New app bolsters Maine Trust’s connection to readers
The new Press Herald+ app is live, putting all of the Maine Trust for Local News’ essential journalism in one convenient place.
The app provides access to the latest news from across the state as well as mobile-optimized versions of digital replica e-editions for 11 Maine Trust publications. It allows users to customize their news feed to match their geographic preferences, provides the option to save articles for offline reading and incorporates dozens of
puzzles.
Beyond an excellent user experience, the app allows the Maine Trust to strengthen its direct relationship with readers. Rather than relying on social and search platforms to direct traffic, Press Herald+ pushes breaking news alerts and notifications about exclusive reporting directly into readers’ hands.
“With Press Herald+, we’re building a direct relationship with subscribers while making our journalism part of readers’ daily digital habits,” said Matt Fulton, chief audience officer for the Maine Trust. “It’s important for us to have immediacy, regularity and direct traffic. We want to make it as simple as possible for people to engage and read our news on a daily basis.”
With a vast coverage area across eight counties and multiple community titles, the Maine Trust previously offered multiple apps to subscribers for their publication of choice. With Press Herald+, the Maine Trust has brought those fragmented apps into one experience for readers from Southern Maine to Western, Central and Coastal Maine. The new app also integrates the work published on the trust’s websites (PressHerald.com, CentralMaine.com and SunJournal.com) so readers can access both statewide and hyperlocal community news in one place.
App users can customize the menus according to their content preferences, easily connect with news from their community and gain perspective on stories with a statewide interest that emerge from towns and cities like theirs.
“The centralized experience reflects the content strategy our editorial team has built,” Fulton said. “We’re giving people a complete picture of our statewide coverage and connecting readers with strong, local coverage of the communities they live in.”
Since its April launch, the app has recorded more than 12,000 first-time downloads. Fulton said they’ve received positive reader feedback, and will continue to make updates based on readers’ preferences.
The Press Herald+ name draws on the strength of The Portland Press Herald brand throughout the state while conveying the wide breadth of coverage inside the app.
“Press Herald+ is the friendly front door that brings all our publications together in the digital space,” Fulton said. “The app is a cohesive expression of the totality of our network.”
