Dan Valente, Director of Data Science at Chartbeat, discusses audience behavior, engagement, and content consumption in a presentation updated on June 23, 2016. Key insights include that mobile users engage more than desktop users, social traffic is less likely to foster loyalty compared to direct visits, and platforms like Facebook and Google dominate traffic sources. Despite challenges in measuring distributed content and varying user experiences across platforms, quality content remains crucial for building a loyal audience.

1. Dan Valente
Director of Data Science,
Chartbeat
dan@chartbeat.com
@dpvalente
THE DATA BEHIND DISTRIBUTED
CONTENT
Amended and
corrected version:
23 June 2016

2. In an initial version of these slides, an error was
present in the database from which the data were
pulled. The affected slides have been updated to
reflect the corrected data.
Where the data differ from the original presentation, a
red asterisk has been placed in the lower right hand
corner.
ATTENTION

3. We help editors and journalists understand audience
behavior, engagement, and consumption of content.
We care about media, the role of journalism in society,
and … data!
A BIT ABOUT CHARTBEAT…

4. A few of our partners.

5. WHAT WE’LL COVER TODAY
What does the data look like so far on
AMP and Facebook Instant Articles?
What are some typical audience behaviors
in the EU and US?
What is the hope for building a loyal audience in a
world of platform-driven side-door traffic?

6. DISCLAIMER:
I am going to tell you some things you already
know.

7. 1000 EU Domains
2000 US Domains
15 Billion Pageviews
15000 Years of Engaged Time
These comments are backed by evidence from the
Chartbeat Network:
HOWEVER …

8. More visits occur on mobile devices than
on desktop devices.
THING YOU ALREADY KNOW #1

9. NETWORK DATA
45% 48%
7%
DESKTOP MOBILE TABLET
100
80
60
40
20
%VISITS
EU
Sites

10. In the US, engaged times on mobile devices are
about 30% greater than on desktop.

11. NETWORK DATA
EU US
10
20
30
40
AVERAGE ENGAGED TIME (S)

12. THING YOU ALREADY KNOW #2
Users visit directly on desktops,
but through social channels on mobile devices.

13. THING YOU ALREADY KNOW #2.1
…and search is somewhere in between.

14. NETWORK DATA
DESKTOP MOBILE TABLET
EU
Sites
%VISITS
60
50
40
30
20
10

15. BUT …
Engaged times for users coming from Search are
about 1.5X longer than from Social

16. Google and Facebook drive the vast majority of
online traffic.
THING YOU ALREADY KNOW #3

17. NETWORK DATA
DESKTOP MOBILE TABLET
%REFERRED
TRAFFIC
100
80
60
40
20
EU
Sites

18. Most users enter on an article page.
THING YOU ALREADY KNOW #4

19. In the US and EU, over 60% of mobile visits are
to articles
In the US, over 50% of desktop visits are to
articles
EU sites have a larger percentage of desktop
landing page visits than US sites (+15%).
IN FACT …

20. BUT …
Mobile audiences don’t recirculate.

21. NETWORK
DESKTOP MOBILE TABLET
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
AVERAGE PAGES VISITED
AFTER ENTRANCE

22. SO WHAT?

23. We know that the more engaged an audience,
the more likely they are to return.

24. 5
4
3
2
1
6
7
8
TIME (MINS)
2 4 6 8 10
PROBABILITY(%)
PROBABILITY THAT A NEW USER
RETURNS WITHIN A WEEK

25. Is there hope for building a loyal audience in a
world of platform-driven side-door traffic?

26. FACEBOOK GOOGLE TWITTER
NETWORK
% REFERRED TRAFFIC
FOR LOYAL USERS
US
Sites
5
10
15
20
30
25
35
40

27. Unfortunately, socially loyal visits are much,
much less common than directly loyal visits.

28. If we ignore Dark Social, then socially loyal visits
are less than 10% of directly loyal visits.

29. What about the new content formats?

30. THE NEW PLATFORMS ARE ENGAGING
AVERAGE ENGAGED TIME (S)
INSTANT
ARTICLES
53
AMP 52
FACEBOOK 46
GOOGLE 38

31. Median page load times for AMP are
4X faster than typical mobile pages
AMP Other Mobile
1.05 s 4.2 s

32. The platforms control the data.
Measuring distributed content is hard.
Similar metrics are similar, but not equivalent.
Each platform provides different user experiences.
DISTRIBUTED CONTENT DATA CHALLENGES

33. CLOSING THOUGHTS
In the mobile, article-first, driven-by-platforms world,
quality content still prevails…
….and will build a loyal audience.

34. Dan Valente
Director of Data Science,
Chartbeat
@dpvalente
dan@chartbeat.com
chartbeat.com
THANKS, GEN 2016!