The Only Way Is Up – 9:16 Content Production Masterclass: 5 Key Takeaways

Katie Matthews, Partnerships Director at Little Dot Sport, recently spoke at this year’s SVG Europe Create. Share. Engage. 2024 Summit, taking to the stage for the ‘The Only Way is Up: 9:16 Content Production Masterclass’ panel.

Joined by HBS Executive Producer Digital, Tim Stott, and Sky Sport Director of Concepts & Performance, Alexander Mölders, Katie and her fellow panellists shared best practices when it comes to producing live and on-demand content for mobile, outlining what works, what doesn’t and tips to ensure broadcasters and ‘Generation TikTok’ alike are engaged.

To help you navigate the ever expanding and chaotic vertical content landscape, we’ve pulled together key takeaways from the session;

1. Targeting younger audiences: TikTok is incredibly popular with Gen Z, offering a great opportunity to reach and engage younger, diverse audiences, especially female fans when showcasing female athletes.

It's crucial to have a balanced content strategy that includes original content, trending memes and fast-paced edits to engage viewers effectively. A good example of this which has proven impact is personality-driven segments from athletes created specifically for the platform. 

2. Lean into what makes TikTok tick… : It's the platform where you can probably have the most fun and be more playful. So lean into what makes TikTok unique, trending audios, trending memes, fast-paced edits, being playful and light-hearted in tone.

It’s a great opportunity to get people to see your brand’s personality shine through.

3. Make it shareable: ​​Highly shareable and relatable content performs exceptionally well on the platform. For instance, in the context of tennis, players can relate to specific clips and are likely to share them with their doubles partners. This sharing extends the reach beyond the existing follower base as the audience spreads the content outward.

4. Longer-form content: Our analytics, along with insights from TikTok, indicate that audience attention spans on the platform are extending beyond traditional short-form content. While TikTok has been known for very short videos, content over one minute is now experiencing a surge in performance. This type of content is also being favoured and promoted more frequently on the ‘For You’ page, helping accounts reach a broader audience beyond its existing followers.

5. 9:16 isn’t just TikTok: When discussing vertical video content, it’s easy to focus on TikTok, but if you have a YouTube channel then having a Shorts strategy as part of that is incredibly important. Our insights at Little Dot show that YouTube Shorts drive subscriber growth at approximately double the rate of longer form videos and also drives engagement rates by about five times, meaning subscribers are more likely to watch your long-form content, which then monetises. 

It’s important to tailor content to fit the unique requirements of each platform as they are very different - different lengths, different use of audio, and different types of edit. A one-size-fits-all strategy is ineffective.