How can local news publishers strengthen reader loyalty and engagement in a time of digital overload and news fatigue?

At Ippen Digital, one of the largest publisher networks in Germany, we faced this challenge by creating a unified app platform built on personalisation and data-driven decisions to foster long-term reader loyalty and increase the relevance of local news.

From the outset, our goal was to develop a platform that supports local publishers while offering readers a seamless, personalised experience. Local journalism plays a vital role in supporting democratic communities, and we aim to leverage cutting-edge technology to strengthen the connection between publishers and their audiences.

Inside our framework

Using the Flutter framework, we created a flexible, scalable solution with one single code base that not only adapts quickly to changing needs but also enables our brands to engage readers in new and easy ways.

Development began in August 2022, and by February 2023, the first apps were successfully published to the stores. Today, we’ve launched more than 40 apps so far. The platform has gained readers’ trust with a fresh and user-friendly interface, becoming a key tool for our publishers.

Since switching to the new platform, our apps have significantly improved reader satisfaction. App store ratings have risen from 3.27 to 4.5 stars on average. Our 30-day user retention rate stands at an impressive 35%, and users spend an average of seven minutes and 23 seconds with more than 10 pageviews on the app daily.

Personalised reader experience

One of the core features of our platform is the ability to offer a highly personalised experience. When users first open the app, they can select their preferred topics: local news, regional updates, or broader interests like politics, economy, and lifestyle.

This onboarding enriches our customer data platform with valuable zero-party data and ensures readers are met with content that resonates with their preferences, driving long-term engagement.

The “My Topics” section prominently displays articles tailored to users’ chosen interests. Additionally, editorial teams have the flexibility to configure how articles are presented. They can adjust image sizes, highlight important stories, or control the number of articles displayed (depending on the topic) directly in our CMS. This customisation ensures that each reader’s experience feels relevant and engaging.

Data-driven and interactive content

Data plays a central role in how we shape and improve the platform. Our self-developed business intelligence suite, in combination with other analytics tools, continuously tracks user interactions like active views and clicks, allowing us to refine the content based on real-time analytics.

We can see which articles are most read, shared, or marked as favourites, providing editorial teams with valuable insights for decision-making.

Interactive features, such as real-time election maps, further enhance engagement. During the Bavarian elections, for example, we saw a 44% increase in pageviews as users interacted with the election maps we integrated into our apps. This type of localised, real-time content fosters deeper connections with the community and drives more frequent app usage.

For the “time is money” group, we’ve developed article summaries. Sometimes people want to get quick insights on certain topics, so we decided to offer AI-generated bullet points summarising each article on our app in three short sentences.

To build lasting relationships with our users, the platform includes features that encourage frequent and meaningful interactions. Readers can save articles to read later and easily access their “favourites” list directly from the navigation bar. This functionality helps create a more personalised and convenient reading experience.

Additionally, we have integrated our network-wide login solution, USER.ID, where people can manage central settings like comment functions and subscriptions or discover newsletters, their reading history, etc.

What’s next

Our unified app platform has successfully modernised our approach to local journalism, making it more accessible, engaging, and relevant to readers. By focusing on personalisation, data-driven content, and interactive features, we’ve created a system that fosters reader loyalty and long-term engagement.

Looking ahead, we remain committed to continuously improving the platform, adapting to user needs, and supporting local journalism in the digital era.

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