ASNE/ APME Audiences:

The Future of Media TechSeptember 2014 – Chicago

Webbmedia Group is a digital strategy agency.

We focus on near-future tech & digital media trends.

Advising: audience, community and business growth.

Some of Webbmedia Group’s Clients Include...

OBSERVATION:How do Journalists

perceive the media ecosystem?

Observation: How journalists perceive the media ecosystem in 2014

Newsroom Ecosystem Focus:

People interact with news on their devices, in social networks or in print.

STUDY:How do Non-Journalists

perceive the media ecosystem?

Non-Journalist Ecosystem Focus:

Systems, tools, content and partners are all interconnected and are vital components of the ecosystem.

PLATFORMECONOMICS

Bell’s Telephone:

The more people bought and used it, the more valuable it became.

NETWORK EFFECT

Newspapers produce the value. Therefore you are the product.

Apple, Uber, Amazon are platform businesses with insatiable audiences. Value is created on the outside, too.

SHIFT: Product to Platformin order to sustain and

grow newspaper audiences.

Three Key Opportunities

1. Rethinking your audience.

2. Engaging your audience.

3. Distributing news to your audience.

Focus on your consumer, not just her device.

1

Rethinking Audience Strategy

Current News Story Dimensions

Digital LEGACY

mobile, web, social, app, database, etc.

newspaper, TV broadcast, radio broadcast

Lon

gSh

ort

Device > ConsumerUnintended Consequence:

What are the other dimensions of

news storytelling?

Consumer

Future Story Dimensions

Consumer

Future Story DimensionsApp or HTML5?

Screen size?

Home location?

New location?

Work location?

Commuting?

At the gym?

Eating dinner?

Lean forward?

Lean back?

Driving?

Jogging?

Researching?

Looking for social media posts?

Trending for her?

Will she engage?

New content recommendation?

News content can go anywhere

Current Audience Realities

TEMPORAL

Developed for the news consumer at a particular moment in time, given that there are N# variables in time and activity.

ACTIVITIES

Developed for the news consumer’s activities at that moment in time.

BEHAVIORS

Developed for the news consumer given her past and predicted behaviors.

IQ/EQ

Developed so that it meets the news consumer’s intellectual and emotional needs at that moment.

TREND

Social personalization

Case Study: Nuzzel App

Case Study: Nuzzel App

Case Study: Nuzzel App

Temporal: incremental units of time; manual or automatic

Activities: UI shows exactly the right amount of information for screen

Behaviors: aggregates content based on who I interact with on Twitter

IQ/EQ: makes me smarter faster

Simple Case Study: Nuzzel App

Case Study: NYT Now

Temporal: When is the consumer opening? When is the content being pushed?

Activities: Accelerometer to determine story type and content?

Behaviors: Consider a user’s actions while in the app?

IQ/EQ: Does it make her smarter faster? Or compelled to take action?

Case Study: NYT Now

OBSERVATION:

Newspapers compete by adding new features to existing products.

You must shift your mindset and business practices to encourage network effects.

Opportunities: Journal Sentinel

Intent: Make it easier for our audience to understand an important story.

Execution: May be more difficult for our audience; may be off-putting for our audience.

Opportunities: Journal Sentinel

TREND

Explainers and Cards

Vox is starting to rewrite the news media ecosystem rules.

KEY TAKEAWAY

Newspaper journalism is increasingly incompatible with our devices.

Develop content for people. Not their devices.

Just One Thing

Self-Audit Strategy = Pick 5 stories a day and interact with them in different scenarios and on different devices.

Use data to learn about your audienceand what they want to know.

2

Engaging Your Audience

Do you really know which stories are more likely to engage your audience?

Do you have DATA to prove your hypothesis?

Actual Emerging

Theoretical Potential

CURRENT CUSTOMERS

???

Four Broad Audience Quadrants

???

???

What is unique about the Sun’s coverage?

Why should I go to the site?

Two different approaches.

1Human editors informedby algorithmic decisionsand smart data analysis.

You may not approve of their editorial content.

But you must learn fromtheir data strategy.

Data Analysis

Beyond A/B Testing:• Predicting Outcome For Average User• Predicting Outcome For Individual User

Beyond Social Testing:• Click/ Retention Outcome

T time of day P kinds of photos S kinds of stories N on different social networks

Just a few points of many...

BuzzFeed244% increaseYoY 13-14

Increased traffic =

Better revenue, membership/ subscription opportunities.

2Brands with a very strongPOV and voice acrossplatforms.

+As platforms.

TREND

Platform over product

Think more broadly about platform.

Who is your audience?

How do you engage them?

KEY TAKEAWAY

Winning the internet isn’t rocket science.

It’s DATA science.

Just One Thing

Predictive Modeling Strategy = Think through how you could increase weekend traffic.

Data AnalysisData:• Past 6 months all traffic• Past 6 months social interactions

Learn:• Categorize stories read by theme• Categorize stories read by device• Which categories read at X time/ on X device• Which categories referred traffic by X network• Etc. etc. etc.

Assumptions:• Website/ Internet didn’t go down• Exlude outliers (holidays, big breaking news)

How should your news content be deployed?

3

Distributing News

#IceBucketChallenge

SimilarWeb August 2014 data

ALSA.org traffic

> 7775%

Elements

TimeName PeopleAccept ChallengeIce ActionIce ReactionNominate People

Formula

[10T x (P1 + C1] => 

[5T x (I1 + I2)] =>

[5T x (N1 + N2 + N3)]Where.....

Formula

1. Content ≠ on just one platform2. Content requires social platforms3. Content = highly visual4. Content is participatory5. Anyone can participate6. Directions are clear7. Information + fun8. There is a deadline

Formula

1. Adult tells kid aphorism2. Adult = sing it together?3. The sing just the chorus4. <optional> Kid asks N# for advice 5. #MinnStarTomorrow6. Spread on FB, Twitter7. Upload best of on site

TREND

Simple social formulas

TREND

Participatory memes

Other content?

Algorithmic Distribution(aggressive story versioning)

Human editors and algorithms working together.

Determining the right story for the right platform, place, time.

Journalists still determine what stories matter.

Content doesn’t just go viral. There’s a formula.

How do you distribute the right piece of content to the right audience at the right time?

KEY TAKEAWAY

Just One Thing

Distribution Strategy = Think through how you might distribute and deploy content differently, more personally.

Thanks!

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