Readers desire information when they visit a news source –– but also understanding, inspiration, utility and fun. And too often, there’s a misalignment between what your audience wants and what it gets.

That’s where the user needs framework comes in. The concept itself isn’t revolutionary: By paying closer attention to the needs of your audience, you’re able to deliver more relevant content and engender a more loyal audience. But what makes this framework so effective for the publishers that have adopted it is its simplicity, language and tracking mechanisms.

So what are user needs and how will they help produce better results?

This was the topic of a Family and Independent Media Sustainability Lab (FIMS Lab) call I recently hosted. Read on for what we talked about and more resources on the subject.

User needs 101: Explaining the framework

The concept of user needs was first introduced in 2016 by the BBC World Service after researching the needs of its audience. From that research came six reasons people typically consume news. The framework has since evolved to include eight needs, although many publishers adapt the needs based on their own missions.

  • Update me: This is a typical news article that states the facts: Who, what, when, where, why, how.
  • Educate me: These stories help readers learn more about a topic or event and fuel their curiosity or understanding of a complicated subject.
  • Give me perspective: These stories often include analysts and experts, give different perspectives on a subject, and help readers form their own opinion.
  • Divert me: These pieces are an antidote to the often negative flow of news, with something funny, exciting or entertaining.
  • Inspire me: These are often stories of people who achieve something significant against all odds. It also can include solutions journalism.
  • Help me: These help people find information they’re searching for and to better navigate their day-to-day lives.
  • Connect me: Stories created with this approach will connect people around ideas or experiences.
  • Keep me engaged: This keeps readers up-to-date with current events so they can participate in the conversation.

Here’s a great example of how the Atlantic crafted user needs applicable to its audience: We’ve spent two years studying readers’ & listeners’ needs of The Atlantic.

What publishers have almost universally found when they adopt user needs: They’re producing too many “update me” stories and too few stories that meet other needs, such as “educate me,” “inspire me,” and “give me perspective.”

Let’s look at a few publishers who focus on user needs

Despite being around for a number of years, the user needs framework appears to be making a resurgence, especially among European publishers. And they’re seeing strong results.

Dutch regional broadcaster Omroep Brabant: As it prepared to implement user needs, Omroep Brabant analyzed its current mix of stories and discovered 70% fell into the “update me” category, yet generated just 22% of their pageviews.

The analysis showed readers were interested in more “educate me,” “inspire me,” and “give me perspective” stories. Omroep Brabant measures the success of its stories using a Content Performance Indicator, which has a scale of 1 to 1,000, calculated on a variety of metrics. Prior to implementing user needs, almost all stories scored below 500. But after, the average was consistently well north of 500.

Berlingske Media, Denmark: User needs has taught Berlingske Media:

  • Some needs and topic combinations are better than others when it comes to selling subscriptions.
  • The same goes for retention — and it’s not necessarily the same combinations.
  • Berlingske is publishing more stories on those high-converting needs while increasing conversion per article — and producing fewer stories overall.
  • An increasing number of stories are being commissioned based on user needs.
  • It gives the newsroom a shared language that is more about the users and less about the media company.

DRIVE initiative of publishers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland: ​​Organized by German press agency dpa and consultancy firm Highberg, the DRIVE (Digital Revenue Initiative) project was launched in 2020 and now includes 30 publishers from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland.

The initiative was able to analyze user needs by date and time. What they found, for instance, was that readers on Mondays are looking for “divert me” articles.

Among the results they saw after implementing user needs:

  • News publishers have gained an average of 75% more subscribers with needs-based stories than with traditional articles.
  • Reader engagement has more than doubled, increasing by 125%.

Smartocto answers questions on the model

Rutger Verhoeven, co-founder and chief marketing officer at smartocto, joined the FIMS Lab call to offer his take and answer questions. Smartocto is a content analytics system that also works closely with many publishers on adapting and analyzing user needs.

“The most important thing is, if you want to work with user needs, you need to understand ‘what are you trying to get from your brand?’ and match user needs with that brand promise,” Verhoeven said. “You want to address the right topics in the right format.”

Rutger Verhoeven

How long does it take to implement user needs? Verhoeven said it can be a year before everyone is trained and tagging stories, and 2-3 years before it becomes part of the newsroom’s DNA.

Verhoeven said user needs are a big cultural change. Journalists often assume they know what the audience needs, so learning from the model can take a change in mindset.

Many publishers have found that “inspire me” stories overperform with audiences. Judi Terzotis, president and publisher of The Times-Picayune | Advocate | NOLA.com in Louisiana, said teams there started packaging inspiring content to make that clear to readers, including a Sunday section in print called “Inspired.”

Among publishers that smartocto works with, all have discovered they are producing too many “update me” stories and not enough that meet other needs, Verhoeven said.

“Lowering the amount of ‘update me’ stories in favor of other user needs is almost always a good strategy,” Verhoeven said.

Additional reading: The user needs for news, explained

Finally, some advice from those on the user needs journey

To make this work, publishers say, it’s important to operationalize user needs. All content must be tagged and analyzed, whether manually or using a tool.

And here are some great takeaways from DPG Media in the Netherlands:

  • Use user needs when pitching topics. Let each pitch consist of topic, audience needs, and angle.
  • Create follow ups with user needs. See which news generates a lot of reach and then think of a valuable follow up in a different user need.
  • Determine which needs you want to meet in an average day and use that as a guideline in your planning.

And if you still want more on user needs, check these articles out: