Reaching a younger audience is a challenge many industries are facing today, including the news industry. With the rise of digital media, traditional news outlets have had to adapt to meet the needs and preferences of younger readers.

In 2022, our news organisation, NWT Media, made significant strides in reaching a younger audience, resulting in a decrease of over three years in our average reader age. This had never before been seen in NWT Media.

NWT Media is one of Sweden’s leading media houses, with 279 permanent employees. Through 16 local brands in three counties — Värmland, Dalsland, and Skaraborg — we deliver local journalism via sites, apps, and print products.

In addition to local journalism, NWT Media assists companies with media consulting, strategy and production of advertisements, films, campaigns, and broadband.

3 key factors to engaging a younger audience

In 2022, we saw a record increase of 33% in our digital subscriptions, reflecting the success of our digital strategy and the effectiveness of our content in engaging audiences.

In addition, we saw a remarkable increase in our conversion rates, with a 77% increase in the inflow of conversions compared to the previous year. This highlights the effectiveness of our marketing campaigns and our ability to convert readers into loyal subscribers.

Our success in reaching a younger audience was due to several key factors. First and foremost, we recognised the importance of delivering news in a format that was easily accessible and engaging to young readers. This meant shifting away from traditional print formats and toward digital platforms that were more convenient and user friendly.

In addition to our successful efforts in reaching a younger audience, our news organisation developed a collaborative partnership between our editorial and private marketing teams. This partnership was a key factor in our continued success and allowed us to share common goals and activities to achieve even greater success.

Through this partnership, we were able to leverage the strengths of both teams to create a more comprehensive and effective strategy for reaching our target audience. Our editorial team provided insights into the types of content and stories that resonated with our audience, while our private marketing team brought expertise in branding, advertising, and promotions.

The partnership between our editorial and private marketing teams was crucial in ensuring our efforts were coordinated and aligned with our overall objectives. By working together, we were able to maximise the impact of our campaigns and initiatives and achieve even greater success in reaching our target audience.

Moving forward, we plan to continue to develop and strengthen our collaborative partnership. We recognise the importance of working together to achieve our goals and will continue leveraging the strengths of both our editorial and private marketing teams to create innovative and effective strategies for reaching our audience.

By doing so, we are confident that we will continue to see success and growth in the future.

Embracing content, platforms young readers want

We also developed a social media strategy that targeted popular platforms such as Instagram and TikTok, where young people are most active.

By posting engaging content and utilising interactive features such as polls and quizzes, we were able to capture the attention of a younger demographic and keep them coming back for more.

Another crucial component of our strategy was to focus on the types of stories that were most relevant and interesting to young readers. We conducted extensive research on the topics and issues most important to this demographic and made a concerted effort to cover these stories in depth.

By doing so, we established ourselves as a trusted source for news that was both informative and engaging to young readers.

Overall, our efforts to reach a younger audience were highly successful. By investing in collaboration between the editorial desks and marketing, creating engaging content, and establishing ourselves as a trusted source for news that was relevant to young readers, we were able to reduce our average reader age significantly.

Moving forward, we plan to continue to evolve and adapt our strategies to meet the changing needs and preferences of this demographic and to ensure that we remain a relevant and trusted source for news in the years to come.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .