E! News is a cable news channel focused on pop culture, celebrities, and the latest Hollywood gossip. They have become a staple in the celebrity-obsessed world that focuses on the latest drama and rumors. They have found their niche in reporting what most people would not consider real or traditional News. They have a massive online presence as it allows them to get the latest news out to their followers, even if they do not have an upcoming TV show at the time. They have also expanded into reality television shows, talk shows, and fictional shows, with the most notable being Keeping Up With the Kardashians. This reality TV show ended this year after a 20-year run and propelled the family into international stardom and gave E! News front row access to their scandal, drama, and updates.
We selected E! News for this project because they have many interesting methods of getting their News out and have gained a considerable following. They are also different from many other news brands, even brands reporting on the same types of information like TMZ. It is also an interesting organization to look at because they interview many celebrities and have become well known in pop culture. Still, they are often not reporting breaking News that other newsgroups do not know about, yet they have found success in their reporting methods. Their reporting methods are much more personable than traditional newsgroups as they make jokes and have side segments where they play games, focus on fashion, and discuss varying topics.
Their use of social media is excellent as they have found different ways to use the platforms to get people to read their articles and watch their TV segments. For instance, their Instagram has pictures and links to the stories behind these pictures from their profiles, driving traffic to their website.
Twitter is a platform designed for users to be able to microblog to their followers. This is done by sending out small posts of about 280 characters, including links or pictures. These are known as tweets. There are also buttons for you to like someone else’s tweet, as well as repost them, which is called “retweeting.” Everyone is given a bio and header to customize. There is a feed of people’s tweets that you follow, along with sponsored tweets that occasionally pop up. Twitter also has a trending page consisting of the latest regional, national, and global news. Twitter is consistently used by E! News. The main reason it is such a handy tool for this news outlet is that it is quick, simple, and easy to post a tweet since it only allows a limited number of characters. Because of this, the audience can see E! News using links to promote their articles on the latest juicy gossip.
This is beneficial for them because it creates more traffic to their website and gets their news out faster, making it a good marketing tool. According to the Social Bakers website, their main account has grown from 11.7 million to 11.8 million in the last eight months alone. This shows they are collecting momentum on Twitter and demonstrates that they have a large following as well. They have branches of different accounts focusing on various topics, such as @eentertainment, which highlights the TV shows on E! ‘s network. I have also seen E! News pop up on my trending page since they bring diverse news stories to life and use polls to interact with their page. A link to their website can also be found in their bio. This allows viewers to quickly click on the link and be taken to their homepage to read stories of their interest. Another way this news outlet draws the attention of Twitter users is through using pictures. As we learned in class, using photos causes people to interact with the tweet way more than if there was no image. It also helps tie in the topic of the story, often using photos of celebrity faces.
Instagram is a photo-sharing platform. Captions can be used under the photos to share with followers, and the images then go into a “feed” with other user’s photos. An Instagrammer can like, save, send, and put images onto their stories, which is a snapshot of images lasting a total of 24 hours. One can also create a bio and have a profile picture. There are private accounts that allow you only to accept users you want to view your page, and then there are public accounts for anyone to view. This is a good blogging tool because people can post quick updates about their life or other topics. E! News uses this tool to their advantage, posting related images that deal with their articles and captions that give you a quick overview of the article’s topic. Inside their bio is a link to all the articles they post about for people to enjoy reading.
They also tag celebrities in their posts for users to click on. In their posts, they are diverse with their celebrities and news stories helping to target more people’s interests. This is another good way to market to people on Instagram since there is such a large database of users on the platform. Snapchat is a social media platform that you can exchange pictures with people on, whether it be a selfie or your daily activities. Users can also post their images to a story that lasts 24 hours that their friends can view. Within Snapchat, E! News has their own segment called “The Rundown” that appears in the discover section of Snapchat. It is always within the first four video sections, making it easy to click on.
Snapchat is a perfect platform for this segment because it is short, sweet, and to the point to keep users up to date on celeb entertainment. The video lasts approximately two minutes and fills viewers in on the latest drama unfolding. They have interactive screens where you can vote on information, such as if Tristan Tompson is still cheating on Khloe Kardashian. The way this is laid out makes it so that users feel like their feedback matters. They have 9.2 million subscribers on Snapchat alone, making it a solid app to promote their news brand on.
The demographic E! News targets best are women in their 20’s to 30’s. This is because platforms such as Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram target this gender and age range the most regarding pop culture topics and celebrity gossip. People tend to be curious about news, and E! Does an excellent job of providing alternative news that deals with the status quo of famous people. An article by National Media Spots Inc called “Network Profile” says that forty percent of E! News followers are ages 18 to 34, with seventy percent of the viewer population being women. Another reason behind this could be because many of their reality shows have female leads, making them geared towards a female audience. People who watch their shows are then more inclined to follow E! News on social media sites to keep up with the drama and latest trends. E! News also captures the public’s eye in general because it is one of the only news companies that acts as a source of entertainment and posts about the latest on the lives of celebrities.
Demographics Image #1: For example, this image is of the leading news anchors of E!. They are all females ranging from their 20’s to 30’s. This demonstrates the type of users to view E! News on social media. There is also an article that E wrote talking about red carpet looks and only features female celebrities.
Demographics Image #2: Billie Eilish, another female pop star, is centered in this photo that E! reposted from Vogue on their Instagram. The background is pink and girly, stereotypically appealing to women. They include a tweet of hers as well to use Twitter to their advantage.
Demographics Image #3: This image features 30-year-old Erin Lim, a host of E! News’s Snapchat segment, “The Rundown.” This is yet another female lead, showing the segment is geared toward women.
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E! News can improve with their social media in a variety of ways. When it comes to Twitter, their biography could use an update. It is simple and to the point, which could be seen as good, but it does not separate them from the rest. I would suggest something catchier that will draw eyes to their bio. They also do not have a header on their page- it is just a blue block. They could take the time to update their title with the celebrity that is trending most that week or some logo of theirs in addition to their profile. I think they need to get a little more creative with the head of their Twitter, considering that people will first read and look at it. There is also a way for them to promote their tweets on the platform for more viewers to see. This way, not only can they reach their target audience, but members of the public as well.
For Instagram, E! can be more creative and make their feed a certain way to fit an aesthetic. This includes editing pictures so it all matches a specific theme. This way, they can be more marketable to an audience since they would have a specific take on what their brand looks like. Their bio also lacks originality and should state what they are about more. They make good use of their Insta stories, but could include more descriptive captions on the images to inform viewers about the topics they are posting about. Snapchat is one of their stronger platforms since many users tune in to watch “The Rundown”.
One way that could bring a larger audience would be to host special guests on their platform. That way more people will be willing to watch if their favorite celebrity is talking on it. Another way they could improve is to make their content on Snapchat more diverse. Right now, the last five episodes of their segment all talk about the Kardashians and Jenners. I am sure some of their audience does not follow the Kardashians, making these segments inapplicable to them. There is definitely more celebrity drama than just that family.
We are a part of their demographic so they do a good job targeting us as users who view their news. I love learning about celebrity tea so I stay up to date on what E! News has to offer. The platform I check the most is Snapchat because it is quick and easy to watch in my spare time. Sometimes I do not have enough time to sit down and read an article, so a quick video with images of what is going on helps me stay in the loop. The main change E! News could make that would appeal to me is making their Instagram feed more aesthetically pleasing. This will make me want to like their pictures, increasing interactions on the posts. Inviting celebrities to do an Instagram live would be a neat way to engage with other users as well. On TikTok, they could try getting on the “for you” page more often to target a variety of people. This could be a simple fix using multiple hashtags. I think overall, E! News uses social media to their advantage.
Two platforms that could be improved upon for the company’s strategy could be youtube and Tik Tok. They have a youtube channel with many followers but does not show up on the trending page or on most people’s recommended pages nearly as much as other accounts. Suppose they followed the trends of other companies that have created popular youtube accounts. In that case, they could have celebrities post segments on youtube for them, like how Vogue has created the get ready for the day with a celebrity or get ready for bed with them.
Consistent segments that give people a better connection to celebrities could provide them with a leg up on other similar companies and drive viewers to look at their youtube account. Suppose they also created consistent weekly segments that gave fashion advice based on the latest trends or cooking shows with the newest food trends that celebrities are eating and aren’t just based on celebrity news. In that case, they could also reach even more people. A revamp of their youtube would be highly beneficial to their following as most of their videos follow the same format and recap the week’s News. The issue with this is in a world of constant News and technology; this is not something that makes people intrigued as there are many places for people to find this information. Since many of these segments could be done alone, it would also be helpful as COVID-19 continues and people cannot do in-person interviews or events.
The second platform that could be very beneficial for them to use would be Tik Tok, which they have recently added to their platforms. While they have begun to use this platform, they have not used it to the full intent that they can. They have mostly posted video clips from the news channel, and while people might like these if they are funny, they could also use celebrities for marketing their accounts to the public. Having segments like cooking with a celebrity where they can share favorite recipes or ‘day in my life’ videos could bring in a bigger audience interested in these types of videos which have proved to be very successful on Tik Tok.
If they also create consistent segments for viewers to look at on their account, this could help them gain followers since people want to come back and view the feature each week if they like it. Other brands, newsgroups, and influencers have cracked this code and found success on Tik Tok. Many people also scroll mindlessly through this platform, so having other major Tik Tik stars and celebrities with accounts team up and tag E! New’s account could also drive significant traffic to their account.
The three most utilized social media for E! News are Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter, as they have found significant success in using these platforms since they can interact with their viewers through them. E! News has found a lot of success using social media in ways that more traditional new stations and groups have not. Since E! News covers pop culture and celebrities; they can spread the information they are reporting on through this method and report on the newest updates and breaking News without going on television. In contrast, these social media platforms have proven very successful for E! News as they have been used successfully to gain viewers and report on the News.
We recommended that E! News work on revamping their Youtube account and Tik Tok account to further their popularity and reach more people. It is essential to use these platforms to attract a larger audience and potentially create more consistent content that people will repeatedly watch and subscribe to. If they create consistent content with the celebrities they are known for having access to; they will find that many people are interested in viewing these stories. If they work to make consistent content that people will want to come back to look at, that has also proved to be popular on these platforms like recipes and getting ready for the day with someone.
They will benefit from this advice because it will help them stay fresh and relevant and capitalize on these accounts’ types of viral videos. If E! News uses more platforms successfully, they will bring more viewers to their media and television show. They already have access to celebrities and the ability to get the first information for many scandals and stories that come out, which gives them the ability to share this information on all of their platforms. If they use the news platforms, they will reach more people that they may not be getting already. Therefore the brand will be able to grow significantly if they follow these recommendations and changes.
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