Saying how the COVID-19 pandemic changed ‘X and Y’ is becoming a cliché nowadays, but it is the truth. People’s everyday lives, work places, and also, how audiences consume news changed drastically.
The Ozone Project is a publisher alliance in the UK, consisting of 12 premium brands, including The Guardian and Telegraph. This collective has one of the deepest insights any organisation can have about audience behaviour. They gather data from 1.4 billion monthly page views from 250+ domains, all within their own ecosystem.
Trends in How Audiences Consume News
From Ozone’s data, there are some key points that are important in Public Relations and Media Relations.
- People consume more news since the pandemic. This is 2 million more readers in a week, only in Ozone’s system. It is safe to assume that this stands true in different markets as well. With the unfortunate Russo-Ukrainian War, this number have grown again.
- Personal finance saw a surge in popularity. With the volatile nature of the recent years this is completely understandable. People seek information on how to save, invest and stretch out their money.
- Buying patterns have also changed. With better data research, advertiser can find new, and sometimes better opportunities for advertising. For example, travel companies found that advertising more in advance of the summer season can lead to better results.
Why Are These Audience Metrics Important?
First of all, they can save money for companies, by finding less expensive advertisements slots for their products and services. Secondly, it shows that people – contrary to the popular belief – are still interested in news. And lastly, it gives a clear picture in what kind of content audiences want.
To sum things up, they seek stability, helpful financial advices, useful information that helps them to navigate in their everyday lives. If a company can provide any of this, they have a good chance of earning valuable placements in publications.