June 6, 2024
In 2022 Bloomberg Media announced a shift to an audience-first strategy, which includes every action and decision the teams make, investing time to understand our customers across every platform we operate— and to focus on building features, products and businesses that truly serve them.
The seventh post of this series explains how Bloomberg Media is capitalizing audience insights to support video content creation.
By George Li, Video & Streaming Analytics Manager, Bloomberg Media
As one of the world’s leading business and financial news organizations, Bloomberg Media inspires and informs modern leaders 24/7- wherever and however they need us. Our engagement with audiences extends into the realm of streaming through channels such as Bloomberg TV and Bloomberg Originals, reaching viewers across various platforms including our website, OTT, YouTube, and social media.
In an era of unprecedented technological advancement, the media landscape is experiencing a profound transformation, setting the stage for innovation across industries. Embracing an audience-first strategy, we have redefined our approach to comprehensively understand audience preferences and develop data-driven video content tailored to their evolving needs.
Understanding Audience Preferences Across Platforms
Given the diverse range of platforms hosting our video and streaming content, we recognize the varying preferences of our audience across each platform. To address this, we’ve conducted thorough analyses of our audience’s video consumption habits on different platforms. This approach allows us to identify both common trends and unique preferences, enabling us to tailor our content effectively.
“One of our guiding principles as we have rapidly grown our streaming video business has been: be ‘distribution agnostic.’ We have created many front doors to our content across different types of video platforms: our CTV apps, vMVPDs, FAST services, and SVOD – while this enables us to meet our audiences where they are, it also requires us to program and promote our content differently to attract those varied audiences. Analytics has been critical to figuring out what performs best across each platform.”
—— Travis Winkler, General Manager of Video & Audio, Bloomberg Media
- Triple Opportunity Analysis
In an effort to identify the most engaging video content for our audience across diverse platforms, we conducted a comprehensive Triple Opportunity Analysis. This analysis focused on 900 Top Performing original videos across three major streaming platforms: our website, YouTube channels, and OTTs. We extracted the key topics covered in each video and ranked them based on viewership metrics and frequency of appearance. Subsequently, we utilized data visualization and tables to illustrate topic prevalence and their correlation with each audience segment.
Equipped with these insights, we offered actionable recommendations to our Editorial team, with the goal of refining the production and distribution of videos tailored to each platform. Our objective is to ensure that our audience receives relevant content through the platforms they prefer.
- Data Analytics + Survey Research
To gain deeper insights into our audience, our Media Insights team conducted extensive research on our content and platforms. This included a Brand Equity Research for one of our top-performing shows. Through this research, we gained understanding of what our audience cares about, assessed brand awareness of our properties, and explored reasons for show sentiment.
We combined these research results with insights derived from audience analysis, obtaining a more holistic view of audience preferences. These insights have been an added resource for our original shows, helping to ensure they resonate effectively with our audience.
Analyzing Show Performance to Ensure Alignment with Audience Preferences
At Bloomberg Media, we consistently monitor and analyze the performance of our shows and videos across various streaming platforms. Through meticulous analysis of viewership patterns, including accelerations and dropoffs, we gain valuable insights into the alignment of our content with audience preferences.
Moreover, our analysis enables us to distill trends regarding the most effective topics for videos on each platform, optimal content types for specific channels, ideal publication times, and the video formats that best cater to different audience groups.
We regularly share in-depth analyses and actionable insights with our Video Editorial teams, empowering them to adapt our programming accordingly, whether it involves daily financial coverage or original documentaries, such as “The Circuit with Emily Chang”, and “An Optimist’s Guide to the Planet”. Collaborating closely with showrunners and audience teams, we fine-tune content and formats, measuring the resultant improvements in viewership metrics.
Consistent Optimization for Better Audience Experience
We consistently provide strategic recommendations to our Editorial teams about optimization aimed at enhancing both the audience experience and viewership of our shows. These recommendations encompass various perspectives, including Content Development, Content Distribution, Viewing Experience, etc.
- Content Development
Through viewership data analysis, we have identified specific content categories that resonate strongly with our audience across different platforms. These include interviews with finance and tech leaders, AI-related documentaries, videos exploring the intersection of technology and culture, etc. Therefore we recommended that our Originals Editorial team prioritize the development of new shows and videos focusing on these crucial areas. Equipped with insightful analytics and editorial judgment, the team successfully produced captivating content that resonates with our audience’s diverse preferences across various platforms.
- Content Distribution
In addition to analyzing the performance of our shows, we actively seek opportunities to expand our audience reach. For instance, our BTV afternoon program, “Bloomberg Markets: The Close”, emerged as a top performer on our OTT platforms. Recognizing the demand for end-of-day market news on YouTube, we collaborated with the show’s Editorial team to launch it on the platform in September 2023. Subsequently, the show experienced significant success, becoming one of the most popular market programs among our YouTube audience.
- Viewing Experience
We collaborate closely with our Editorial teams to continuously enhance the viewing experience of the shows for our audience. For instance, we provide insights and recommendations to optimize custom thumbnails and titles for both full shows and segments, along with crafting content descriptions that highlight key topics. These efforts streamline the audience’s ability to discover the content they seek efficiently.
Moreover, recognizing the shift in our audience’s viewing behavior towards shorter content forms, we advised our Editorial teams to create daily recap videos based on full episodes. Additionally, we encouraged the production of short, engaging segments as standalone videos, complete with their own distinct thumbnails and titles. These short-form content pieces have garnered immense success among our audience, particularly on YouTube and social media.
Looking ahead, we are committed to continually exploring and integrating new solutions to democratize audience insights across multi-functional teams. Our aim is to empower them with the necessary information and tools to consistently enhance our video and streaming offerings, aligning them with the evolving needs of our global audience.
With a commitment to audience-first and a belief in the value of innovation, we remain dedicated to inventing the solutions, knowledge and connections our audience need to succeed.