The march towards spring – the season where a more optimistic outlook returns to Brits across the country, following the tougher, colder months – is the focus of our latest monthly look back, as we read the nation.
Savvy Brits look beyond the budget to pocket ISA deals
Personal Finance content topped the March table for seasonal reader engagement growth, which increased by more than a fifth. Overall, page views for the content exceeded the 70m mark for only the third time in four years and were nearly 50% higher than the March average, as two key events drove expected interest.
In the month’s first week, UK Chancellor Jeremy Hunt delivered eye-catching cuts to National Insurance as part of the Government’s Spring Budget. As a result, there was notable page views growth of almost two-thirds for the Personal Taxes topic.
With a General Election due in the second half of the year, it was hoped that the cuts may appeal to voters, but with Brits now far savvier to fiscal policy changes as a result of the cost of living crisis, they did not.
Beyond the budget, another area of fiscal policy – high interest rates designed to bring down inflation – provided savvy Brits with an opportunity to lock in better rates during the 2024 ISA season. As a result, there was notable +63% page views growth for the Personal Investing topic, while reader engagement with the Saving topic grew +49%.
Britain celebrates Easter and Ramadan
Two of the biggest celebratory occasions in the Christian and Muslim calendars also drove anticipated reader engagement in March. For our publishers’ Events & Attractions content, which provides readers with inspiration for the best ways to mark special occasions with friends and family, this drove +14% engagement growth month on month to 151m monthly page views. The holy month of Ramadan, which began mid-month, followed by Easter across March’s final weekend drove significant reader engagement with the Religious Events topic from within the category with topic page views 3.8x higher in March.
As well as a truck load of chocolate eggs and the start of the school holidays, the long Easter weekend brought with it two bank holidays – one in March; the other in April – and reader engagement with related content increased accordingly. The Bank Holidays topics – also from the Events & Attractions category – were 4.8x higher month on month. Expect further growth for the topic in May when the UK’s next bank holidays top and tail the month on the 6th and the 27th.
March events point to big Summer of Sport
The Six Nations in February and March saw Ireland claim the coveted championship title for the second successive year. While Andy Farrell’s team didn’t quite clinch the grand slam, there was grand reader engagement growth for Rugby content, with page views in February and March up +70% compared to the same period in 2023.
Elsewhere, a trio of races in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Australia ensured the 2024 Formula 1 season got back on track following the Christian Horner controversy in February. Reader engagement with Auto Racing content grew 50% month on month, with 25m page views 2.9x higher than the 2023 season average.
Mid-month and the Cheltenham Festival, once again, saw reader engagement with Horse Racing leap significantly as our premium publishers covered the action with form guides, tips and analysis. Monthly page views for the sport more than doubled in March to 6.8m. Last year, in major race meet months (Cheltenham, the Grand National, the Epsom Derby and Royal Ascot) Horse Racing page views were 3.8x higher than normal.
Also in March, Tennis, again, returned to the attention of our sport-loving audience, with page views surging by almost three-quarters month on month. Interest grew as first, at Indian Wells, Emma Raducanu won two matches at a tournament for the first time since her return to action at the start of the year. Then, Sir Andy Murray, delivered two vintage displays in his opening matches at the Miami Open and then pulled up with a swan-song season-threatening injury.
Looking ahead to April and beyond
The Grand National in April will see reader engagement with Horse Racing gallop up again. Page views for the sport in April are typically 2.5x higher than the monthly average on interest in the Aintree meet.
Elsewhere, another race – this time on two legs, and not four – will drive page views for Healthy Living content. Running page views within the category grew more than four-fold in April 2023 on interest in The London Marathon. Brands can expect to see continued growth for the content in the lead up to the summer.
In May, the Eurovision Song Contest will grow reader engagement with two content areas. Typically, Music & Audio page views will grow by almost 40% as the world’s biggest singing competition brings international music to the nation’s attention. As an appointment-to-view TV event, the content will drive related Television growth of around a fifth.
Finally, the end of the regular football season and various domestic and European cup finals will drive reader engagement with the nation’s favourite sport to average May growth of a third. With a sizzling summer of sport to look forward to in June and beyond, Football interest will continue throughout UEFA Euro 2024.
Want more first-party data insight?
Planning Ahead for 2024 with Reading the Nation is our third annual guide to what our nationwide audience is reading across the premium web and it’s packed with content. Created to showcase the sheer scale and value of our unique first-party data, the guide provides insight into the seasonal and topical events driving reader engagement with content across the Ozone platform.
