The Memo Insights team is made up of data analysts responsible for digging into readership data for the latest news cycles, diving deeper into platform-wide readership trends (macro news trends), and answering some of our customers’ most pressing strategy questions.
Every quarter, we share some of our favorite findings, whether it be an interesting discovery, a fun topic, or something surprising. Here are our favorites from the last 3 months:
1. Are Op-Eds dead?
Jaime: We analyzed over 10,000 Op-Ed articles to find out if they are gaining traction in popularity with publications and readers alike, or if they are a dying breed of news coverage.
Key Takeaway: We found that in the recent months Op-Eds have gotten more readers per article, especially on those covering Politics & Legislation.
2. Opportunities to differentiate messaging in AI
Eva: AI has become an incredibly crowded space. It seems like every brand is talking about it and implementing it into their products in one way or another. One of our clients wanted to understand how they could set themselves apart from their competition. We helped them identify angles with whitespace and opportunities to frame their business differently than their competitors.
Key Takeaway: Consumers want to learn about trust practices in AI. That topic drove the highest total (9.9M) and average (6.5K) readers in the timeframe we analyzed for our client. There is an opportunity to double down on that topic.
3. What exactly drives the pricing conversation with major retailers?
Nikki: With several narratives around consumer pricing in the media, a major retailer wanted to understand how to bring more attention to their value proposition.
Across the retailer and competitors, we found that consumers are mostly concerned with the impacts of inflation. Despite the retailer ensuring the best interest of the consumers and efficiency among workers, some narratives are fear-mongering surrounding digital shelf labels, price gouging, and deceptive pricing.
Key Takeaway: It’s important to be transparent with customers and explain the reasoning behind certain changes. Without strong messaging, the media may skew negative and cause unnecessary panic.
4. Do UVMs yield similar insights to readership data?
Eva: We analyzed thousands of articles to find out once and for all if reach metrics can even directionally predict actual reader behavior or at the very least yield similar insights for comms teams.
Key Takeaway: We found that publisher UVMs give no indication of how many people actually read a specific article. In actuality, readership varies greatly from article to article, even when published by the same outlet. You can see more of my analysis on the blog.
5. Sustaining consumer interest in new products
Nikki: A QSR client launched several new menu items this year and wanted to compare the readership impact and the length of conversation among the new launches. Some launches saw longer news cycles than others, either quickly becoming consumer favorites and generating buzz or by being mentioned alongside subsequent launches and staying top of mind.
Key Takeaway: Following the launch of a new menu item, roundups and industry recaps help prolong the conversation and keep new items relevant to consumers.
Stay tuned for more from the Insights Team in the next few weeks and for another rundown of our favorite findings at the end of the quarter! In the meantime, you can always find the latest research in our Resource Center.