By Guest Contributor: Dominic Easter, Commercial Director at Pugpig
March 11th, 2025
At this year’s Mather Symposium, industry leaders gathered for the Pugpig roundtable discussion on one of the most pressing topics in digital publishing: driving engagement and retention on mobile. The conversation, led by Dominic Easter from Pugpig and Arvid Tchivzhel from Mather, underscored how mobile apps have become the cornerstone of audience engagement, with publishers exploring innovative strategies to enhance user experience, build habit and ultimately retain their most loyal readers.
Let’s dive into the key themes from the discussion - we hope these are valuable when thinking about your mobile strategy in 2025.
The power of habit-building through mobile apps
A key theme of the discussion was the critical role that mobile apps play in fostering audience habits. Newsday shared compelling insights, revealing that they see three times the engagement on their apps compared to the web in terms of both page views and session duration. This aligns with the trends we see at Pugpig and within the broader industry, native apps are often the platform publishers see their best result in terms of engagement as they offer a more personalised and delightful environment for content consumption.
Personalisation and AI-driven content discovery
One of the most exciting recent developments in mobile strategy is the increasing role of data and AI driven content discovery and recommendations. Apps provide an ideal platform for personalised experiences, tailoring content to individual preferences and behaviors. MacClatchy discussed how they are planning to leverage personalisation to enhance user engagement through push notifications and content recommendations. The plan here is to be able to serve relevant content to readers who may not have otherwise discovered it. For example, during the Super Bowl, users who engaged with football-related content could be served relevant recipe suggestions such as the best nachos to make for game day.
The impact of push notifications
Push notifications are a crucial tool in mobile engagement strategies. Data presented during the discussion from the latest Pugpig report, The Art of the Nudge: Perfecting Push in 2025, showed that 36% of app users engage exclusively through push notifications. This highlights the importance of a well-crafted push strategy, balancing frequency and relevance to keep users engaged without overwhelming them. Publishers are experimenting with different push tactics, from breaking news alerts to highly personalised notifications based on reading habits.
Overcoming app acquisition and discovery challenges
While engagement and retention were central themes of the discussion, the conversation also touched on the challenges of app discovery and user acquisition. We discussed strategies to promote app downloads, including tailor emailed newsletters, promotion on socials from editorial staff, smart banners loaded within a publisher mobile site and deep-linking users into the native app to foster habit
Reinventing digital editions and workflows
We also touched upon the world of digital editions with publishers debating the future of traditional PDFs versus more interactive digital formats. While all of us agreed that traditional PDF e-editions still have a role to play for particular audiences and demographics, we believe there are exciting opportunities to deliver a structured, edition-based experience outside of a traditional PDF. A few of the publishers in the discussion are experimenting with curated digital editions tailored to hyper-local audiences or particular content verticals.
Fighting churn with creative campaigns
Churn reduction was another major topic, with various strategies discussed for keeping users engaged. WHECO Media shared their internal campaign, "Churn Down for What," which used QR codes and email campaigns to drive app downloads and reinforce habitual usage. Such creative approaches highlight how publishers are thinking outside the box to retain their most valuable users.
Looking ahead
The roundtable discussion made it clear: mobile apps are at the heart of audience engagement and retention. Whether through AI-driven personalisation, strategic push notifications, or innovative acquisition and churn reduction efforts, publishers are increasingly focused on optimising their mobile strategies. As the industry continues to evolve, staying ahead of technological trends and user behaviors will be key to long-term success in the mobile space.
We’d love to hear your thoughts on these topics and explore your mobile plans for 2025.
Get in touch with Pugpig to chat all things mobile apps, and join our publisher-focused community, Mobile Matters, to connect with other publishers and exchange tips, tricks, and best practices on mobile.
