SmartOcto

Smartocto provides a content analytics platform tailored for newsrooms, publishers, and content creators. The company was established in 2015 and is headquartered in Nijmegen, Netherlands, with an additional office in Novi Sad, Serbia. The current iteration of Smartocto is the result of a May 2020 merger between two companies, SmartOcto and Content Insights, which were both founded five years prior.

The founders, drawing from their extensive backgrounds in journalism and digital media, aimed to address a common challenge in newsrooms: the underutilization of data. Co-founder and CEO, Erik van Heeswijk, has a long history in digital journalism, including being Chief Editor of the Digital department at the Dutch broadcaster VPRO. This experience, shared with co-founder and CMO Rutger Verhoeven, formerly the head of digital at broadcaster BNNVARA, highlighted the need for a tool that could translate complex data into actionable steps for journalists. The founding team also includes Dejan Nikolic, known for his work in satirical news, and Ilija Šuša, who brings expertise in data engineering from the media and banking industries.

Smartocto's business model is centered on providing its analytics solutions as a service to a diverse client base that includes over 300 news organizations, broadcasters, magazines, and newspapers across the globe. The company generates revenue through customized packages and services tailored to the specific needs of each client. The platform is designed to help editorial teams understand content performance and make data-informed decisions to increase audience engagement, reach, and profitability. It assists storytellers by providing insights on what's working, when and where to publish, and how to optimize stories post-publication.

The core of Smartocto's offering is a suite of tools that deliver real-time and historical analytics, predictive insights, and actionable notifications. Its features include real-time dashboards, A/B headline testing through a tool called 'Tentacles', and customizable reports. A key differentiator is the system's ability to provide smart notifications—concrete tips powered by AI—that suggest specific actions, such as creating a follow-up article or testing a different headline. The platform can be integrated with existing analytics tools like Google Analytics and Adobe Analytics, and notifications can be sent to various platforms including Slack and Microsoft Teams. Furthermore, Smartocto has developed a 'User Needs Model' in collaboration with digital transformation consultant Dmitry Shishkin, which categorizes content to help newsrooms better serve their audiences.

Keywords: content analytics, editorial analytics, newsroom intelligence, audience engagement, data-driven publishing, real-time analytics, predictive analytics, A/B testing for news, content strategy, user needs model, publisher tools, media analytics, digital journalism, story optimization, content performance, actionable insights, newsroom technology, content intelligence platform, headline optimization, audience data