Why Publishers Need Mobile Apps to Thrive in 2025

Today's publishers face a perfect storm: AI flooding search results, social algorithms in constant flux, and privacy changes disrupting traditional audience strategies. While many chase quick fixes and temporary solutions, industry leaders are taking a different approach.

The answer isn't another social media strategy or SEO tactic. Forward-thinking publishers are building something more sustainable: their own mobile channels. By meeting readers where they actually consume content - on their phones - these publishers are creating direct relationships that no algorithm can disrupt.

This guide explores why apps have become essential for publishers who want to:

• Own their audience relationships
• Build reliable revenue streams
• Create engaging mobile experiences
• Future-proof their distribution strategy

8 Reasons Why Publishers Need an App

While others chase social traffic, smart publishers are building something better: their own mobile channel that puts them directly on readers' home screens.

Apps offer publishers a direct, owned channel, bypassing the limitations of third-party platforms like social media.

With apps, publishers can deliver personalized, timely content straight to users’ devices, in a familiar format, reaching them directly on their phone’s home screen. Features like push notifications add a delivery mechanism that the web alone lacks, and they add to the app’s value, making it easier for publishers to build loyal reader communities.

Apps also let publishers gather first-party data responsibly, a key advantage in a world where third-party cookies are being phased out.

Let’s take a deeper look at how current trends shaping reader behavior show that the best way for publishers to engage readers, build loyalty, and drive long-term success, is to have a mobile app.

MobiLoud has been helping publishers launch their own apps, level up engagement and build lasting relationships with their readers, for more than 10 years. To get a look at how MobiLoud can help your business grow, book a free demo now.

1. Taking Control of Your Relationship With Your Audience

Social media used to be a reliable traffic source. Not anymore. As platforms prioritize personal content over publisher posts, referral traffic keeps dropping - leaving publishers scrambling for new ways to reach their audience.

According to a 2022 Parse.ly report, social media referral traffic to publisher websites dropped by 15% compared to the previous year. Publishers can no longer rely on these platforms to reach their audience effectively.

Mobile apps offer a way to regain control over audience engagement.

By creating a direct channel to readers, publishers can bypass social media algorithms and interact with their audience on their own terms.

Apps allow publishers to build a dedicated digital environment where they can foster deeper relationships with readers.

Features like push notifications give publishers the ability to send real-time updates and personalized content directly to users, increasing engagement and encouraging regular visits. Rather than relying on third-party platforms, publishers can build their own loyal communities within their apps.

A strong example of this is The New York Times, which has successfully leveraged its mobile app to maintain direct engagement with its audience.

The app offers personalized content recommendations and push notifications, ensuring readers return regularly without needing to rely on social media feeds. This curated and personalized experience has helped The Times grow its subscription base and increase reader retention, demonstrating the power of controlling audience engagement through a mobile app.

2. Data Privacy and the First-Party Data Advantage

Privacy changes are reshaping digital publishing.

As third-party tracking crumbles and readers demand more control over their data, publishers need direct relationships more than ever.

That's where mobile apps shine - offering transparent, permission-based connections that build trust and deliver better data.

Mobile apps enable publishers to collect first-party data directly from users in a more transparent and compliant way. Within an app environment, publishers can request permissions upfront and clearly communicate how data collection will enhance the user experience.

Unlike websites relying on third-party trackers, apps allow publishers to gather valuable insights into user preferences and behavior directly, making it easier to deliver personalized content that resonates. Along with driving engagement, this approach fosters trust, as users feel more secure when they know their data is being handled responsibly.

A great example of this is The Guardian, which uses its mobile app to gather first-party data while maintaining transparency and respect for user privacy. 

The app allows users to control their data settings and provides clear explanations of how their information will be used. By balancing privacy concerns with the need for personalization, The Guardian has been able to boost user engagement and build stronger loyalty with its readers. 

This highlights the growing importance of first-party data in the future of publishing, where trust and personalization will be key to retaining an engaged audience.

3. Adapting to Shifts in Content Consumption

Today's readers aren't just readers anymore - they're viewers, listeners, and scrollers. While short-form video dominates TikTok and YouTube, publishers are realizing something crucial: it's not about choosing one format over another. It's about delivering your content where and how your audience wants it.

Publishers who fail to embrace these new formats risk losing relevance in a media landscape increasingly dominated by multimedia content.

Mobile apps are uniquely suited to meet this shift in content consumption. Unlike websites, apps offer a seamless environment for integrating high-quality video and audio, providing a superior user experience.

NPR’s “NPR One” app is a standout example of how publishers can successfully adapt to these trends. The app seamlessly integrates audio content, including live radio, podcasts, and curated news stories, all personalized to the listener’s preferences.

By making their content accessible in a familiar, modern format, NPR has been able to reach broader audiences and increase user engagement, particularly among younger listeners. This is crucial for publishers looking to stay relevant as content consumption habits continue to change.

4. Retaining Readers Through Push Notifications

Remember when email was enough? Those days are gone. With open rates plummeting from 40% to 10% in just a decade, and AI-generated content flooding inboxes, publishers need a more reliable way to reach readers.

Enter push notifications - your direct line to readers' home screens. While emails get buried in crowded inboxes or trapped by spam filters, push notifications cut through the noise. They deliver your content exactly when and where readers want it, turning breaking news into instant engagement.

Leading publishers are seeing the difference:

• Higher response rates than email
• Instant delivery of breaking news
• Direct path to reader engagement
• Complete control over timing and frequency
• No algorithms or intermediaries

A study by Airship found that personalized push notifications can increase engagement rates by as much as 800%.

Mobile apps give publishers the ability to send personalized, real-time messages to users, which keeps them coming back for more.

Whether it’s breaking news, new articles tailored to a user’s interests, or special offers, push notifications create a powerful connection between the publisher and the reader.

Unlike emails or social media posts, which can easily be missed or ignored, push notifications reach users directly on their devices, making them hard to overlook.

This kind of personalized engagement drives higher retention rates and encourages users to make the app part of their daily routine.

ESPN has effectively used this strategy with its mobile app, delivering push notifications tailored to users’ favorite teams and sports. Fans receive real-time updates on game scores, news, and highlights that are relevant to their preferences.

ESPN’s success demonstrates how push notifications, when done right, can significantly improve reader retention and engagement for publishers.

5. Building Loyalty and Habitual Engagement

Apps transform casual readers into daily visitors. Unlike websites that need to be remembered and revisited, your app sits right on your readers' home screens, making your publication part of their daily routine.

An app icon on a user’s home screen serves as a constant reminder of your brand, increasing the chances of regular usage. By delivering consistent, high-quality content, publishers can build deeper loyalty, transforming casual readers into devoted followers.

This habitual engagement is essential in building long-term relationships with readers and ensuring repeat visits.

Mobile apps provide several features that help create these daily habits. Features like personalized content feeds, daily briefings, and breaking news alerts encourage users to check in regularly.

Over time, this consistent interaction builds trust and reliance on the app as a primary source of information or entertainment.

The result is a more engaged audience that not only returns frequently but is also more likely to subscribe, share content, or make in-app purchases, strengthening the publisher’s revenue streams.

The Washington Post offers a prime example of how publishers can leverage their mobile app to build strong loyalty. By providing timely updates, daily briefings, and curated news tailored to users’ interests, the app keeps readers coming back day after day.

The Post’s app has become an essential part of their readers’ daily news consumption, contributing to high retention rates and long-term loyalty. This approach underscores the importance of habitual engagement in driving sustainable success for publishers in a competitive digital landscape.

6. Avoiding Reliance on Google and Search Traffic

As search engines evolve with AI-powered results and algorithms that provide direct answers to user queries, publishers are seeing a decline in organic search traffic.

Google and other search engines are increasingly prioritizing snippets, featured answers, and AI-generated responses that reduce the need for users to click through to publishers’ websites.

This shift is reducing visibility for publishers who have historically relied on search engine optimization (SEO) to drive traffic. As AI continues to grow, publishers must adapt or risk losing a significant portion of their audience.

Mobile apps provide an essential way for publishers to build a direct relationship with their readers and reduce reliance on search engines like Google. Through an app, publishers can control the distribution of their content and ensure that readers engage directly with their brand rather than through third-party platforms.

Features like push notifications, personalized content feeds, and curated recommendations within the app create an experience that keeps readers engaged without needing to depend on search traffic. 

This direct connection both improves engagement and also ensures that publishers are less vulnerable to changes in search algorithms or the growing dominance of AI-generated content, summaries and replies.

7. Exclusive Content and Reader Retention

Offering exclusive, app-only content is a powerful way to drive downloads and retain readers. In a landscape where free content is abundant, exclusive material that can only be accessed through a mobile app provides a unique value proposition.

Readers are more likely to download and regularly use an app when they know they’re getting something they can’t find anywhere else. This strategy encourages initial downloads, and also keeps readers coming back, fostering loyalty and long-term engagement.

Mobile apps enable publishers to differentiate their content offerings from what is available on their websites or other platforms. By providing premium articles, videos, or special features accessible only through the app, publishers can create a sense of exclusivity that appeals to their most loyal audience.

Features like app-only events, early access to breaking news, or interactive tools can enhance the user experience, making the app indispensable for readers who want to stay ahead of the curve. This approach helps publishers build a dedicated community that values the unique content and experiences offered through the app.

The Wall Street Journal is a great example of a publisher leveraging exclusive content to increase app usage and retention. The WSJ app offers subscribers premium articles, real-time market data, and personalized watchlists that aren’t available on its website.

This sense of exclusivity has helped drive app downloads and keeps subscribers engaged within the app. By making valuable, app-only content part of their strategy, publishers like The Wall Street Journal show how exclusivity can be a key driver in both attracting and retaining readers.

8. More Monetization Opportunities

Mobile apps offer publishers a broader range of monetization opportunities than traditional websites, allowing them to expand beyond standard ad revenue. 

With an app, publishers can introduce in-app subscriptions, premium content tiers, and personalized advertising that deliver value to both users and the business.

In-app subscriptions are a particularly powerful tool for driving revenue, giving publishers the ability to offer exclusive, ad-free experiences or access to premium content. This tiered approach appeals to readers who are willing to pay for a more personalized, high-quality experience.

Mobile apps provide publishers with first-party data, enabling them to offer more targeted, personalized ads that can drive higher engagement and conversion rates. By leveraging insights into user behavior, publishers can optimize both content and advertising strategies within the app to maximize revenue without sacrificing user experience.

The Economist’s Espresso app provides a prime example of how publishers can unlock new revenue streams through mobile apps. With its premium subscription model, The Economist app offers exclusive articles, audio content, and curated briefings that aren’t available to non-subscribers. 

This strategy has significantly increased digital revenue and grown its subscriber base. The app’s success highlights how publishers can expand their monetization strategies through mobile apps, offering products that appeal to modern, on-the-go readers.

How to Build a Mobile News App with MobiLoud

Building a custom mobile app from scratch can be time-consuming and expensive, especially for publishers with limited resources.

Traditional app development involves significant upfront costs, long development timelines, and ongoing maintenance. The outcome is typically an inflexible and slow to develop app that tends to always lag behind the website in terms of features, design, and functionality. 

App development is just slower and more expensive than web development, and if you're a web-first business that already built something great on the web, you might struggle to maintain something separate on the side of your existing website. Building new features or sections of the site will always mean replicating what you’ve built on the web in your app, and will often be a source of frustrations and unexpected costs.

Over the last decade, we built a solution specifically designed to solve this problem. MobiLoud offers a faster, more affordable solution for publishers looking to create high-quality mobile apps without the complexities of custom development. 

How It Works

With MobiLoud, publishers can turn their existing websites into fully functional mobile apps in just a few weeks, saving up to 90% of the cost and time investment of traditional app development.

MobiLoud’s platform provides everything publishers need to create a seamless mobile experience, including features like push notifications and automatic synchronization between the app and the website. The app is always up-to-date with the latest content from the website, without any additional work from the publisher’s team.

MobiLoud handles the app submission process to both the Apple App Store and Google Play, ensuring that publishers get their app live quickly and easily. 

This approach to app development allows publishers to leverage what they’ve already built on the web, while leveraging the full potential of mobile apps to engage readers and drive revenue.

MobiLoud has helped well-known publishers like Foreign Policy, Business Insider NL, and Canada’s National Observer successfully launch mobile apps that enhance user engagement and loyalty.

These brands have used MobiLoud’s platform to offer their readers a seamless mobile experience, driving higher engagement through push notifications, personalized content, and app-only features.

The Process

MobiLoud’s process is fully done-for-you. There’s little to no work required from your team, as long as your website is already optimized for mobile devices.

After a demo call, and some quick back-and-forths to get on the same page regarding your vision for the app, the MobiLoud team will bring your app to life, writing the native code required to integrate your website and app.

The result will be an app that looks and feels fully native, while being fully synchronized with your website.

Once the first build is done, the MobiLoud team handles testing, makes any changes necessary to the apps prior to launch, then also handles app store publishing and post-launch maintenance, allowing your focus to remain on the website – not trying to juggle a whole new platform.

Build Your Mobile News App Today

As traditional traffic sources like social media and search engines become less reliable, and privacy regulations continue to shift, mobile apps offer a direct, controlled platform for delivering personalized content.

By turning your existing website into a mobile app, MobiLoud allows you to capture all the benefits of mobile engagement without the high costs and technical challenges of building an app from scratch. 

Whether you’re looking to increase reader retention, offer exclusive content, or explore new revenue streams, MobiLoud is the ideal solution for bringing your publishing strategy into the mobile age efficiently and affordably.

Book a demo now to discuss how the process works, and how MobiLoud can be the logical next step for your business to stay relevant in the mobile-centric world we’re living in today.