Saturday, May 2, 2015
Saturday, April 11, 2015
News or nuisance: Experts talk push alerts at London conference
What’s the line between news and nuisance in the age of push alerts?
A CNN editor and mobile marketing expert talked about just that at an Online News Association panel in London. Etan Horowitz, senior mobile editor for CNN; and Alyssa Meritt, head of strategic consulting for mobile engagement for Urban Airship broke down what makes a good push alert.
The pair said a good alert is specific and substantial. “Guess which celebrity died today?" That isn'tt just tasteless, but uninformative and will lead to more annoyed users than actual clicks.
“Watch our show live at 10?" Obnoxious. "White House, Cuba announce warming of diplomatic ties and easing of some travel restrictions?" Better. Specific sports alerts users can opt into? Awesome.
The important thing, Horowitz says, is not to "withhold information simply in the pursuit of clickthroughs," but rather to present useful information that readers can tie to your outlet and, hopefully, want to read more.
The pair, both from North America (though Urban Airship is based in London) shared good and bad examples from both sides of the pond. One app offers push alerts, for example, for a morning, midday and evening news digest. The alert, just like the name of the app itself, is fairly vague. Unless a reader knows of or has an existing interest in what is inside, the reader is probably not going to read what's within. A similar kind of digest presented with teases of what's within would be more clickable.
Furthermore, Horowitz talked up the personalization options of apps produced by CNN's sister companies within Turner, such as NCAA and Bleacher Report. In the former, game results in-app carry the logos of the teams involved. In the latter, users can choose to get updates specifically about their favorite teams and choose to avoid spoilers. He offered the Olympics as an example, where a Gold medal may be awarded halfway around the world in an event that won't air stateside for a number of hours.
Meritt cited recently-launched promotions by Netflix to include recommendations from its original productions' fictional characters in readers' lists, be they Frank Underwood from "House of Cards," Buster Bluth of "Arrested Development" or the eponymous anthropomorphic equine star of "BoJack Horseman." The move drew viewers' attention to films and shows they'd otherwise never notice, while cleverly promoting seasons new and old of the streaming service's shows, she said.
Customization is key, both said. They cited the ABC News app. After a recent redesign, the app saw most users personalizing their push alerts, 500,000 stories favorited and three times the videos watched (plus, for the business side, the presumed resultant pre-roll revenue).
It's not just app design or options that matter, they said. It's the platform too. Android allows apps to customize icons for alerts, while Apple's iOS does not. Rather than just the MLB.com logo showing for an At Bat alert about a game score, in theory you could see the Orioles' cartoon bird or the Washington Nationals' curly W or the logo of the team the alert concerns. How users are able to access and interact with your app can differ across platform, from Android phone to iPhone to Apple Watch to tablets.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
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