People trends in short

Media businesses keep looking into new solutions, models and experiences to create better offerings. These are three interesting trends, summarized by Schibsted Daily Editor Mikaela Åkerman.

Hyper-personalization

No two readers are the same. That is the approach of the idea to hyper-personalize users’ media experience. With the help of modern technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, publishers can experiment with all sorts of parameters to increase engagement and satisfaction with their products. It can be things like finding the best time of the day to deliver content to an individual reader and learning which articles work best to draw readers in. It can also be about testing different layouts and designs, identifying the best channel of communication, and discovering the most effective frequency to deliver content to them. It all comes down to getting to know habits, interests, and preferences of readers as a way to increase loyalty and thereby, hopefully, accelerating subscription growth and reducing churn.

Multi-channel experience

The trend of creating a multi-channel experience, or omnichannel experience, is neither new nor limited to the media industry. All kinds of brands, from retail to banking, are looking to create a seamless user experience across different services and platforms. Most businesses today have marketing campaigns, a website, a blog, and other social network channels alongside their core product. The key, some experts argue, is to make sure they work together and form an integrated, consistent experience. Companies looking to use this technique are encouraged to align their messaging, goals, objectives, and design across each channel and device to enhance their marketing and service efforts.

Editionbased publishing

Forget endless streams of constant news updates. Editions are back in. As a contrast to the fast-paced news flow, which can feel overwhelming at times, readers are looking for boiled-down, summarized, to-the-core news products. News apps with a limited number of stories and newsletters alike are rising in popularity. The behavior goes hand in hand with the observation that readers are increasingly involved in micro-moments of news consumption. Our time is limited, and so is our attention spans. Readers want to feel updated and accomplished in a short amount of time, whether it is while waiting for the bus, standing in line, or having a few moments over during lunch. Studies also suggest that frequency is one of the highest predictors for retention. In other words, making sure people use your service often can be more important than how long they use it for or how deep into it they go.