Why Live Blogs are the News Format of the Future!

Written by Kate Sherman | 12 July 2022

In this post, we’ll share with you five reasons why we know live blogs are not only here to stay but will continue to transform digital storytelling for many years to come.

While working with top news organizations throughout the years, we have seen how live event coverage has changed over the past decade. Some trendy technologies have come and gone, while others have solidified their place in this information ecosystem. As innovators in real-time communication technology, we’ve found that the “classic” live blog, despite its age, is truly a technology for the future of news coverage. Its simple concept but easy adaptability is what makes the live blog so valuable to the transforming news industry.

In a world where we are constantly bombarded with new information, live blogs allow users to satisfy their audiences with trustworthy, digestible, and curated content. Here are five reasons why we know live blogs are not only here to stay but will continue to transform digital storytelling for many years to come.

1. They Encourage Engagement

Live blogs are so much more today than they used to be. Of course, you can still add text and images as updates come in, but new changes in technology now also let you directly interact with your audiences. You can integrate Social Media posts to add “outside” perspectives to the story, or surveys with software like Opinary or Apester, or integrate polls or live-commenting blocks to interact directly with your readers. This flexibility makes it easy to build live blogs into your audience-first content strategies and address a wide variety of user needs, not just the "Update me" need often associated with the format.

Live blogs let you engage your readers with compelling posts tailored to user needs and engage with your audiences with interactive content.

2. They Increase Retention Rates

We all know mobile is king. Audiences spend more time consuming information, ads, and news on their phones than anywhere else. Social media has conditioned us to happily scroll through hours of content. The live blog format mirrors this feed-feeling and enables readers to easily glean information. By keeping readers up-to-date wherever they are, you position yourself as THE go-to news provider.

The nature of the format also keeps retention rates high even when users aren’t on their phones. Unlike a traditional article that only provides information one time, live blogs are constantly filled with new information as soon as it becomes available. Our clients experience more than 8x longer retention rates on their live blogs compared to their average article retention rates. To keep up with the latest updates, users often save the live blog in a separate tab and return to it throughout the day to catch up on information they may have missed.

This phenomenon was particularly evident during the 2020 US Election when our users experienced staggering traffic and increased retention rates.

3. They Maximize Monetization Possibilities

Because the format is longer than a classic article, you have more opportunities to add more relevant ads without overwhelming your readers. Sponsored live blogs are another way to bring in more revenue. This method is particularly effective when covering popular live events. Simply add “This live blog is sponsored by...” above the live blog. The sponsor receives continuous visibility, but the reader's experience isn’t interrupted by ads.

For more ways to monetize your live blogs, check out our whitepaper.

4. They Create Community

The format’s rise was propelled initially by sports “livetickers,” which cover detailed game action like goals, fouls, and player stats. Sporting events are natural conduits for passion. Fans bleed for their teams, regardless if they are in stadiums or following from their office desk. These livetickers were able to bring fans together no matter where they were cheering.

The same phenomena can apply to news stories as well. When breaking news hits, the world turns to their news providers to give them the information they crave. Live blogs don’t just have to be used for serious news, however. Even covering a popular live TV show can also mirror this phenomenon. By providing your readers with insider information on their second screen, you provide an additional layer of interaction and engagement which only strengthens the feeling of community surrounding an event.

5. They Archive the Action

While we all like to focus on the “live” in live blog, this format’s ability to create detailed archival records of current events cannot be overlooked. Especially for long-running events, like the Corona Pandemic, it’s often easy to “forget” the happenings of a few years ago, especially when one is currently living through this “history.” When left on your website, live blogs enable readers to look back and see how things actually happened– uninfluenced by muddled memories or hindsight. Keeping this online record is not only helpful for posterity’s sake, however. It also assists your SEO.

Conclusion:

Readers need information that’s "to the point" and prefer short news bites. Visual storytelling is also becoming an increasingly important factor in the attractiveness of various news formats. The mixture of text, videos, graphics, and integrated posts from social networks makes the live blog varied and attractive. The future of reporting lies in digital formats that take into account changes in media consumption behavior. Live blogs are, therefore, a significant way of not losing users to social networks. On the contrary, they pave the way to positioning oneself as a credible, fast, and entertaining news source, perfectly primed to capture the attention of today's readers.

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