Curiously - Manchester Evening News
This is our fastest growing audience, with a large proportion of our target market now consuming content via shortform videos.
Over the last 12 months since the introduction of our youth content team, our Tiktok, Instagram and YouTube audience has increased by over 150,000 followers and our accounts are now the go-to place for many under 35s in Greater Manchester and the wider region looking to find out what is happening in their area.
Of our 181k+ followers on TikTok, 39% are aged 18-24, and 32% aged 25-34. On Instagram, we see a slightly older demographic (43% of our 311k+ main brand Instagram account audience is under 35), which is expected due the platform being older and more established. This follower data enables us to individually tailor content to the audiences on the platforms, rather than taking the ‘one size fits all’ approach.
Creating content specifically for individual platforms is just one aspect of the successful strategy that has been developed and implemented by our small team of five. Other components include a tried and tested method of script writing, research into the best use of audio and onscreen ‘hooks’, examining data to explore optimum times of day to post, and understanding the importance of subtitles on platforms like Instagram which still sees a large percentage of users consume content without sound, unlike TikTok and Youtube on which sound is key.
Similar to the Manchester Evening News’ website, the Curiously team’s primary focus is on local hard and breaking news, What's On content (a tough market in a city as big as Manchester), and large national and trending topics. The packages we create are informative and engaging, and importantly, fit with the style and brand of TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts. Combined, our accounts generate hundreds of thousands of video views each day. They also help to drive further traffic to the website, in turn generating additional page views.
As well as a style guide for our day-to-day content, the team has also developed a best practice template for vox pop video interviews which is now being replicated elsewhere in Reach PLC's regional network. Our Under 35s video initiative is key to the future of the business and wider industry, and the Manchester Evening News team is a prime example of how to successfully implement such strategy into regional newsrooms.
Not only does it enable younger audiences who may not engage with traditional news sources to access local news, but it also helps to develop brand awareness of the Manchester Evening News, with a view to converting viewers into loyal readers further down the line.
The initiative is also key to Reach’s longer term revenue strategy. The quality of our output and growth of our accounts has already started to attract potential advertising and branded partnership clients.