Seventy percent of people who cancel a news subscription do so because of “perceived low value,” typically within the first 90 days. With the rich amount of content produced by newsrooms every single day, users often struggle to find the content that is most relevant to them.
Content is what makes people pay and stay, but research has found that content that converts people is mostly not content that will retain them. Understanding what content resonates with people at each stage of the customer lifetime journey is key, but more importantly is acting upon this data.
Publishers need to not only diversify subscribers’ content engagement, but also work to make consumption a frequent habit. One way of doing this is through personalization technology, and more specifically for publishers, we have seen noteworthy results with personalized newsletters.
Personalized newsletters drive reading habits and activate readers
JAMES, Your Digital Butler, is an AI solution developed by Twipe that helps news publishers with the automation and personalization of content distribution.
Newspaper publishers sending personalized newsletters integrated with the JAMES technology, have seen an average uplift of almost 25% in habitual reading. This means that one in four low-engaged subscribers targeted by personalized newsletters have increased their reading frequency to more than three days a week. The importance of this metric should not be underestimated: Three days a week is considered to be the tipping point at which a reader subconsciously develops a habit.
Activation of “Zombie Readers,” those who have not shown any reading behaviour in the past month, has also been achieved with JAMES. Through using JAMES personalized newsletters, publishers have noticed an average activation rate of 6% among their Zombie subscribers. This re-engagement with Zombie subscribers is a clear win for engagement rates and helps to ensure readers are more likely to stay and enjoy quality content.
Acquiring new readers is part of the puzzle. But keeping existing ones from churning is critical and typically less expensive. The longer someone is a subscriber, the higher their lifetime customer value.
About Twipe:
Twipe is a Mediatech company that offers state-of-the-art digital publishing, analytics and personalization solutions. Twipe has been recognized as an innovation and technology leader in the area of digital edition-based publishing and personalized content distribution. Our technology and team are trusted by many publishers across the United States and Europe.
JAMES is the result of a yearlong research project with The Times of London.
In the project, different experiments were run with various personalization algorithms. The JAMES algorithm clearly outperformed other models with its formula that combines personal interest with trending news. JAMES’ hybrid algorithm also ensures that readers avoid falling into filter bubbles, a common concern around personalization products.
For more information, feel free to reach out to our Business Lead - North America, Sien De Neve: sien.de.neve@twipemobile.com.
