Motorsport.com races into mobile with news app for broader reach
Digital media brand Motorsport.com?s new application serves auto-racing fans with a comprehensive look at news tailored for smartphones as the brand responds to mobile's growing pull for consuming content.
The motor sports publication is hoping to target a wider audience of sport fans, as well as better serve its existing readership with the new app. Now that consumers are primarily accessing media content through mobile, Motorsports.com is proving mobile users with a variety of features such daily news feeds, color-coded categories, push-notifications and weather integration.
"Our media is mostly digital and our website?s design is fully responsive," said Eric Gilbert, vice president of operations at Motorsport.com. "In the past year, we have seen our mobile traffic grown from 45 percent to more than 60 percent.
"Already, most of our traffic is mobile," he said. "Our Motorsport.com News Digest app was developed to be a complement to the website and not a substitute.
Our new app brings a totally different experience to the pure browsing experience provided by the mobile browser version of our website."
Motorizing on mobile
News gets packaged and published once in the morning and once in the afternoon on the app, serving readers with twice a day updates to better serve the on-the-go user. For better organization, the app categorizes news by race groups, which are color coated such as Formula One, NASCAR, Moto GP, IndyCar, World Endurance Championship and IMSA.
The navigation takes the image of motor gears, coinciding with the theme of the publication?s content. The app taps into location to better serve readers with relevant content based on country, as well as integrating weather information.
Other features include a track quiz and hidden quotes for fun, as well as videos and image galleries.
Motorsports.com plans on rolling out more mobile features and apps in the upcoming year, and made its mobile launch with the News Digest app.
The publication chose a mobile app so it can serve its readers a more personalized experience with features such as custom push notifications and in-app messaging. The News Digest app is targeting users who experience busy life-styles and lack the time to sift through all the content within the desktop site.
The publication chose a mobile app so it can serve its readers a more personalized experience with features such as custom push notifications and in-app messaging. The News Digest app is targeting users who experience busy life-styles and lack the time to sift through all the content within the desktop site.
Mobile media
Newsweek also catered to digital readers by rolling out a mobile-optimized redesign of its site featuring smartphone-friendly tools such as a sticky social-sharing bar and easier navigation (see more).
Similarly, American Media's new mobile app for the National Enquirer focuses heavily on image-based stories and exhibits publishing's close connection with mobile in today's market (see more).
"The app strategy for Motorsport.com is to develop different apps that will bring new experiences in
the way our viewers explore our content and engage with us," Mr. Gilbert said. "We are also very keen on keeping our apps very simply and focused on a limited set of features.
"This way, apps are easy to use, fast and nimble," he said. "For instance, the Motorsport.com News Digest app concept is around the notion of packaging news at two specific times of the day.
"We send all the news at two different moments, like a news bulletin. Our upcoming news stream app will be the other way around: real time, but specific content, selected by the viewer."
Final take
Brielle Jaekel is editorial assistant at Mobile Marketer