How to capture next generation of news consumers

Author Moonshot.news

Published on: 22/07/2022

Publishers should target the medium, not the platform, to capture the next generation of news consumers. A global average of 34% of news consumers prefer video while on a publisher’s website, not just social media, according to research at Australian video consultancy Oovvuu and presented by its Head of Content, Nate Kelly, writing at Digital Content Next.

“While only about 25% of older consumers mostly watch or consume the same amount of content via video or text, the younger generations are consuming nearly 35% via video. Our research at Oovvuu finds this to be true across its publishing partners as well. A global average of 34% of news consumers prefer video while on a publisher’s website, not just social media.”

TIKTOK

Kelly predicts this trend isn’t going to change: “TikTok is a video-only platform and it’s the most popular social media platform in the world with the youngest users. TikTok will come and go, but those users have been conditioned to consume video from the days of Facebook and Twitter to Instagram, YouTube and now TikTok.”

“When they grow up and fit nicely into the 45 to 55 news-hungry demographic, odds are they’ll still want video” Kelly writs in a blog post.

“Already, 41% of consumers who prefer video say it is more engaging than text. When publishers embed contextually relevant video on a news story the time spnet on that page doubles.  It also increases the likelihood of that viewer returning to the site.”

LANDMINES

“This strategy isn’t new. It’s usually mentioned every few years when a publisher “pivots to video” for the umpteenth time. The problem lies in the execution of that strategy.”

“The road to proper video implementation is riddled with landmines: auto-play, long non-skippable pre rolls, too many ads, loading too many videos and weighing down the page, and a lack of contextual relevance are all recipes for disaster with news video consumption. One landmine can turn off a consumer or an advertiser. They’ll still want or pay for video, it just won’t happen on your site.”

“The winning formula is the right video, at the right time, in the right place. This formula works because video is 34 times more profitable than display advertising when implemented correctly.”

Kelly says Oovvuu has found that publishers who are willing to follow the formula are rewarded with media agency partners who are willing to pay premium CPMs for those videos and consumers who actually engage with the content.”

The formula:

Contextual Relevance + Premium and Timely Placement + Click-to-Play = Premium CPMs

“The reality is that journalists still need to do the work, and publishers can empower them with this strategy because it translates across all levels of the organization. Contextually relevant video journalism making more money for the publisher means newsrooms could do something they haven’t done in a long time…grow.”

Kelly says there is one more potential pitfall to this strategy worth mentioning: “A digital publisher or broadcaster can have a 1:1 perfect match between an in-house video and an article, but over time the publisher will still see a lack of loyalty from its consumers. But why if the video and article are in perfect harmony?”

LESS LOYAL

“Social and digital native audiences are more casual, less loyal, less trusting and more skeptical in their news consumption. Loyalty and trust are built through representation and diversity. A publisher who relies on one brand or one internal group of talent – no matter how good – is likely turning off younger consumers.”

Kelly says you need a larger variety of reporting perspectives and viewpoints with more races, accent and dialects offered from presenters.

“Contextual relevance through diverse video sources will leave audiences feeling represented, empowered, and part of the news. Couple that with a proper video strategy and consumers will be more likely to engage with “the news” and less likely to disassociate with it.”