STORYTELLING ON MOBILE: MAKING SMART CHOICES LAURA E. DAVIS
STORYTELLING
ON MOBILE:
MAKING SMART
CHOICESLAURA E. DAVIS
That’s better!
Why this matters
85Percent of adults who get news on mobile
50+The age
group
driving
the most
mobile
growth
SOURCE: PEW RESEARCH CENTER
Product + trust
63%say it’s
important
that ads
don’t
interfere
with news
63%factor
in site
load
time
60%say it’s
important
that the
site works
well on
mobile
SOURCE: AMERICAN PRESS INSTITUTE
“
”
Since the user
experience is so
poor, I prefer to
get my news
somewhere else.
SAN DIEGO RESIDENT,
ON HIS LOCAL NEWS SITE
Let’s fix this!
1.Create
reader-
first
mobile
content
2.Write
great
mobile
alerts
3.Find
tools to
fit your
needs
No desktop!
“
”
The future of
news is not an
article
NYT R&D LAB,
OCTOBER 2015
Mobile
storytelling is…
Mobile
storytelling is…
1. Considerate
Key
points
• SMALL
SCREENS
• VARYING
CONTEXTS
• UTILITY
Got it ^^What you want your
audience to say
2. Conversational
Key
points
• PERSONAL
SPACE
• INVASIVE
• INTERNET
CULTURE
Come again! ^^What you want your
audience to say
3. Contextual
Key
points
• READER
SERVICE
• SOCIAL
CURRENCY
• MISSION
Thanks! ^^What you want your
audience to say
…and increasingly
visual
Key
points
• STORIES
FORMAT
• BITE-
SIZED
• LIVE
VIDEO
Wow! ^^What you want your
audience to say
Let’s try it!
Principles to apply
• Conversational
• Contextual
How’d you do?
Share!
Principle to apply
• Considerate
How’d you do?
Share!
When there’s
NOT an app
for that…
Enhance your
mobile
storytelling
• Text alerts
• Chatbots
• Stories
• Email newsletters
• TWILIO
• CHATFUEL
• SOCIAL
• MAILCHIMP
How can you
enhance your
mobile storytelling
for a special
event or
upcoming
feature?
…using available
tools
Inspiration
Principles to apply
• Considerate
• Conversational
• Contextual
• (Maybe) visual
What’d you
come up with?
Share!
More take-home
material:
mobile basics
• Responsive website
• Reduce load times
• Stop intrusive ads
Let’s discuss
• What are the
biggest challenges
your newsroom
faces on mobile?
• What do you need
to know to combat
them?