The Pros Of Using Native Apps For Publishing Content

Written by: Rashmi

In the past decade, the number of apps on an average person's phone has been increasing. One reason for this increase is that building apps has become easier and easier. But the biggest reason is that connecting to users directly via native apps is beneficial. And it is high time that publishers also benefit from native apps.

Building native apps requires time, effort, and budget. But the pros outnumber the cons. This is why many digital-first publishers have already started adopting native apps. If you are a publisher, you should consider using a native app for publishing content. Here is a list of some benefits you can get by using native apps:

Content Personalization

Content personalization is a well-known method to improve reader engagement. Earlier, digital publishers used to rely solely on third-party cookies for content personalization. But with the increasing privacy concerns about third-party cookies, publishers have now realized that they have to become self-sufficient. And one way to do this is by using native apps.

Native apps can serve personalized content in two ways. First, they can collect first-party cookies and know the reading behavior of the app user. Secondly, readers can themselves select their preferences and get personalized content.

Untapped Audience

Every publisher wants more readers. In search of new readers, they allocate big budgets on SEO, social media marketing, paid marketing, and so on. But sometimes, new readers can be found in places where they are least expected. Two examples of such places are Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

App stores are marketplaces in themselves. If the app ratings are good, your native publishing app might be suggested to hundreds of thousands of readers who have never heard the name of your publishing company. All this at negligible cost. You will have to pay the regular fees of hosting your native app on the app stores but not a single dime on organic reach within the app store.

Push Notifications

On a web browser, a reader has to visit your website to read the updated content. The problem here is that the reader might choose not to visit, and you can not nudge them back to your website. Push notifications solve this problem.

Every time you update the content, you can send a push notification to your native app users. Once your app is installed, you will get plenty of chances to pull the reader back to your content. The best part about push notifications is that readers opening your app with push notifications are not new but re-engaged readers. And these re-engaged readers are more likely to buy your subscription or donate to your publishing businesses than new readers.

Immersive Experience

Web browsers limit the reader's experience on your website. No matter how much immersive content you publish, it will be bottlenecked by the web browser. If the browser doesn't support it, you can't show it.

But this problem can be solved by building a native app. From embedded audio and video to VR and metaverse, there is no limit to how rich media can serve on your native app.

Ad-Blockers

If you serve native and programming ads on your website, you must already know the impact of ad-blockers on your bottom line. These days, some browsers even come with inbuilt ad-blockers. Again, native apps can come as a rescue here. You can fully control what types of ads are shown to your readers in your app.

Quintype offers React native apps for content publishers. Want to know more about it? Click here to book a free demo call.