How Publishers Can Increase Reader Engagement Being Personal & Dynamic

The attention span of the average internet user has never been shorter and there is one big reason why? Advertising! While ads are undoubtedly part of the equation, when it comes to getting paid for publishing content, publishers can't be hoping that users will tolerate endless pop-ups and banner ads.

Instead, publishers should focus their attention on creating more relevant content that readers will be invested in, and keep coming back for more. The only way to do this is by knowing who their readers are and what they care about most.

This means learning not just what articles your readers click on, but also factor in how long they spend reading them and also if they share these articles with friends, or return to the publication a later date. If you've ever wondered how to increase reader engagement, please read on. Here are some ways that publishers can get started.

Mixing Personalisation and Dynamic  Content

Firstly, it's important to understand engagement is not about pushing out more content. It's learning about reader interests. You can increase your engagement and subscription rate by using Evolok software. The platform allows you to capture all user interests and display content accordingly through a dynamic paywall strategy. Content can be mixed and matched based on individual customer experience without compromising business objectives, but rather embracing potential opportunities while increasing subscriptions rates.

Customising Content Displayed by Device Type

Another way publishers can increase engagement is by targeting user preferences when it comes to the type of device - knowing that some readers might prefer using their smartphones while commuting, other readers might prefer tablets for this purpose. Then a third cohort may never view content on mobile devices unless stationary at home on a laptop or desktop. While these aren't always hard and fast rules, there will be varying factors to how and when users view content. Generalising user device preferences will allow publishers to emphasise the most important content for users at different times through customisation.

Improve Article Recommendations on Your Site

Having a recommendation system automatically suggests articles that are popular with readers with similar interests. The content you can display using Evolok's software, can be tailored based on individual preference. Recommendations can fall within subject areas that the reader prefers. The algorithm ensures that the readers always get the news and most relevant content. For you as a publisher, this will translate into more page impressions. What’s more, it will increase time spent on-page, which will undoubtedly help you attract more advertisers. 

Personalise Content Displayed by Mail

When it comes to increasing reader engagement, email newsletters are a good starting point as it's such an integral part of any publisher's strategy for engaging with existing and new audiences.
For example, if you receive a newsletter from a particular publisher regularly on Monday's and get's a lot of engagement, then the company know that Monday is your preferred day to read it because subscribers are spending more time catching up on all of your favorite industry news before getting stuck into work this will indicate positive feedback and to put more focus on email marketing on those days.

Make Use of Customer Data and Improve Engagement

Publishers must do their research and always be testing. It's important to know what topics your readers are most interested in and which they aren't so that you can steer clear of the latter and bring more of the former into play. The more data publishers have on this, the better they'll be at creating content to engage with audiences.

When you collect the customer data, make sure to:

• Offer stories on topics your user base is interested in
• Display the most popular articles among a particular reader group
• Customise news pages and emails to keep the readers interested