In the fast-paced digital landscape, few companies have captured the essence of modern content consumption as effectively as Inshorts. Founded by Azhar Iqubal, Deepit Purkayastha, and Anunay Arunav, InShorts is known for its 60-word news summaries and has expanded into video content with its Public app, which offers hyperlocal updates.
What was the driving force behind the launch of Inshorts?
- Inshorts was created to solve three key problems in the traditional media industry:
- Lengthy articles: News content was often too long, making it hard for busy consumers to stay updated.
- Information overload: Thousands of articles are published daily, creating overwhelming choices for readers.
- Opinionated content: Many articles featured opinions rather than presenting just the facts.
- To address these challenges, Inshorts focused on:
- Providing 60-word summaries of news stories, easily readable in under 30 seconds.
- Offering only the top stories of the day, ensuring relevance and importance.
- Focusing solely on factual reporting, with no opinion or bias.
The app quickly gained popularity, with over a million downloads by April 2015, and it became one of the highest-rated Indian news apps1. In 2015, Inshorts rebranded itself, expanding its content to include videos, infographics, and blogs, further enhancing its appeal. The company’s strategic acquisitions, such as Betaglide, have also contributed to its growth by incorporating technologies that improve user retention.
Business Model and Success
Inshorts’ initial focus was on building a user base rather than generating revenue, relying on venture capital funding. However, by the end of 2017, the company had achieved profitability within a span of just 1.5 years, marking a significant milestone in its journey. Today, Inshorts boasts over 500 million users and a valuation of Rs 3700 crores as of October 2023.
The company’s success can be attributed to its user-centric approach, employing algorithms to personalize content based on user preferences, thereby enhancing engagement and retention. This strategic approach has positioned Inshorts as a major player in the digital news sector, with partnerships with various reputable companies contributing to its revenue growth.
InShorts’ Strategy
Deepit Purkayastha, the Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer of InShorts shared in an interview with moengage that InShorts has achieved a strong DAU to MAU ratio by focusing on several key strategies to drive user engagement :
- First, they prioritize the time spent on each story rather than shareability, with a focus on optimizing the time users spend reading, especially through visuals like images, which have proven to be powerful in capturing attention. A/B testing of images, such as comparing a Facebook logo with Mark Zuckerberg’s headshot, plays a crucial role in determining user engagement.
- They also measure the number of screens users navigate in a session, aiming to keep users engaged through short, frequent visits rather than longer sessions. This approach reinforces positive user reinforcement by delivering multiple relevant, bite-sized pieces of content that users can consume quickly.
- Maintaining a balance between personalized and broader news stories is essential for breaking echo chambers while keeping the content relevant. Their use of implicit time data allows them to track user preferences without requiring explicit input.
- Additionally, InShorts has optimized notifications, sending only 2-3 important stories daily to avoid spamming, with customized notifications for specific interest groups. Testing these notifications with a small segment before scaling them has proven effective, whereas over-saturating users with notifications has led to a drop in retention, showing that careful, personalized notification strategies are key to sustaining engagement.
Inshorts represent a new era in mobile content consumption, where concise, personalised information is paramount. As the company continues to innovate and expand its offerings, it will likely remain a key player in India’s digital media sector, influencing how millions of Indians access and engage with news and information.
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