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Chat Apps
Heather Bowen@hl_bowen
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Why Whatsapp?
Most downloaded chat app in the UK.
Mirror Online launched in February 2015 - since then there’s been an increase in over 200M app downloads.
It’s what our audience uses.
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Why politics?
Wanted to test on niche audience to start with.
Run up to the elections.
Give our readers the ability to feel more involved in our coverage.
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Why stop there?
1. Technical difficulties.
2. Difficult to scale.
3. Worth the resource?
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OK, so why continue?
Over half of those who get a Whatsapp alert, come to the site to read more.
It’s a very engaged audience.
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Newsgather
Personal connection with readers.
Gather reaction / interest to a story.
Poll readers.
Create relationship with readers - they’ll be more likely to send you content.
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Final thought
While media needs to adapt to chat apps - chat apps also need to adapt to the media.
It’s a great opportunity for us and them.
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Any questions?