Background
Berlingske Media Group, based in Copenhagen, Denmark, encompasses four distinguished brands, including Berlingske - one of the world's oldest newspapers, established in 1749 - alongside B.T., Euroinvestor, and Weekendavisen. Owned by the Dutch/Belgian media conglomerate DPG Media, Berlingske Media A/S has a rich heritage and a forward-looking approach to digital journalism.
Berlingske Media Group’s four brands include:
Berlingske, B.T., Weekendavisen, Euroinvestor
All brands have a digital edition; Weekendavisen has a weekly print edition and Berlingske has a daily edition
The challenge
Live blogging plays an integral role in Berlingske and B.T.'s publishing strategy, particularly for covering weather, political events, and sports, where the pace of news is rapid. This approach not only enhances reader engagement but also plays a crucial role in the news media’s Revenue Per Page (RPP) due to strategic advertising placements.
Recognizing the need for a more advanced live-blogging platform that would support Berlingske Media’s live publishing strategy, the media house partnered with Live Center, known for its prominence in the Northern European market.
The Solution
Key aspects that distinguish Live Center include its flexible integration capabilities, API access, user-friendly editorial interface, and seamless compatibility with Berlingske's advertising platform. These capabilities contribute to Berlingske Media’s effectiveness in using focused posts and breaking labels, which play an important role in their Net Promoter Score (NPS).
A streamlined process to break news seamlessly
At Berlingske Media, launching a live blog for breaking news is remarkably efficient and swift, ensuring that audiences receive timely updates as events unfold. The streamlined process starts with creating an article in their CMS, followed by setting up a live blog, embedding it within the article, and publishing it - all within an impressive two-minute timeframe.
This rapid deployment is possible due to a frictionless team collaboration between live bloggers and the front page editor, who updates the homepage with links to critical posts in the live feed as developments occur. The agile approach and ease of use allow Berlingske's journalists to initiate live blogs whenever necessary, making it a daily practice or as often as newsworthy events demand. This agile approach not only enhances the delivery of news but also keeps the audience informed.
Defining success metrics
Since Live Center’s implementation into Berlingske's digital strategy, there has been no shortage of critical events, ranging from on-going wars to political and weather occurrences.
B.T. has significantly increased its live blog production, which consequently led to a 20-30% increase in overall traffic within the first 4 months after using Live Center.
Berlingske, maintaining its volume of live blogs, witnessed a 5-10% increase in traffic since December 2023.
A significant increase in user interaction by presenting engagement features, such as “ask a question”, more upfront in Live Center.
Exploring live publishing as part of future growth strategy
As part of the continuous exploration of different approaches to convert free visitors to registered subscribers, Berlingske Media shares further their intention to explore a registration wall for certain live blogs. “Our strategy relies on a high Revenue Per Page with ads around and within the live feed. Conversion of anonymous readers to logged-in users is part of our strategy,” explains Claus Danboe Poulsen, Product Manager at Berlingske Media.
Berlingske Media also enhances user engagement through features like “ask a question” by presenting these options more upfront with Live Center. Consequently, the media house was able to observe a significant increase in user interaction after the enablement, meeting its objective of fostering a deeper connection with its audience.
Conclusion
Berlingske Media's continued use of a live publishing solution reaffirms the media house's ongoing commitment toward digital audience engagement. The success observed in overall increased traffic and page views strongly supports the potential of live blogging as a dynamic tool for instant news dissemination and audience interaction. As Berlingske Media continues to evolve its live blogging strategy, it sets a benchmark for digital innovation in the publishing industry.
Revolutionize News Delivery: Captivate readers and empower your newsrooms to seamlessly cover events as they happen.
2x - 4x
More page views
than regular articles
80%
More ad impressions per page
view than regular articles
60%
Our clients cover live events
60% more after using Live Center