Adjust and Leanplum walk you through an in-depth analysis of how SmartNews, the information distribution mobile app with over 25 million users worldwide, optimizes its push notification strategy through metric analysis. Get a better understanding of why machine learning can't solve everything and why push priming may not necessarily be the right choice for your app.

1. Saving Push: 5 Mobile
Onboarding & UX Lessons
from SmartNews
Wednesday, April 11, 2018

4. How can Adjust help me?
Track installs, engagement, ROI, LTV and ad spend
Determine your best performing marketing channels
Integrate with 1000+ advertising partners

5. What is Smartnews?
Machine learning-driven,
algorithmic curation of
news
Deep engagement driven by
focus on diversity &
“discovery”
Tabbed browsing interface
is easy-to-use
Efficient and fast for reading
on-the-go
Publishers have direct
traffic or hosted options for
their stories
Traffic derived from
aggregate tabs and
publisher’s own channel
Publishers keep their
in-article advertising
revenue.*
*A revenue share model is
popular in Japan

6. &
*
ANALYTICS + DATA VIZ
AUTOMATION, PUSH &
A/B TESTING
MONETIZATION
ASO
ATTRIBUTION & GROWTH
ACC.
SmartNews growth stack overview

7. Push Notifications: Improving
Onboarding & UX

8. I) Why Push Matters: Business
Impact for SmartNews

9. Why are push notifications mission critical?
Relationship between DAU and % of Push Opens KPIs

10. Why are push notifications important?
“I like the breaking news push
notifications - usually important info, not
over done”
“I actually look forward to my
push notifications, WAY better
than other apps”
“..and the news in push notifications
was very good and always make me
open the app!”
“...the push notification support is
phenomenal in terms of keeping you
updated.!”
“The breaking push notification are
the best part of this app…”
“...and love the diversity of news
stories in the push notifications.”

11. II) Our Push Notification Journey…
Or How Machine-Learning isn’t
everything.

12. Our push notification journey...

13. Our evolution of push: how human curation became part of the experience
Established a team around push operating
priorities
● “Managed” regular push notifications
● Breaking news notifications
● Staffed and grew “Content Operations” team of 5
people from late 2014 to late 2016

14. How do we manage push notifications today?
US Content Operations team today
● Qualifications
○ Not (necessarily) editors but “newsies” = love news
○ Metrics-driven and production minded,
● Headcount: 2 FTE headcount + 1 “perma-lancer”
● Duties
○ Overall quality assurance + push management
○ Reporting on partner PVs
Push
Push

15. Core user XP: machine-learning is still mission critical
How it works in a very simplified version
● Algorithm uses external signals on social media combined with
in-app reader activity to identify each push candidate.
● Algorithm can be guided by or “lightly curated” by team
members when needed.
● Managed across time-zones scheduled with lock-in time
● Team must watch the news cycle and avoid clickbait &
sensationalism.
● Can help surface “hidden gems” the algorithm finds.

16. Best performing push notifications content!
“Every Public School in West
Virginia is Closed”
“Kushner, Russia Bombshells
Rock the White House”
“Federal Reserve Raises Interest
Rates to Highest in Decade”
“Pictures From Space RevealHUGE Colony of Animals No One
Knew About”
“3 Injured in Huffman High
School Shooting”
“Stormy Daniels Passed Polygraph
Test on Sex With Trump”
“Self-help guru ran sex slave
cult, FBI says”
“The NYC subway has reportedlybeen using employee break roomsto store dead bodies”
'Really extreme' global weather
event leaves scientists aghast

17. Personalized push: new & coming soon
App (today) Push (coming soon)

18. III) The Battle for opt-in

19. Industry knowledge: “Push Priming is the way to go”

20. Push Priming: We tried, hard, but it failed to make an impact...

21. From Push Priming to “Push Redemption”
Push Opt-In Onboarding Experiments Best Creative

22. Moving past push: a renewed focus on onboarding & discovery.

23. Q&A time!