Digital Innovation
2 mins read

Email, mobile are key to building reader loyalty

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Among all the content options that people have, it’s tough for publishers to maintain a distinct voice. Getting noticed is tougher and getting people to remember to come back regularly is the toughest thing of all.

Growing Loyalty on Mobile

A strong mobile play may have a big part to play in re-establishing regular readership, both through off-platform publishing and owned apps.

Humans are still creatures of habit; it’s just the habits have changed. Where we once picked up a newspaper on our way to work and a magazine once a week on the way home, we’ve shifted our habitual behaviors to our phones.

The app habit can be a powerful one – that’s why being seen in social streams has become so important to publishers. Facebook’s claims 66% of users check in daily, with American users spending an average of 50 minutes a day on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger apps. Publishers can only dream of getting that level of engagement independently, but they can maybe claim a share by shifting their content onto the networks

Reaching out with email

But while publishing off-platform may help develop a content consumption habit, it does little for direct relationships. That’s why there has been a resurgence in publisher push efforts, from email newsletters to mobile notifications.

It’s maybe strange to think of old-school emails as a weapon in the 21st Century fight for attention, but time spent with email rose 17% in 2015-2016, with millennials spending more time with email than any other age group, all because of their phones.

Publishers are using email to re-kindle the direct communication they once enjoyed in print. Get anonymous social media audiences to sign up for your email newsletter and you have a shot at taking back control of your relationship.

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