Nine Metros uses vertical video, habit building to capture Olympics audience

By Sophia Phan

Growth Content Editor

The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age

Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Connect

Drawing from the experience of covering the 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup, the Nine Metros social team approached the Olympics with a dual focus: increase brand awareness and traffic while also cultivating a strong sense of fandom around the event.

We crafted our content with the clear goal of deepening audience engagement, tailoring our approach to suit the unique strengths of each social platform. Despite some limitations, we had a strong understanding of how to leverage each channel, and we leaned into our advantage of holding broadcast rights for the event.

Prior to the Olympic Games, readers were asked what kind of content would most interest them.

Prior to the Games starting, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, and Brisbane Times polled its readers on WhatsApp to satisfy the expectations of its audiences: How much content and what content did they want?

These insights also helped inform our curation on other platforms.

It proved to be a success as we collectively amassed more than 50 million video views and 20,000 followers.

The dominance of vertical video

Vertical video gained significant traction during Tokyo 2020. However, in the four years since, its popularity has skyrocketed. Paris 2024 was also free of pandemic restrictions, naturally providing more colour.

While vertical video content focused on two main pillars (live events and shoulder content), the kinds of content varied, capturing audiences interested in different aspects of the event.

Our vertical video strategy for Paris 2024 was structured around two main pillars: live events and shoulder content. While key race moments, athlete reactions, and press conferences were top priorities during live coverage, we transitioned to other content types as the day progressed.

To add depth and context, we produced interviews, explainers, and behind-the-scenes footage, offering a more comprehensive storytelling experience. This approach not only kept audiences engaged but also extended the relevance of Olympic content well beyond the live events through commentary and analysis.

Habit-building through daily recaps and tallies

Platforms like WhatsApp, Instagram Stories, and TikTok played a crucial role in delivering daily recaps. These were used to provide users with quick, digestible updates on medal tallies, event highlights, and key moments from the Games. These bite-sized updates ensured consistent user engagement and encouraged repeat visits throughout the event.

Many people checked in daily for consistent content like the medal tally.

Although the volume of video content varied depending on the day's events, we maintained a steady flow of "always-on" posts for each platform to ensure continuous coverage. To enhance both emphasis and consistency, we introduced new content templates. These templates helped distinguish our Olympics coverage from regular news content and increased the shareability of posts, allowing for broader audience reach and engagement.

Content for every level of fandom

While our primary focus remained on the performance of Australian athletes, the team ensured all major moments from Paris 2024 were covered in one way or another.

While Australian-focused content was important, all the big stories of the Olympics were profiled.

For key events, we provided immediate news updates, followed by deeper analysis. For instance, after Noah Lyles' 100-metre final win, we posted both the race results and a detailed breakdown of his performance. This also served to reflect and create a deeper connection with our on-platform coverage.

One other obvious standout moment was the Raygun sensation. This was a perfect example of preparation meeting opportunity. As her breaking routine took place in the second half of the Games, our team was ready to pivot quickly and capture the excitement.

Raygun had already been featured by the publications, so picking up on the breaking story was an obvious move.

Prior to Paris, our video team had already produced a video detailing Raygun's journey to the Olympics, allowing us to cut multiple versions of her story and release content tailored to audience engagement.

Search-driven content also played a pivotal role throughout the event. Our team closely monitored trending athletes, sports, and discussions, enabling us to quickly adapt and deliver relevant content that resonated with fast-moving social media audiences.

YOU MUST BE A MEMBER TO ACCESS THIS CONTENT

Become An INMA Member or Log In

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

About Sophia Phan

Sophia Phan is growth content editor at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Sophia can be reached at [email protected] or @Sophia_Phan.

Related Articles