You’re a digital publisher or media company and these questions keep bugging you. Are visitors spending enough time onsite? How can you get them to dwell longer? Are they finding content which feels relevant to them? Are they taking the right actions, both for them and for you?
The answer to these questions comes from analysing the customer experience journey – then personalising it. Customising content within a reader’s journey makes them feel more connected with your brand, and most importantly it means they’ll not only give you their data, but also their trust.
One media company in particular used content personalisation to achieve 30% increased revenue, 60% higher clickthrough rates and 150% higher ad click rates. Read on to find out how.
Personalised content, powerful results
Put simply, content customisation improves your user experience and powers your business. In fact, studies have found that personalisation can boost revenues by up to 15% by creating meaningful experiences for readers. Let’s look briefly at how this works.
- Engagement – the key principle here is that personalised content is more relevant to the reader, which drives higher engagement rates. If readers see content that is relevant to them, they are more likely to engage with it and stay on the page longer.
- Conversion – personalisation also drives higher conversion rates. Serve your reader with targeted content aligned to their interests, and you’ll find that reader is more likely to convert into a paying customer.
- Data insights – as I’ve mentioned already, analysing data is key to improving that user experience. Personalised content already requires solid data on your readers and, in a virtuous circle, it also enables better data insights. Media brands can collect more data on their readers, which in turn helps them better understand and serve that audience.
- User experience – delivering personalised content ultimately provides a better user experience for readers. If users can easily find content that they are interested in, they are more likely to return to the website in the future.
But how do you put this into practice? Take the lead from a media company which gets it right—Business Insider.
Nailing personalised content like Business Insider
Business Insider – the global tech and finance media website owned by German publishing powerhouse Axel Springer – has honed its methods for personalising content for readers.
An effective starting point is user registration. Business Insider encourages readers to create a user account, which allows them to personalise their experience on the site. By signing up, readers provide their data which helps Business Insider understand their preferences and deliver more relevant content.
The next is behavioural data tracking. This technical-sounding approach simply means that the digital publisher uses tracking technologies – like cookies – to monitor user behaviour on the site. This data is used to ensure that each type of user has a unique experience on their website.
But there are more active, outbound ways which the website uses to reach out to readers. One example is newsletters. This basic form of communication may seem old-fashioned, but this is actually a powerful tool for delivering personalised content directly to a reader’s inbox. Subscribers to these newsletters receive content on a variety of different topics which is engaging, informative, and most importantly tailored to them.
Another benefit of analysing user behaviour and interests is that Business Insider can deliver personalised ads. This is good for readers who don’t see irrelevant content, and even better for the media company and its clients as it drives higher engagement rates and conversions.
Finally, Business Insider employs a clever form of automated content curation. This approach curates content from around the web and uses algorithms to recommend articles to readers based on their interests and browsing history.
So, we’ve seen Business Insider’s tactics for content personalisation and improving the user experience. But did that translate into business benefits?
Personalisation pays off
Despite strong headwinds – like the global pandemic’s impact on the publishing industry – during Covid Business Insider not only survived but thrived. It boasted a subscriber base of around 250,000, but most impressive is how it has leveraged this base into increased engagement and revenue.
During 2020, Business Insider achieved a remarkable 30% revenue growth, which can be attributed to the strategic measures the Insider team took – well in advance of Covid – to ensure its resilience.
Throughout the pandemic, the news website also saw an impressive 60% increase in clickthrough rates and a 150% increase in ad click rates in newsletters, primarily by implementing personalised content recommendations and tools.
Seen against the backdrop of media brands facing adversity, these achievements were a testament to Business Insider’s resilience and adaptability.
How to tailor your content and improve user experience
So, how can you take inspiration and succeed in your own news website? Here are five quick tips for a successful content personalisation strategy.
Firstly, gather your data. Collect data about your readers’ behaviour, interests and preferences, which can be done through advanced tools and tracking technology.
Next, analyse that data. Once you’ve accumulated your audience data, analyse it to identify patterns and trends in the audience’s behaviour. This can help you understand which content is most popular and which topics your readers are interested in.
Now you understand your readers, personalise the content you show them. This may involve recommending related articles, highlighting content that matches their interests, and creating customised newsletters. If this task seems challenging, use an AI tool to help streamline the process – this doesn’t have to be as daunting as it sounds, with no-code off-the-shelf solutions like Bridged Media ready to go.
Couple your personalised content with an optimised user experience. This means making sure your website is user-friendly and easy to navigate, which includes optimising page load times, improving search functionality and ensuring that content is accessible on all devices.
Finally, make sure you test and iterate. This isn’t a one-off project but an ongoing process. Try out different personalisation strategies and analyse the results to see what works best for your readers, iterating the strategy based on the collected data and reader feedback.
Make it happen
As competition in digital publishing keeps growing, content personalisation is an increasingly important way for media companies to stand out and succeed. With the right AI tools, news websites can automate the personalisation process, create effective strategies, and stay ahead of the competition.