August 17, 2023
With over 145 million monthly active readers, Apple News has become one of the most sought-after platforms for publishers to reach new audiences. And since the introduction of the My Sports tab, released as part of the iOS 16 update, sports organisations like the Premier League are also publishing on the popular news app to serve commercial goals.
Now, the giants of football, FIFA, are looking to reap the rewards of joining Apple News. Despite their global reach and appeal, Apple News represents an opportunity to reach a steady stream of new readers as the news app is pre-installed onto every Apple device.
It’s also fast becoming one of the most trusted sources for news due to Apple’s desire to only accept publishers with the most stringent journalistic standards. This cultivates a readership that values accurate, insightful content, without needing to wade through noise. Therefore, publishers on Apple News have access to an audience who are more savvy and more engaged.
FIFA came to FlatPlan because they need their stories delivered directly into Apple News, presented in branded article pages with areas on each article designed to drive audiences to FIFA’s owned properties to enable first-party data capture.
Other tools, developed by the FlatPlan team, help FIFA nurture audience growth, engagement and advocacy. This must be maintained with a stable implementation and managed with no additional costs to FIFA. FlatPlan builds and maintains the channel, even if changes are made to the technology on the FIFA website, thus alleviating any risk or development costs.
Reaching new audiences to feed content funnels is crucial for any brand or publisher. And while Apple News is great for finding new readers, it’s only the first step in engaging with audiences. Turning them into loyal followers and then funnelling them into owned properties are essential second and third steps for a holistic content strategy.
That’s why FlatPlan created audience development tools for the app to empower Apple News publishers. While enthralling storytelling and enlightening insights grab the attention of new readers, branded footers and strategically placed call-to-actions help readers take the next step and form closer connections with the publisher. This loyalty can then be leveraged to encourage readers to take actions that drive key commercial goals.
For FIFA, the goal was to use Apple News to drive downloads of the FIFA and FIFA+ app where readers can get even more football coverage. But as a world-renowned brand, the FlatPlan team also had to create an Apple News channel that reflected its distinguished status – a brand recognised by practically everyone around the world.
One of the first things to get right on any Apple News channel is branding. This involves importing the relevant typefaces, using brand colourways and producing a branded footer to create a seamless experience for readers when they click through from Apple News to the FIFA website.
This ensures readers still get the same premium experience they get whenever they interact with the FIFA brand, whether that’s watching the latest game from the Women’s World Cup or reading their latest stories on Apple News.
In a world dominated by content, publishers and brands alike employ a myriad of techniques to ensure readers remain engaged. FIFA’s content includes bullet point summaries for each article, liberal use of videos, and neatly organised layouts to make content consumption as easy as possible. All of these were replicated in FIFA’s Apple News channel by the FlatPlan team.
These elements help FIFA’s Apple News channel engage more easily with new readers. Retaining them is the crucial next step. So the FlatPlan team created inline Follow CTAs that are branded and sit prominently within the body of an article. Their high viewability means they’re easy to spot, and signposting encourages follows from readers in their most engaged state – while they are already reading FIFA content.
By nurturing new readers in this way, it fosters a relationship between the reader and FIFA thus readying them to take the next step in their engagement with the FIFA brand – downloading the FIFA and FIFA+ app. Every part of the reader’s journey that came before has been set up to facilitate this essential action.
It’s at this point that FlatPlan’s conversion mechanisms spring into action. One of them works similarly to the inline Follow CTA in that it sits within the body of the article and is dripped in FIFA branding. But this time, there are two buttons encouraging downloads of the FIFA or FIFA+ app. Copy around the button helps contextualise the purpose of the apps so readers understand the value of downloading them.
While FIFA has used these engaging conversion tools to drive app downloads, they are fully customisable in look and function and can be used to drive any commercial goals from getting website registrations to newsletter subscriptions, or any other form of first-party data capture.
Once readers finish a FIFA article, they are met with an enticing branded footer where FIFA can once again encourage readers to download one of their apps or follow their social channels. The footer also helps foster brand familiarity while reiterating FIFA’s position as ‘The Home of Football’.
The result is an Apple News channel the FlatPlan team is immensely proud of. With Apple’s desire to give sports coverage its own space in the My Sports tab, FIFA app downloads are only going up.
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