Developing a mobile metrics strategy for news

1. Mobile Metrics
Mobile First
March 20, 2013
Damon Kiesow
@dkiesow
delicious.com/dkiesow/mobile

2. Mobile Metrics
Are very similar to traditional Web metrics
Mostly noise not signal

3. Mobile Metrics
Traffic numbers are traditionally misused
Downloads
Page views
&
Visits
Say little about your readers, or their needs

4. Mobile Metrics
Without context
Downloads
Page views
&
Visits
Say little about your business

5. Mobile Metrics
This is not a reader:

6. Mobile Metrics
This is not a viewer:

7. Mobile Metrics
Personas are not audience:

8. Mobile Metrics
This is a reader - in captivity:

9. These are viewers | in the wild
Photo by Flickr user Caitlinator

10. Mobile Metrics
These are customers - in the marketplace:

11. Mobile Metrics | why nonsense?
Most of what we talk about is irrelevant or misinterpreted
Android vs iOS sales
Mobile vs desktop usage
Tablets are better for content

12. Myth #1
Tablet usage is booming in the evenings
Photo by Flickr user Wayan Vota

13. Mobile Metrics | platform trends daily
40
30
20
Waking Up 10
A.M. Commute
Work/School
At breaks
0
Dinner
Before bed
Print (80%)
Computer (60%)
Question: Thinking of your typical weekday, when do you usually read or use a local daily
Smartphone (26%)
newspaper in the following format? (N=1,896) Multiple mentions allowed. 2012 Newspaper Tablet (12%)
Association of America

14. Mobile Metrics | platform trends daily
Waking Up
Commute
Work/School
At breaks
Dinner
Before bed
Yes, tablet use peaks in the evening, but it is still much lower than
Tablet
desktop or smartphone use Phone
Computer
Print

15. Myth #2
Android is dominating iOS

16. Mobile Metrics | device ownership
Android 46%
iPhone 35%
Blackberry 16%
Windows Mobile 7%
Nokia 2%
Palm 1%
Other 2%
Not Sure 2%
OPA: A Portrait of Today’s Smartphone User 08/12 * Note: Percentages do not add up to 100% because some smartphone users own more than one type of smartphone.
Values are de-duplicated for adoption by operating system.
Base: Smartphone owners, N(2012)=1,107, N(2011)=758. Q.167: What kind of smartphone device do you own?

17. Mobile Metrics | visits by device
iOS
id
d ro
An
iOS - 84%
iOS dominates on most news sites in the U.S.

18. Mobile Metrics | App purchases annually
70% of iPhone Content Consumers Buy Apps
vs.
34% of Android Content Consumers
Android
66%
iOS
30%
8% 7% 7%
17%
12% 4% 13%
3% 8% 8% 2% 2%
7%
4%
$0 $1-5 $6-10 $11-20 $21-30 $31-50 $51-100 $100+
OPA Portrait of a Smartphone User 8/12 Base: Smartphone content consumers, N=1,045; Android owners, N=509; iPhone owners, N=387.
Q. 188.2: About how much did you spend in total for apps on your mobile phone in the last 12 months?

19. Myth #3
The mobile web is more popular than apps

20. Mobile Metrics | time spent
apps
43%
web
57%
OPA: A Portrait of Today’s Smartphone User -08/12 Base: Smartphone content consumers, N=1,045.
Q.189.1: What percentage of time you spend accessing content on your mobile phone are you using the mobile web
vs. mobile app? Percentages must add up to 100%.

21. Mobile Metrics | time spent daily
175
168
Minutes
Minutes
116.667 127
58.333 70
0
Web Apps TV
Apps vs web answer depends on source of the data, and type of
site
Flurry Analytics, comScore, Alexa - 12/12

22. Myth #4
Tablets are inherently better for content consumption

23. Mobile Metrics | regression to the mean
Tablet users have higher average income
<$25k 7.4%
$25k to <$50k 17.7%
$50k to <$75k 18.9%
$75k to <$100k 18.3%
$100k+ 37.7%
Readership habits may be correlated more to demographics
than device.
comScore, Majority of Tablet Users Watch Video on their Device, 06/12

24. Mobile Metrics
Some trends are (almost) universal

25. Mobile Metrics | They are buying smartphones
Consumers are switching - 107 million users in U.S.
50%
40%
30% 57% this year
20%
10%
0%
2011 2012
OPA: A Portrait of Today’s Smartphone User - 08/12

26. Mobile Metrics | multiplatform readership
Four Platforms
They are not tied to a 4%
single medium Three Platforms
17%
One Platform
46%
Two Platforms
33%
Measuring Print, Computer, Smartphone, Tablet. Question: Which, if any, of the
following did you do in the past SEVEN days? (N=2,518) Newspaper Multiplatform
Usage, Newspaper Association of America, 2012.

27. Mobile Metrics
They are using multiple news sources
4.0
3.7
3.4
Computer Smartphone Tablet
Question: About how many different news websites (from any source), news apps or related sources do you regularly check or follow on
your [platform used]? Total Samples

28. Mobile Metrics
But what really matters is what YOUR visitors are doing

29. What to measure | traffic
Downloads - for direction only
Conversions - active users, purchases
Updates - indicates engagement
Time spent
Sessions per user
Pages per user

30. What to measure | revenue
Ad impressions
Remnant vs Direct sales
Ad performance
Paid downloads
Subscription starts, renewals
eCommerce

31. What to measure
Percentage of traffic mobile vs. desktop
Traffic by OS
Traffic by platform
Content types by platform

32. Look for patterns | install rates
App Launch
Sundays
Christmas
iPad 4 & Mini
iOS Installs

33. Look for patterns | upgrade rates
90%
72%
54%
36%
18%
0%
Launch One Month Two Months Three Months Four Months

34. Mobile Metrics | tell why, not just what
Basic metrics count, they do not explain
They may reflect trends but not reasons
Clickstream
Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are needed
KPI are tied to goals and include action plans
Insights
Avinash Kaushik

35. Mobile Metrics | look for insights
Downloads increased last week
Why?
Subscription cancellations are up
Why?
App store ratings are climbing
Why?
Visits are up 5 percent, but time spent per visit is down
Why?

36. Mobile Metrics | Philly.com engagement (for Web)
Σ(Ci + Di + Ri + Li + Bi + Ii + Pi)
Ci — Click Index
Visits of at least 6 page views
Di — Duration Index
Visits of 5 minutes or longer
Ri — Recency Index
Visits that return daily
Li — Loyalty Index
Visits that are registered or at least 3 return visits weekly
Bi — Brand Index
Visits that come directly to the site
Ii — Interaction Index
Visits that interact via commenting, forums
Pi — Participation Index
Visits that participate on the site via sharing
http://bit.ly/dtoIRP

37. KPI | the hard part
What do “good” numbers look like?
Is a high bounce rate bad? Are “new” visitors good?
What do the numbers tell you about reader behavior?
What tactics can you employ to influence that behavior?

38. Mobile Metrics | look for insights
Decide on your goals
Pick relevant metrics
A few to consider:
Downloads vs new users
Page views for local users
Engagement in DMA

39. Mobile Metrics
Your mobile site and apps are getting lots of visits
But not all readers are equal

40. Strategy | not all viewers are equal
Device types (need to focus development efforts)
Purchasing behavior (serve paying readers)
Geography (value to local advertisers)
Content types (video, galleries, articles)

41. Consistency
Try and align between apps and between platforms
Flurry, Localytics, Omniture, Google Analytics
comScore for universal audience