Research

At smartocto, we believe it's important to be well-prepared when customers have questions about analysing their data. That's why we closely monitor what's happening in the field and try to analyse the direction journalism is heading.

We write about these topics in our blogs and newsletters, but sometimes we delve deeper into the subject and write about a development in a whitepaper. Below you'll find research-related documents that are interesting for anyone involved in the future of digital publishing.

User needs

In April 2023, we conducted our most groundbreaking data research to date. It's a whitepaper on the needs of news consumers, building upon previous research by the BBC. The study includes data from media outlets that use user needs as a guide in their reporting, as well as a collection of existing practical examples. Together with independent consultant Dmitry Shishkin, we developed a new model: User Needs for News 2.0.

User needs playbook

Almost a year later, we decided that newsrooms need an actionable playbook that they can use to form and execute their content strategy. With all the developments in digital transformation and artificial intelligence, it's essential to have the basics in order. You need to understand what your audience values, what they're looking for, and where the opportunities lie to engage them over the long term.

Smartify

A year earlier, we asked our customers essential questions about data in the newsroom. Does displaying data influence journalists' actions? The hypothesis was that data did not yet form a significant guide in making editorial decisions. That turned out to be true, and we were also able to provide an answer in the whitepaper on Smartify. This feature uses artificial intelligence to generate smart tips and suggestions. To learn more about how it works and what it produces, please read the whitepaper.

Follow the story

In this client case whitepaper we followed a specific story from a Dutch newspaper based in Nijmegen, called De Gelderlander. We followed a story completely from A to Z to understand exactly what happened, how the story was monitored in smartocto, to what suggestions and smart notifications it led, how these tips were followed up, what the newsroom was doing during this whole period and what the learnings are.

The quadrant model

As much as we believe that every story can be optimised, we also understand that making tough choices about the number of articles published can be the starting point for a highly effective content strategy. With the Quadrant Model, we provide insights that assist in making these choices. In fact, the Quadrant Model forms the foundation for any comprehensive analysis you conduct to understand what works for your news brand and what doesn't. It does require a certain level of knowledge from the analysts.