Pulse is one of Africa’s leading innovative media companies, informing and engaging Africa’s young audience and providing expansive media reach and creative marketing solutions to its partners. Pulse is operating in six of the biggest markets in Africa: Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Uganda, Senegal, and Cote d’Ivoire. Caroline Mbodj, managing director at Pulse Nigeria spoke at the INMA  Africa Media Summit 2022 about how Pulse Senegal has used social media to expand its digital footprint.

Pulse Senegal’s strategy is to inform and entertain through a unique youth-oriented approach. They inform and engage a wide audience of young people in Senegal through their web and social media platforms. Senegal has a young population with 87% of the population aged below 35 and 47% of the population aged between 18-24. “Social media is relevant for our audience,” said Mbodj.

Pulse is present on various social networks most used in Senegal. They produce informative and engaging video formats that they distribute across all available channels. Pulse has a large following on all social media platforms. On Facebook, Pulse Senegal has 58,000 followers, a reach of two million a month, and 538,000 video views per month. On Instagram, they have 65,000 followers, a reach of 330,000 per month, and 360,000 video views per month. On TikTok, they have 400,000 followers, engagement of three million per month, and 28 million video views per month. On Twitter, they have 6,800 followers and 100,000 impressions per month.

Their approach is based on four pillars:

Distribution: Posting regularly and daily is likely to help improve your performance with social media algorithms.

Fast on trends: It is important to stay on top of trends to keep your content new and refreshing.

Key formats: In addition to their core formats, they always test new formats and ideas and see what works for them.

Reach: Working closely with influencers and content creators helps expand your reach quickly.

Mbodj said in order to reach out to a young audience, Pulse uses influencers and content creators to reach these audiences through techniques such as the Pulse Fun Facts –short quick and fun interviews where celebrities and influencers answer questions about themselves.

Pulse Spotlight is a series that showcases inspirational stories of people who are creative, unique and challenge the status quo. Mbodj says that “this format is relevant because it shares stories that are highly relatable to the audience and engaging while giving the opportunity to cover a lot of different topics”.

“More people are using social media to search for information and news and it is important and relevant for media brands to invest in social media and train people to work with new social media platforms,” said Mbodj.

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