The Pharma Letter Pioneers Pharmaceutical News Publishing with Blaze CMS
The Pharma Letter has moved its digital editorial operations to Blaze, a leading headless CMS, transforming both the user experience and business processes. Business users can now build, manage, and optimise the site with 'no-code' tools. Blaze enables product teams to ship new features and enhance commercial offerings without relying on developers. This transformation has resulted in:
- Accelerated site development
- Lower operational costs
- Improved revenue streams
Collaborative Development for Cost-Effective Growth
The Pharma Letter team collaborated with Byte9 in the development process. This co-sourced model has eliminated reliance on outdated proprietary CMS systems. Blaze is delivering digital outcomes while minimising technical overhead, risk, and costs. As a result, The Pharma Letter is on a path to sustained growth and scalability.
Empowering Content Teams with 'No-Code' Site Creation
Blaze CMS offers 'no-code' and 'headless' content management solutions. The Pharma Letter can now create and optimise pages without needing web developers or designers. Editors can craft and manage pages to enhance user engagement and monetisation. The streamlined workflow supports the rapid evolution of the site, leading to significant boosts in advertising, directory, sponsorship, and subscription revenues.
Dramatic Growth in User Engagement and New Users
Since the launch, The Pharma Letter has seen a substantial increase in user engagement. Active users have surged by 225%, and new users by an impressive 253%. This growth can be attributed to improved site performance and Search Engine Optimisation (SEO). Optimizing the entire content archive has had a profound impact on visibility. Programmatic and AI-based content optimisation has improved content relevance. The Pharma Letter is now a leading destination for pharmaceutical news and insights. Enhanced SEO has increased traffic, while improved performance and usability have driven higher engagement.
Single Page Application for Seamless Performance
Blaze utilizes a Single Page Application (SPA) front-end. 'Page-Builder' tools within the CMS application control the front-end, while the GraphQL API facilitates data sharing between the back-end CMS and the front-end application. This architecture enhances performance, scalability, and personalisation opportunities. Having an 'app-like' website within the browser transforms the user experience. The SPA approach enables a personalised content experience for individual users or specific segments, which is crucial in a specialized news sector like biotech. Targeting news by role, company, therapy area, or competitors increases value.
Leveraging Data to Optimise User Experience
With advanced analytics capabilities, The Pharma Letter can analyse user interactions with precision. Blaze provides content engagement data at the page component level for each individual user, enabling the team to fine-tune the user experience. Engagement insights allow for tailored experiences for individual users and matched segments, driving higher engagement, improved conversion rates, and retention. Integration with Data Management and User Experience Platforms (DMPs/UXPs), like Snowplow, further enhances content delivery. Personalization for both company visitors and individuals is now possible.
Maximising Advertising and Revenue Opportunities
Blaze’s integration with Google Ad Manager enables personalised advertising. New sponsorship opportunities within larger, targeted audiences are boosting ad revenue. Rich media content delivered to specific audience segments has opened new revenue streams. Commercial teams now have more control over production, audience targeting, and campaign reach, creating more value for advertisers and sponsors.
Future-Proof with MACH and JAMstack Architecture
MACH (Microservices, API-first, Cloud-native, and Headless) and JAMstack architecture ensure a future-proof, scalable technology foundation. Amazon Web Services (AWS) serverless hosting scales to meet user demand, ensuring cost efficiency, reliability, and scalability. These technologies provide a solid foundation for continued growth as the digital publishing landscape evolves.
AI-Driven Content Optimisation for Improved SEO
Blaze’s AI and Machine Learning (ML) tools have significantly enhanced content SEO and engagement. Content analysis, recommendations, structured data creation, and content relationship management have boosted SEO. Semantic relations between content and content types have further improved engagement. This is critical for a digital-first publishing company competing for audience visibility and engagement. Optimising the content archive has increased SEO visibility and driven more traffic, raising the profile and value of The Pharma Letter’s high-quality content.
Conclusion
Blaze CMS has revolutionised The Pharma Letter's digital publishing approach. By working with no-code tools, the company has streamlined operations, boosted user engagement, and increased revenue. The progressive tech stack, no-code CMS, GraphQL API, and SPA front-end have proven to be powerful.
Enhanced SEO, personalisation, rich analytics, and user segmentation have enabled product development and audience expansion. This has driven organic traffic and allowed The Pharma Letter to reach new, larger, and more targeted audiences. As a result, the company has seen better revenue generation and has created new products with additional revenue streams.
Blase has ensured the long-term growth and stability of this well-established title.