By: Elizabeth Coffey, Marketing G2 Digital Marketing Specialist

Never has it been more important for news organizations to meet readers where they are and deliver the news in a way that caters to their unique consumption needs. From Fear of Missing Out (FOMO) to new platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, it’s safe to say that readers’ media consumption habits have changed. News organizations have struggled to adapt and monetize their content in the digital age, but that doesn’t mean that they can’t succeed in today’s modern media environment.

Use the tips and tricks below to help your new organization’s content thrive:

1. Go visual – People are visual creatures and can consume information and content more readily when it includes a video or a picture. Make your news stories more interesting and digestible with engaging visuals. Visuals like quotes and gifs give your journalists the opportunity to be creative while boosting engagement and your bottom line.


2. Drive engagement with interactive elements – Use storytelling tools like image polls, ranked lists, etc. to break up those big, in-depth articles to keep readers engaged and interested. Too much text tires readers out. They also want to participate in their media consumption and to feel like they ‘own it.’


3. Data is your new BFF – Your KPIs need to reflect what matters. Gone are the days when clicks and views were the epitome of marketing metrics. Focus on engagement, emphasizing article interaction, time on page, article completion rates, and comments received. Subscription conversion rates are also important.
   
   Data can give you an idea of how your readers are reacting to your articles in real-time and whether or not you can judge that article to be successful. Use the data you receive to optimize your news articles for better results.

What are you doing to drive reader engagement?