Media Update’s Cassy van Eeden spoke to Camilla Bath, deputy news editor and product manager for the WhatsApp updates to find out why this new form of publishing is so popular.

Where did the idea for the WhatsApp updates come from? 

The WhatsApp initiative was more about trying to predict our audience’s needs rather than responding to them. We knew that WhatsApp is used widely in South Africa and we wanted to experiment with the platform. So we got in touch with a few newsrooms in Europe who were already playing around in the space and we very quickly decided it was something we could do.

We believed it would be something that our audience would appreciate – and the feedback we’ve received has borne that out.

How long did it take to get the updates up and running?

We started testing the idea internally in late February and introduced a pilot services within the company that we ran for about two months, mostly to establish a voice for the product and to learn what worked – and what didn’t – within WhatsApp itself. We then launched to the public in mid-April.

How important is it to EWN to keep their audience’s needs top of mind?

We believe it’s vital to ensure we are connecting with our audiences in ways that fit into their everyday lives.

In addition to ensuring that our existing audiences receive news that is of the highest standard, in ways that are convenient and relevant to them. We are also always on the lookout for ways of attracting new audiences. So anticipating their needs, acting on feedback and constantly thinking about the end user experience is critical.

The updates carry a very specific voice, how did you come to the decision that instant messaging lingo and emoticons would be used in the updates?

Instant messages apps are, by their very nature, more personal and more personality-driven. They are in a space in which people interact with their friends and family on quite an informal level. So we wanted our WhatsApp service to be in keeping with that.

We decided very early on that we would use emoticons and instant messaging ‘speak’ because we believe it’s a platform on which we can really play, without ever crossing the line. We want our users to feel like they’re getting a personal message from a smart, clued-up, ‘newsy’ friend who has a bit of a sense of humour, with all the stuff they might be interested in and that would be useful to them, but presented in a fun and funky way rather than a stiff and formal news broadcast.

What has been the biggest challenge with the WhatsApp updates?

The biggest challenge has been using WhatsApp itself. It’s not a platform that’s intuitively designed for mass messaging as the appetite for service has grown, we’ve had to come up with several workarounds in order to be able to reach as many people as possible in limited timeframes.

It’s a nice problem to have, but the rapid growth in subscribers has also been a significant challenge as the loading of new subscribers is a pretty manual and time-consuming process.

What is in the future for EWN WhatsApp updates?

We’re always looking at new ways of telling stories that matter and we’re playing around with a lot of ideas. But a lot of it depends on how WhatsApp grows and expands in the future. You’ll have to subscribe to find out what we have in store.

To subscribe to EWN’s WhatsApp updates, visit their website.