When Cosmopolitan.com was asked how to reach young women with lifestyle content, Amy Odell‘s answer was clear – mobile.
That’s why online editor Odell and her team have built Cosmopolitan.com with such a strong focus on mobile.
Specifically, Snapchat, which announced weaker-than-expected user growth this week, has been a big driver for Odell.
Cosmo launched on to Snapchat Discover, the social app’s content offering, when it debuted back in January 2015. By October of the same month, Cosmo’s Discover channel was getting three million readers a day.
In this video interview with Beet.TV, Odell says: “We were surprised by how quickly we grew there. We have 11mn subscribers, we reach 30mn unique visitors a month, we do tons and tons of video views on that platform.
“We (have) a dedicated team of animators and video editors who work so hard to get those editions out every single day. We also have dedicated writers who create content just for that platform.”
So what is the Snapchat strategy really? After all, many media brands have spent the last few years dumping their content out through social platforms – but some have this year concluded the pay-off isn’t as significant as hoped, and decided they are giving away too much.
“Every snap is a 10-second trailer for the content beneath it,” Odell tells Beet.TV. “So, for an article, you’re creating a 10-second trailer to sell the reader on that article.
“Young women are on their cellphones. If we’re not there, we’re not on the frontline of our audiences.”
This video is part of Beet.TV’s coverage of the IAB’s Digital Content NewFronts 2017. The series is sponsored by the IAB. For more videos from the #NewFronts, please visit this page.