The report is titled “News in the Age of Personalized Marketing. “The report into the current state of News Media Marketing comes from Iterable, the growth marketing company behind companies such as DoorDash, Zillow, and AT&T.
Within the report are findings which show that media companies have increased their use of communications to consumers via email, mobile and other digital methods. This is based on a survey of media outlets like The New York Times, BBC, CNN, and even Fox News.
The common theme with these media outlets is a shift from providing blanket content to their readers and towards offering readers the ability to control their experience with the news.
While the use of newsletters containing headline stories sent to in-boxes remains a primary means of communication, these are increasingly being personalized towards the reader based on viewing preferences or by the reader selecting different options.
The aim here is to help drive readers towards stories that carry premium adverts or to premium subscription services. Most editors are of the view that subscription and premium memberships are the revenue driver of the future. Given a fall in online advertising rates and associated revenue, the use of premium subscriptions is how most companies envisage the basis of future income becoming.
Commenting on these findings, Alyssa Jarrett, a director at Iterable said: “The mediums and methods used to consume news have the potential for a highly personalized experience. And yet, publications often face technological limitations in making this experience a reality for their subscribers.”
She adds that: “Many of the publications in our research are industry leaders when it comes to cross-channel communications. The next step is personalizing that messaging for every news seeker.”
The report also finds that, unsurprisingly, mobile access is the preferred way for people to access news content. To drive readers, this means media services are increasingly turning towards push notifications as well as email newsletters.
