Mobile editions - is it still future or is it already present? Interview with Vitaliy Dubinin

On the peculiarities of the development of mobile publications and the advantages of this media channel.
Most recently, at the time of the global crisis, everyone was reading for the print media, if not completely disappearing from the face of the Earth, then at least a strong reduction in circulation volumes due to the growth of electronic publications. This dramatic situation, of course, did not happen, but there were tablets and smartphones on which people constantly read the content. Thus, a new distribution channel has emerged for print media, which they gradually master. What can developers offer them? We talked about this with Vitaly Dubinin , CEO and founder of AdWired .

Vitali, good afternoon, let's start right in the forehead. Why publishing business smartphones and tablets?

Vitaly Dubinin: The answer is on the surface. People’s attention has shifted from paper media to the Internet over the past 10 years, and the flow of audiences from the Internet to mobile devices is even faster. Much faster than the industry itself is aware of. Now at least 25% of the traffic falls on mobile platforms (on average for the media).

Today they often argue about what is better: a mobile application or a mobile version of the site. Do you think the mobile version of the site can solve the problems of the publishing business?
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Vitaliy Dubinin: It depends on what tasks. I will enumerate those that can: keep the audience (contact 24 hours a day, 7 days a week), increase advertising sales, reduce costs for delivering information to the user.

Do you think mobile kiosks of leading publications, do they compete with print media? So much has been said that prints will disappear altogether, and they seem to not disappear anywhere.

Vitaliy Dubinin: They complement. Synergy is formed when the loyalty of the publication can be expressed on any media medium - be it a newspaper, a computer monitor or a tablet screen. It is a misconception that mobile sites and applications "steal" the audience from the "big" site. In fact, they increase the audience, and very significantly, due to the availability of content anytime and anywhere. For any media now is critical to be on mobile devices. It is no longer a luxury, but a market demand.

Thank. We all understand that all publications somehow depend on the advertising placed in them. Do you think mobile publications from the point of view of advertisers, are they interesting for them?

Vitaliy Dubinin: Yes, and we see this very well in our AdWired.net advertising network. Mobile advertising from experiments with the media budget becomes an excellent lead generator and provides the most, I emphasize, the highest conversion of the audience. The average CTR for our network is 2.8%, and for individual companies it is 5% and higher. The market is still learning how to work with such a powerful tool, and the cost of mobile advertising is no longer inferior to advertising on top Internet resources, and this with a higher conversion.

And what are the features of the development of mobile publications? Are they somehow different from other apps?

Vitaly Dubinin: They are similar in one thing - in the love of users. Otherwise, I would say that some standards have emerged in the industry of publishing applications. There are so many features of content delivery, push notifications and speed requirements.

Are there any world examples that you could cite as a successful print campaign in the mobile world? What is the secret of their success?

Vitaly Dubinin: The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the New York Times, our domestic Vedomosti and Kommersant are all very successful in the mobile segment. Perhaps there is no secret of success - these are publications with the best content. They became available on mobile devices, and users thank them for this with their attention. High-quality journalism is their “secret formula”, but it also hasn't been without great solutions for mobile devices. It is the above publications that have shaped the existing standards for news applications, as we see them now.

As I understand it, in Russia there are examples of successful implementation of mobile versions of print publications? You are talking about Vedomosti and Kommersant. Tell us in a nutshell what else is there.

Vitaliy Dubinin: Of course. We are happy to be involved in them. I still consider Vedomosti the best application on all platforms, I immediately said about it. Beautiful is Forbes, Gazeta.ru, Championat.ru, News 360. The main quality of these products is love for the user and respect for the work of journalists. The rest is a matter of technique.