How LadBible Increases Platform Revenue by Going All In on Short Form

Social publisher LadBible has seen revenue growth through its investment in short-form video across its vast portfolio of social platforms, three of its executives told Adweek on stage during Social Media Week Europe. Its scale offers it the opportunity to drive meaningful revenue from short-form, where other publishers would struggle due to the comparatively lower CPMs. In the fiscal half-year ending in July, the youth-focused publisher saw its indirect social revenues grow 13%, to $18.8 million, by increasing its viewership on Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat, according to public filings. The growth on these platforms, which offer publishers revenue-share agreements that pay out based on impressions, has helped LadBible fund growth on TikTok and Reels, which do not yet offer such splits. “We have direct revenues that we're getting through brands and commercial partnerships, and then all the indirect revenues that we're sharing with the platforms,” said Lindsay Turner, director of marketing and communications at LadBible Group. “And underneath that, we have loads of different capabilities.” From left: Jack Cowin, Jake Strong-Jones and Lindsay Turner speak with Adweek's Lucinda Southern at Social Media Week Europe. Increasing viewership by tweaking video strategy LadBible has achieved this growth, in large part, by tweaking its content strategy on Facebook, according to operations lead at LadBible Group, Jake Strong-Jones. Last fall, roughly 95% of LadBible content on Facebook was three minutes in length or more, said Strong-Jones. For years, Facebook incentivized publishers to produce three-minute videos by boosting their reach and, in the process, improving their monetization. But as the Facebook algorithm shifted to prioritize shorter-form content, LadBible saw the CPMs and distribution rates of its 60-second videos pick up, which prompted the publisher to lean into the trend. Now, 90% of LadBible content is 60 seconds or less, according to Strong-Jones. TikTok's EU Changes Set to Impact Advertiser Experience This pivot allowed the publisher to grow its audiences on its most lucrative platforms. Across the LadBible Group portfolio, its total follower count has risen 20%, from 297.4 million to 358.2 million year over year, as stated in their financials. Total video views rose from 50.1 billion to 87.4 billion from 2021 to 2022. This uptick in viewership and its corresponding boost in revenue has led to investing more resources in other platforms, specifically TikTok and Instagram Reels, according to Turner. On TikTok specifically, the popularity of the cheeky publisher has skyrocketed, and it now boasts nearly 13 million followers—more than any other news brand, the publisher said. Indirect revenues fuel high-growth platforms But while TikTok and Instagram have seen massive spikes in usage, they have yet to introduce a revenue-sharing program for publishers. That means the publisher can only monetize its TikTok and Reels presences with branded content, making the platforms an investment in the future rather than a source of immediate commercial returns. Its direct revenue, which encompasses these kinds of branded deals, rose 9% year over year to $14 million. TikTok is expected to debut a CPM product, but LadBible has no insight as to when that will happen, said Jack Cowin, the director of client solutions at LadBible Group. Until it does, publishers will have to rely on striking branded content partnership deals with businesses looking to reach its coveted audience of 16-to-34-year-olds, Cowin said. In the last year, LadBible has worked with brands including Vodafone, Google and Disney to produce branded social assets. The strategy reflects the adaptability required for social publishers to thrive, as shifts in algorithms and consumer preferences mean LadBible must continuously adapt if it wants to maintain its connection to its followers, according to Strong-Jones. “We highly recommend that you're doing at least one thing that is a little bit different from the rest of what you are doing,” Strong-Jones said. “Otherwise, you're not going to be able to spot when something changes when the market shifts.”

Social Media Week

How LadBible Increases Platform Revenue by Going All In on Short Form

On Facebook, the publisher produces almost exclusively 60-second videos

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Mark Stenberg

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