at WHYY is a local newsroom with a mission to improve Philadelphia by reporting on and explaining the city’s political, physical, and cultural infrastructure. Our goal is to connect residents — to useful and fun information, and to one another. Our reader-powered nonprofit newsroom covers everything Philly, from breaking news to urban life to food and fun. Billy Penn’s original reporting keeps our community connected and informed. Billy Penn was founded in 2014 as a startup, and in 2019 it joined WHYY, the region’s NPR and PBS public media affiliate.

Project Overview and Background

Billy Penn at WHYY is seeking to grow its audience, both in size and diversity, with the help of an experienced consultant that is capable of creating an effective digital campaign that grows its website referrals and reach. 

The successful candidate has a clear track record with growing a news brand’s digital audience. This includes but may not be limited to considering and prioritizing growth strategies for the website, social media, newsletters, events and podcasting. Growth of the BIlly Penn brand might include real life experiences and events. We leave that up to you to advise us on. 

What’s needed? A strategic campaign to support the growth of newsletter subscribers, website traffic, brand awareness, membership and social media engagement with a focus on Gen Z, millennial and Gen X audiences, WHYY’s next generation of audience, as well as engaged citizens of the City of Philadelphia regardless of age. 

What comprises Billy Penn’s current audience? Our website reaches over 350,000 unique visitors monthly, about a third of whom reside in the Philly region and of whom two-thirds are under the age of 45. We also send a daily newsletter to more than 44,000 people, and record close to 30,000 average daily opens. Our Instagram reaches an average of 22,000 accounts weekly and two-thirds are under the age of 45.

Billy Penn’s voice is unique and garners positive feedback, but surely more people may like to know more about Billy Penn and its content. In a sea of local news sites, most digital as well, Billy Penn is a standout for its unique editorial choices and the “surprising and delightful way” it presents its news stories. 

There are at least 615,000 millennial and Gen Z adults living in Philadelphia alone. Billy Penn is well poised to serve them, including:

  • People new to the area who want to get to know about their new city 
  • Busy working adults, from professionals to entrepreneurs to gig workers, who don’t have time to follow news incrementally but want to receive useful news and information 
  • College students interested in a news outlet that speaks to their communication style and interests
  • Philadelphians who want impactful and curious journalism 

Scope of Work and Timeline

This audience growth assignment is to help Billy Penn grow its audience and suggest new avenues to reach ones that we haven’t yet thought of yet. The project is an up to six-month exercise that will start in February 2024. The consultant should be prepared to consider various multi-channel digital strategies to grow Billy Penn’s website referrals, newsletters, social media and reach. The consultant is asked to provide insights into the impact of new digital channels and strategies, such as podcasts. 

Following introductory meetings with Billy Penn and WHYY stakeholders, the consultant must submit a final project roadmap that includes strategic recommendations and that is due two weeks after the last onboarding meeting. Implementation of the finalized strategies will commence thereafter.

The consultant will manage project insights and provide a written report once per month that presents a summary of work to date and a tracking of the efficacy of the ongoing implementation of growth strategies. A final written report summarizing the work and findings will be due six months from the project’s start date. 

This is a contract position, with a set budget. The ideal candidate will have:

  • Experience creating digital strategies for a news brand 
  • A track record for growing digital audiences
  • Experience running social media accounts
  • A start-up mindset and experience using digital tools
  • Ability to track and measure success

Submission Requirements

Please respond to this RFP by filling out this form with the following detailed information:

  • Overview of your professional services
  • At least three examples of previous work
  • Detailed audience growth proposal that clearly explains your audience growth ideas that align with the scope of work
  • A budget outline that includes the costs to implement your audience growth strategies, any paid marketing and consultancy project fees.

Responses to this RFP are requested via this form by Jan. 22, 2024.