Influx magazine has evolved from starting life as a hard copy customer magazine sent via direct mail and distributed at motor shows & other events. The digital platform launched in 2008 as a WordPress blog aimed to reach a wider readership. By early 2014, our client required guidance to boost the publication's growth and credibility amongst their customer base. Client requirements demanded the continual positioning as a non standard insurance broker who offer a go-to destination for keen motorists. Analysis of the customer base, previous marketing, PR and advertising campaigns led to the creation of a solution to improve Influx's offering.
To The End suggested the use of video content to reignite the publication and aid growth across social media platforms. In order to accommodate new content the site was updated to a more customisable version plus the site responsiveness has improved UX for mobile users. A collective effort to engage through social platforms was planned to raise awareness and drive traffic to the site. Adrian Flux is a respected name amongst motoring enthusiasts, this status needed to be maintained building on existing authority.
The objectives were as follows:
In order to captivate a customer audience of motoring experts we commissioned editor Michael Fordham plus additional specialist journalists to provide written content ensuring consistency. The sourcing of relevant celebrity columnists such as Billy Bragg and Tai Woffinden was designed to build credibility and diversify content.
A video content strategy was developed putting the spotlight on elements of automotive culture. The key to this strategy was producing a monthly video centrepiece surrounded by staggered thematic content exploring each subject in full. Offering a full content package focussing on niche automotive areas provides an invaluable tool to promote via social channels and email campaigns. The idea is that these monthly campaigns would leverage and promote this unique value proposition to our audiences.
The content strategy would create strong social sharing opportunities designed to drive social interaction and also encourage audience feedback. This would influence the future direction of content planning. The timely and specialist social media updates would be shared via Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, YouTube being pivotal to monthly video centrepiece.
Embarking on the sharing of this content via social channels would require continual testing as it was a new initiative. Here are some of the variables which we planned to monitor:
Time allocation to Twitter inparticular working on follower growth, consideration towards how to attract followers, setting up of lists, tweet interaction and having a selective approach to those users @InfluxMag should follow. Our main social media focus was Twitter due our belief that this would be the easiest method of generating organic growth as interaction is easier amongst users, and pages are easier to find.
Twitter Followers 2015
January: 10,078
October: 12,956
Increase: 2,878
Facebook Likes 2015
January: 1,219
October: 1,835
Increase: 616
Organic Facebook Interactions 2015
January: 889
October: 3,453
Increase: 2,564
Average Organic Reach 2015
13 x 2014 figures
Average social authority vs. competitors
Performance Direct 9.4
Aviva 10.5
MCE 11.6
Carole Nash 11.6
Swinton 12.9
Hastings 13.5
Alan Boswell 17.2
Influx 20.1
Social pageviews to Influx site October 14 vs October 15
Oct 15: 1,366 Oct 14: 1013 = 34.8% increase
Oct 15: 460 vs. Oct 14: 170 = 171% increase
Newsletter Subscriber Increase 2015
January: 84,373
October: 290,183
Increase: 205,810
UX
Mobile Usability Improvements
H1 2015 vs H1 2014
October 2014 vs. October 2015
Sessions: Increased 56.7% (17,691 vs. 11,289)
New Users: Increased 65.1% (15,839 vs. 9,589)
Bounce Rate: Improved 93.25% (4.88% vs. 72.31%)
