On April 17, 2024, Legit.ng’s Editor-in-Chief and INMA Africa Advisory Board Member, Rahaman Abiola, and TUKO.co.ke’s Managing Editor, Jacob Otieno, led the International News Media Association’s webinar
Both are representatives of Legit (parent company to Legit.ng, TUKO.co.ke, YEN.gh, Briefly news, among others).
They shared insights on how African newsrooms can harness technology to grow audience reach and engagement.
Over 100 media professionals across the INMA member network and other local and global industry enthusiasts attended the webinar.
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Legit.ng and TUKO.co.ke, proud members of Legit, a pan-African media holding, facilitated a webinar, themed: “Harnessing technology to grow audience reach and engagement,” in collaboration with the International News Media Association.
The virtual event brought over 100 media professionals from over 56 companies and 26 countries, including Algeria, Argentina, Brazil, Cameroun, Congo, Germany, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, Nigeria, South Africa, Switzerland, Ukraine and Zambia.
The webinar opened up a load of discovery for participants, including strategic methodologies employed by facilitators’ companies and insights on how newsroom analytics tools have played a crucial role in tailoring content to the needs of the audience.
The theme for discussion also covered topical pillars such as Innovative audience engagement strategies; Content distribution tactics driving traffic to websites; Effective usage of emerging platform features like WhatsApp channels; Importance of multimedia storytelling and how infographics and visual elements have enhanced user experience across all digital platforms.
Setting the stage for the webinar, Catherine Tomosori, PR Manager of Legit.ng, established why Legit as a media group was positioned to lead thoughts on the topic of the day.
Tomosori said: “Legit is a digital media holding operating in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, and worldwide.
“They have a combined reach of over 40 million across the various platforms, a testament to the trust their audience has in them.
“In 2022, NewsWhip, a real-time media monitoring platform that uses social engagement data to identify stories that the public cares about, ranked Legit.ng and TUKO.co.ke as top Facebook publishers GLOBALLY.”
Kicking off the webinar, Otieno emphasised the use of innovative tools and explained how they have helped optimise the data collection and analysis process.
He said: “Data empowers us to make informed decisions.
“Every journalist in the team has access to real-time analytics.
“This allows us to ensure we are on the same page regarding audience content preferences and helps us react quickly to emerging trends.”
Abiola, delving into content distribution tactics to drive traffic to the website, touched on the SEO strategies adopted by Legit.ng and how the newsroom team ensures that legitimate content is optimised to improve user experience and visibility in Search Engine Results Pages.
He also touched on the importance of originality and expertise in DNA during his presentation.
He said: “Originality is the key to great results on Google.
“At Legit, we strive to make our reports as unique as possible by incorporating comments from experts or eyewitnesses or attending events ourselves for first-hand information.”
Abiola linked this to the reason why Legit.ng has curated a database of the country’s top experts to provide readers with expert knowledge and better connect them to authentic news and facts.
He said: “In 2023, we launched a curated database of the region’s top experts, connecting readers with the best-in-field for invaluable insights.”
The results of all of these for Legit.ng was a massive traffic boost, he said, adding: “In Quarter 1, 2024, this practice helped our traffic boost by +7% on Google and +27% on Google Discover — 36.6 million and 7.4 million respectively.”
Citing WhatsApp channels as a case study, Abiola said the company has been able to expand its traffic source as a newsroom, thanks to WhatsApp channels.
He added: “WhatsApp Channel provides us with another effective traffic source, apart from the big three: Google, Facebook and X, providing our followers with ‘important updates’ like breaking news and top trending stories from politics to business, human interest, and entertainment.
“This helps keep our followers and domesticate our presence closer to the audience.”
In the first quarter of 2024, Legit.ng and its sister project Tuko.co.ke amassed a massive 3.5 million pageviews and are relentless in their efforts to double this achievement.
Bringing the webinar session to an end, Doreen Mbaya, Africa Division Manager of INMA, thanked participants for engaging and learning from the session.
Mbaya encouraged participants from other media houses and non-media attendees who are interested in pursuing a career in journalism to publish for public interest just like Legit.
In 2023, Legit.ng partnered with LEAP Africa on the International Youth Day of Service, via a workshop session to teach African students on media literacy and fact-checking tools.
In March 2024, Legit.ng took part in journalistic training by the Google News Initiative, for digital journalism skill enhancement.
As a fully-fledged digital media company, Legit.ng continues to maximise the full potential of technology and contribute to the knowledge about the newsroom transformation, backed by technology, in expanding its audience and readership base.
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