Smartocto recently introduced the option to order a baseline report. This is a document that holds up a mirror to the newsroom, offering a clear snapshot of its strengths and weaknesses. But the report does so much more than this, as Süddeutsche Zeitung discovered.

What makes Süddeutsche Zeitung an especially interesting client is the sheer size of its newsroom. No fewer than 500 journalists work at the highly respected German publication. For the past year and a half, part of the newsroom has worked with the user needs approach. A dedicated group within the editorial team had been driving the project forward, but concrete proof that the method was truly making a difference had yet to materialise. And when a newsroom is that large, getting everyone on board with a new editorial direction is no small feat.

Dominic Grzbielok is Head of Paid Content at the newspaper. He was keen to share the surprising changes that a relatively straightforward report has helped bring about.

Why did you order a baseline report?

“There was already quite a bit of interest in user needs within the newsroom, but we lacked hard evidence that the approach led to better article performance. That made some managers hesitant. I’d already spotted patterns in the top 100 articles that led to the most subscriptions, which gave me a sense that some surprising results might be uncovered. We wanted to analyse a large dataset (more than 20,000 articles) to explore those findings further. But tagging all of those manually would have been far too time-consuming. That’s why we started looking for a partner with the right expertise.”

More info? Do ask

A brief summary of the report’s findings:

  • 84 percent of the content produced by Süddeutsche Zeitung is either fact-based or context-driven.
  • Contextual articles perform best in terms of pageviews, they mainly serve existing subscribers
  • One notable insight from the section-by-section analysis was the disproportionately high volume of articles published on politics and sport, but readers seemed to be more interested in other topics.

This client case is about reflection and change. What kind of change did the report help trigger?

“It sparked a debate about the metrics we value most. Should we place more emphasis on scroll depth or median time spent on page? We agreed that simply looking at whether something was read (and how often) was too one-dimensional. That helped bring journalists on board with a more intelligent approach to interpreting data.

We also realised we needed to separate some sections. A large portion of the ‘Politics’ section consisted of articles about Donald Trump, alongside pieces on the German elections. That made it difficult to analyse which of the two topics our audience found more important. So together we began taking steps to better understand what readers actually want from us.”

You’re now working with the report’s insights and see what kinds of changes you can make in order to optimise your output. Are you taking a broad approach or keeping it focused?

“In the end, it’s all about the stories. My colleagues always try to bring in examples of articles that work. In the Economics section, we wanted to run a series on real estate. That could easily have been dry, but by thinking in terms of user needs and personas, we landed on a format we don’t typically use: an essay.

We had a clear idea of the audience we wanted to reach - professionals in their mid-thirties, with or without children, who are in a position to buy a home and open to a bit of reflection. The central question was: How will this change your life? What will happen to your work–life balance, your friendships? The key message was: be prepared. The article generated a significant number of new online subscriptions.”

And where did this particular article fit into your own user needs model?

“It was a piece that offered deep context by presenting multiple perspectives. ‘Give me a different view of the world’ is our brand-specific user need. We rarely publish anything like it in the economics section before. It would normally have been more at home in the Culture pages, but for this subject, it worked perfectly and stayed entirely in line with our brand identity.”

What are your next steps following the baseline report?

“Find clear objectives and get commitment from teams to meet them. We’re still in the middle of that process. We want editors to tag their stories themselves using our own user needs model, but we’re also planning on checking whether their tags match what the AI assigns. And we’re trying to work out whether focusing so heavily on attracting new subscribers is the right strategic course. Your report really prompted us to reflect on our broader strategy.”

Smartocto's key takeaways:

  1. The promise of a baseline report lies in uncovering what kind of information your audience is actually interested in. But more often than not, it leads to broader lessons about the core of your digital strategy: what suits your brand? Is that clear to the reader? And can we even analyse this properly with the data we're using? A report like this can spark passionate discussions and real change.
  2. Süddeutsche Zeitung has put its own spin on smartocto’s User Needs Model 2.0, introducing brand-specific user needs. It’s a brilliant adaptation of the model, which is essentially built around four core axes. This kind of customisation can truly bring a model to life, especially because it originates from the newsroom itself. It adds colour to the cheeks, so to speak.
  3. So what do you do when a Baseline Report shakes up the newsroom? Keep up the momentum. The fact that Süddeutsche Zeitung follows up with clear objectives is encouraging, but these goals should always be tied to a specific experiment and a set timeframe. Develop your growth hacks and stick with them for three months. Bear in mind that your audience may also need time to adjust to change, so you can't throw in the towel after just a few weeks. Believe in your strategy and stay the course.

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