Australian Community Media attributes the increase in viewership to regional Australia and new apps for its mastheads for increased viewership and engagement levels.
The publisher’s audience grew by 12% in new users in December compared to the previous year, according to internal data from Google Analytics.
Paul Tyrrell, ACM’s chief client and marketing officer, said the surge in demand for his journalism comes as more and more Australians move to the regions.
“As a result, we’re seeing ACM’s network of trusted mastheads being discovered by more people across a diverse demographic,” Tyrrell says.
According to the Regional Australia Institute, the number of people who moved from a capital city to a regional area in the June quarter of 2021 was 11% higher than in the June quarter of 2020.
“Interestingly, we’ve seen an increase in our younger audience with an increase of nearly 10% in the 18-24 segment as more and more young people seek trusted content,” Tyrrell says. .
“While key buying demographics, such as 35-44 year olds, jumped nearly 21% year-over-year and our female audience grew 14%.”
“The most enjoyable thing was that most of the growth was a result of our audience coming directly to our sites rather than through a referral. Direct traffic was up nearly 25% year over year. That shows the strength of our banners and the important role they play in keeping our communities strong, informed and connected.
State-based data shows strong growth in key ACM markets for December, including 25% growth in Tasmania, 15% growth in ACT and 8% growth in Queensland vs. the previous year.
ACM says rolling out its apps, which are currently available to 10 daily mastheads, has also helped boost engagement levels, with average app session times of six minutes and 21 seconds, according to Google Analytics. .
The publisher plans to launch apps for the remaining four titles, Western Advocate, Central Western Daily, Daily Liberal & Northern Daily Leader, by the end of February.
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