Volt Africa offers a 360-degree advertising approach to eight premium publishers in South Africa.

This approach includes several touchpoints based on the advertiser’s specific needs, Abigail Wilmot, general manager of digital sales, services and operations at Volt, explained to INMA members at the Africa Media Revenue Summit.

Through exclusive partnerships with leading publishers, Volt connects brands to influential audiences. This reach is further extended through niche powerhouses such as Fast Company and Condé Nast.

Wilmot shared some audience stats by channel:

• 25 million pageviews across news, lifestyle, fashion, sports, business, motoring, etc.
• 7 million users actively reading Volt content daily.
• 8.4 million followers across Meta, X, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn.

A shift from traditional media (print and television) to digital to correlate to advertisers’ needs has helped Volt achieve higher, measurable ROI and targeted reach. The key trends that have influenced these strategies include:

• Mobile-first consumption.
• Content hubs and dedicated sections.
• Community engagement.
• Packaging bespoke opportunities.
• High social media engagement.
• Ad targeting.

Volt is seeing a huge shift towards TikTok specifically and has included that platform heavily in proposals and packages for advertising clients.

“Audiences love it,” Wilmot said. “They engage with it, they click, they view. They love video. The growth is actually phenomenal. We just looked at the growth over the past 10 days and it was up by 4%.”

Part of this digital transformation has been the adoption of AI within Volt operations, used with paid media as well as other areas.

Creative execution

As part of this strategy, Volt works closely with its partners to deliver creative solutions.

Wilmot shared an example of a three-day campaign through media brand IOL with Cheetos to support its brand relaunch. Using their mascot Chester Cheetah within the creative, the campaign leaned into the messiness of eating Cheetos with orange “fingerprints” on the screen.

“It was quite impactful, a high exposure campaign,” she reported. “We had an 81% viewability, which the client was very happy with, and a 10% click-through rate. So it was a very successful campaign.”

The team also recently launched a Matric Results Information Lab at IOL that provides a dedicated portal for South African students to instantly access their 2025 National Senior Certificate (NSC) results. This delivers a targeted, relevant environment for both that audience segment as well as advertisers, and offers ad clients various cost-effective touchpoints for effective campaign delivery.

“We found that working together collaboratively, internally, and then putting together packages around themed content that is of interest and value to our clients — and that we know will also be of interest to our audience — is definitely a winning formula,” Wilmot said.

Native content and social media

Native content on Volt’s platforms is highly effective for turning attention into meaningful engagements. It enhances brand visibility while seamlessly integrating within the platforms’ editorial content.

When it comes to social media, Volt’s aim is to meet the audience where they are consuming and engaging with the content. TikTok has been the most transformative platform for the company in recent years.

“We find that the platform is highly engaged and at IOL we are growing our following there at a rapid rate,” Wilmot said. “We are looking at various ways to commercialise as well as grow our content on the TikTok platform.”

2026 focus, key takeaways

Digital advertising is no longer about reaching everyone. It’s about earning relevance with the right audience.

Wilmot shared the key takeaways and focus areas that Volt has for 2026:

• Analysis of campaign data and insights to guide future investment.
• Client partnership offerings that tie in with strategy will grow ROI.
• Integrated campaign offerings including all touchpoints.
• New relevant creative options tailored to clients’ objectives.
• Users value real stories and content that is relevant, with contextual and native advertising options.
• Audience segment targeting with integrated campaigns.
• Networking and collaborating across group publishers and publications.
• New ad formats are key to generating increased interest and revenue.
• Integrated proposals with multiple touchpoints.
• Remaining relevant as media consumption habits evolve.

“Quality content, storytelling, and trust is our currency,” Wilmot said.

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