As many online publishers report mixed results when it comes to short-form video, the Daily Mail has built a sizeable audience on TikTok, racking up over 20 million followers across its various channels.
Last year, Mail Metro Media, which sells ads for the Daily Mail, Metro and The i Paper, sought to capitalise on this reach with a new vertical video offering called EDITS, allowing advertisers to target audiences on its social channels.
In this edition of the Sell-Side View, Nicole Pottier, Global Advertising Product Director at Mail Metro Media, discusses the sales house’s investment in video formats, the strengths of the different short-form video platforms, and the growing importance of regulated news publishers in an increasingly murky information ecosystem.
What is the greatest challenge facing publishers today?
The biggest challenge is navigating the tension between sustainable monetisation and audience experience. From my perspective at Mail Metro Media, we’re constantly balancing platform dependency with evolving privacy regulation and the sheer pace of content consumption, for a range of different titles and audience groups. We have to innovate commercially without losing audience trust, and that’s a real tightrope, but it’s a relationship we proudly protect.
How important is video revenue to your business?
Video is a key growth pillar for us, not just in terms of revenue, but in driving visibility and brand equity across platforms. We’re investing heavily in different formats, including our short-form, social-style EDITS product. Personally I see video as bringing our editorial voice to life and unlocking new revenue streams. Our video formats across YouTube, social and on-site are really popular with our users and advertising partners.
Which content types and video formats are working best for you today?
We’re seeing real success with short-form social content, particularly the kind that’s format-led and designed with storytelling in mind, for example our EDITS product that we launched last year, offering commercial partners native storytelling at scale. The average click-through rate is over 24 percent ahead of benchmarks, so we know it also really works to entertain and inform our users.
Do you produce video in-house? How do you go about it?
We do, and it’s one of our biggest strengths. We have a deep understanding of how to create video content that performs across our own platforms and on social. We also have specialist teams who are highly skilled at producing content tailored to each platform editorially, which means we’re not just publishing video, we’re optimising it for engagement and impact. That expertise is something we extend to our advertising partners, so we can deliver high-quality branded content that feels native and relevant. We’ll never blindly replicate one video across our platforms if it’s not a natural approach for that channel.
Outside of advertising, what other revenue streams are you having most success with?
Commerce continues to be a major growth area. We use affiliate links and editorially led shopping formats that are actually useful to our audience. We’re also seeing strong momentum in our digital subscriptions business. We’re currently at 330,000 global subscribers and we’re planning to grow that to over a million within the next three years. I’m excited by anything that builds long-term brand equity while unlocking value for both us and our partners. That’s why my role is always evolving! I’m at the centre of digital innovations and I can see how each of them drives user engagement and delivers for our commercial partners.
Which social platforms are working best for you in terms of distribution, engagement and revenue generation?
Our biggest impact is definitely with TikTok, it’s where we’re seeing the most cultural traction and audience growth, particularly with younger users. Facebook also delivers reach and scale, and YouTube works for longer-form content and monetisation. My focus is on building a suite of products that work across platforms, giving advertisers flexibility and an omnichannel approach, but again balancing the nuances of each platform and how its users engage.
What person in the industry inspires you the most today?
It’s impossible to single out just one! I’m very inspired by people who champion collaboration over ego, and drive change not by being the loudest voice in the room but by bringing teams together. I’ve been lucky to work with some brilliant women in leadership roles across publishing who really balance strategic thinking and empathetic leadership. That’s the kind of energy I try to bring to my own work.
What does the future hold for publishers?
The publishers that succeed will be the ones that think like platforms, but act like brands. The future is multi-platform and fuelled by creativity and data, but just as importantly it will be governed. The world is being flooded with unregulated content, so the role of trusted publishers who are accountable and rooted in journalistic integrity has never been more vital. I also think publishers are some of the most agile innovators in media today in terms of adapting how we tell stories and deliver value across platforms, including web and social. The future belongs to those who blend editorial excellence with commercial innovation at scale.
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