Last week, we hosted some of NYC’s finest digital publishing leaders as part of our ongoing efforts to bring together the NYC digital media and marketing community. We host events like this about once a quarter, with the goal of facilitating educational, informative, and entertaining discussions among peers.
We had a great morning of small-group conversations (and delicious pastries) with Keywee customers and friends from The Guardian, NerdWallet, Philadelphia Media Network, Fatherly, The New York Daily News, Forbes, and more.
The morning focused on “The Evolving Role of Data in Storytelling.” We explored the effects of data on a variety of areas, including audience targeting, branded content, user retention, and creative strategy. Our conversations spanned a wide range of topics, but here are three interesting takeaways from the morning:
1. Engagement is more important than ever
Many people mentioned an evolution in metrics. Whereas they used to look toward sessions or page views to measure engagement, their teams now measured their success against metrics like time on site, scroll depth, and content completion rates. These metrics focus less on the revenue produced in one session, and instead on the long-term value of a reader based on their engagement level.
2. The home page makes a comeback
With the rise of distributed content, many people declared the death of the publisher home page. While home pages may never be the heavyweight they used to be, they have made a comeback, once again playing an important role in publisher’s strategies. Users who come directly to the home page or use the site’s search bar tend to be very high-intent. These users are most likely to return on their own organically and even pay for a subscription, so many publishers are finding ways to roll out the red carpet for them.
3. Data is being used across business functions
Historically data may have lived in silos, but today, teams across the company are leveraging data to be better at their jobs. Even editorial teams, which have typically relied on art rather than science, are warming up to the use of data for planning and strategy.
If you’re interested in attending one of our next events, fill in the form below and we’ll keep you posted.
About Keywee
At Keywee, we make stories relevant and powerful for the world’s best storytellers — like The New York Times, The BBC, National Geographic, Forbes, and Red Bull.
Today, people aren’t coming to websites to search for content — stories find their audiences in feeds and apps. The upshot? Distribution is now the key for effective storytelling. Keywee’s platform unlocks audience insights using AI and data science, and infuses them into every step of the storytelling process: from topic selection, to story creation, to distribution and optimization. Keywee is backed by leading investors such as Google’s Eric Schmidt and The New York Times, and has been a fast-growing, profitable startup since its inception. To learn more, request a demo here.
