Change, Adapt and Fine-Tune: Briefly News Gears Up for Another Successful Year
My fellow South Africans… Just kidding, this is not that kind of speech. It’s safe to say we learnt a lot in 2020 thanks to the pandemic and in 2021, we adapted, changed and fine-tuned many aspects of our business to thrive in what we now call the ‘new normal'.
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This year, Briefly News focused heavily on new business relationships, forming a stronger editorial team, teaching our writers new skills, expanding our content directions, and establishing and nurturing client relationships.
The year 2021 was all about making Briefly News even better than before and we’re happy to say we did just that and more.
Briefly News features in a Facebook case study
In July, Briefly News was part of a case study done by Facebook regarding the success of Instant Articles.
In the study, Facebook revealed the names of top-earning brands in Instant Articles in the African, Middle Eastern and Turkey regions. Briefly News made the list with a significant 25.7 million Instant Article pageviews in 2020.
“Our goal is to show the real Africa to the world,” said Yelena Boginskaya, co-CEO at Legit, Briefly News’ parent company.
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“We use a data-driven approach and seek to improve our audience’s lives everyday in real time.”
Facebook shared Briefly News’ results that led to increased revenue:
- An increase of 78% in Instant Article page views in comparison to 2019;
- 2x growth of monthly interaction rate on linked posts;
- 3.7x growth of monthly impressions on linked posts.
World News Day: Briefly News joins calls to highlight climate change crisis
In September, the Briefly News newsroom was abuzz with excitement when the publication was recognised as one of the many local and international publications supporting this year's World News Day on Tuesday, 28 September.
Source: UGC
The aim of World News Day is to celebrate and support journalists and their readers who strive to make the world a better place using facts and understanding.
Managing director of Briefly News, Rianette Cluley, said:
"We're in the business of making people's lives better through storytelling, so it's an honour to be a supporting organisation of World News Day because we share the same values.”
Briefly News becomes a United Nations SDG Media Compact Member
In February, Briefly News became a UN Sustainable Development Goals Media Compact Member. We now play a critical role in raising awareness about the SDG.
Source: UGC
Currently, we’re the only South African media company on the United Nations SDG Media Compact list.
It is a special privilege that the UN extends to leading media organisations around the world to partake in the collective responsibility of making the world a safer and better place, as envisioned in the SDG agenda.
Briefly News sets sights on the future with new and exciting content directions
As a data-driven company, we pride ourselves in knowing exactly who it is we’re writing for. For us, our readers aren’t just page views or unique visitors. They’re like family.
We use our expertise, local and global knowledge and youthful team to our advantage to bring our readers the news that matters to them most.
Already, we write about the top trending current affairs news, celeb gossip and news, as well as human interest stories that inspire or entertain.
A major content focus for us this year was to give our readers a better user experience in the form of invaluable fact checks and explainers, exclusive interviews, features and profiles, as well as Twitter and Instagram live interviews.
In 2022, we aim to strengthen our exclusive formats and add more categories to our ever-growing content strategy. We’re excited to test new categories, such as women in excellence and a tech and auto section.
Watch this space and send your CV to contact@briefly.co.za if you have a journalism qualification and experience.
Thank you to our loyal readers for making 2021 a success
As we wind down for the festive season, we reflect on 2021 with gratitude for our loyal readers and supporters.
“Every year I am humbled by the support we receive from South Africa. I am even more humbled by the everyday stories of South Africans that inspire us, proving we’re a resilient nation hungry for change and opportunity.
“Ngiyabonga to our readers for giving us the opportunity to inform, entertain and inspire you. We look forward to bringing you more news in 2022. Hamba kahle 2021.”
We’re ready for you 2022!
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Source: Briefly News
