It seems like more and more people are checking their email and social networks every morning. Most of us do it to find out what happened while we were sleeping. Except for we're not tucking into a newspaper with our coffee, we're scrolling down a Twitter or a Facebook app.
This is why news organizations have developed iPhone apps. I ran a search for news applications at the iTunes News Apps for iPhone and stopped counting at 3,240. I love convenience and no matter how small laptops become, my iPhone is always with me. Given the increase in the number of people who will have access to high speed, Internet-enabled devices in years to come, news organizations have joined many other companies that are ahead of the game on portability.
The best part on this is that news organizations have a new opportunity to be portable with relevance. In an age when magazines and newspapers are not a daily habit as much any more, news apps incorporate portability with immediacy - push notifications are an example of that.
What can businesses learn from news apps? I think a big part of it involves "providing value in exchange for presence" on mobile phones. Great brands provide utility, experimentation, design of experience, create a sense of community with customers, and change the model.
I believe the best way you get your news feeds on peoples phones comes down to:
1. Publishing great content - this is something you will continue to see improving everywhere. Feeding the web that feeds your phone a completely new and exciting way of organizing content.
2. Being real - we got past the empty "hi, how are you, I'm going to the store" kind of real. Technology updates, entertainment and engagement are good starting points, depending on what your brand stands for.
3. Giving the inside scoop - social networks seem to be giving you the uncut news more quickly now, because it is not monetized like the big news organization.
4. Being personal - a personal relationship still outweighs all the digital gimmicks out there.
5. Allowing a conversation - mobile begins to fare much better than social this year.
This leads to your own personal reflection of what news app works best for you and what you consider intrusive on your phone.
No comments:
Post a Comment