Editor’s note: This is one of 17 case studies featured in INMA’s strategic report “Making Big Data Smarter For Media Companies,” released in December.  

Norway’s Aftenposten, owned by Schibsted Media Group, long ago embraced the use of consumer data for marketing. But it is in the early stages of expanding its data use into new areas. 

Kristina Stamnes, a research manager who works in product development and analysis at Aftenposten, says the publication has long used both prospect and customer data to target sales and retention campaigns, taking advantage of both historic data about customers’ transactions within its systems and third-party data purchased from vendors.  

The company also uses data to segment its audience for advertisers, increasing the relevance of ads and their effectiveness. It enabled instant dashboard feedback on the popularity of specific content two years ago and began regularly conducting A/B tests of headlines in early 2014, Stamnes says. 

While Aftenposten has been using data-based advertising strategies for a considerable period, efforts have been ramping up in 2014. And the targeting of editorial content based on real-time data is set to begin soon.

Other new initiatives involve using real-time data to drive conversions and product sales and providing instant or daily feedback to journalists, development teams, and sales departments. 

Because Aftenposten is a Schibsted subsidiary, much of the responsibility for data privacy is handled at the corporate level, Stamnes says. Experts there oversee legal concerns and overall data safety issues. It’s an area where many in the media business as well as vendors serving media companies lack sufficient knowledge or proper safeguards. 

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