Case study: Metro supercharges performance with fewer stories
Sofia Delgado, Audience Growth Director at Metro, said Maro was a 'game changer' for the newsroom
At a Glance
Client: Metro (part of dmg media)
Challenge: Scattered analytics data, making it hard to see what content works across platforms
Solution: Clear, granular insights with Maro across MSN, Apple News and the Metro website
Impact: Stronger overall performance from fewer stories, aided by identifying better publishing patterns and improved visibility into content that was underperforming
The Challenge: Tracking Performance Beyond the Website
Metro is one of the UK’s most widely read news brands, with millions of readers every day across its website, mobile apps, and syndication partners.
However, despite that huge reach, the newsroom had no easy way of seeing which stories worked best on external platforms. That made it challenging to understand how to optimise performance on those channels - requiring hours of spreadsheet manipulation to get even the most basic insights.
As Sofia Delgado, Audience Growth Director at Metro, explains: “We found it quite difficult… it required multiple spreadsheets and pivot tables to really figure out how much of our content was performing. And we could only do that on our own website, not for our partners.”
“Maro brought us that visibility — and it’s been a game changer.”
The Solution: Detailed Insights That Inform Everyday Decisions
By rolling out Maro, Metro’s newsroom gained the ability to break down performance by tag, section, or even author across MSN and Apple News.
One of the early things they were able to uncover easily were patterns among content that wasn’t getting the desired results.
“We’re used to seeing what’s working really well, but never what isn’t. Maro makes those decisions much easier.”
Delgado adds that Maro allowed them to refocus effort on things that were really hitting the mark - and were even surprised to discover some success stories on MSN and Apple News that they weren’t aware of due to a previous lack of visibility.
“We discovered that content we thought wasn’t hitting on our website was actually performing really well with a partner,” she said. “That was great to tell the teams — it’s nice to hear that something we’re doing is working and getting read.”
The Impact: Fewer Stories, Higher Performance
Since adopting Maro, Metro have seen clear results:
26% uplift in MSN page views within the first three months, including their highest month of the year
24% reduction in underperforming galleries as the team cut low-ROI content
Smarter publishing patterns, with resources now focused on the days of the week where content is most likely to perform
The headline is stronger performance from less output. Delgado noticed the change almost immediately after training the newsroom team on Maro.
“We had fewer articles, fewer stories, fewer bits of content going out — but our overall performance was better.”
What’s Next
For Metro, Maro has not only simplified complex data analysis, but also reshaped how the team analyses and ultimately commissions content. This was helped by the fact onboarding and training was extremely quick.
“After one training session, the team just went with it — and we’ve had good feedback from reporters who love being able to see how their work is performing,” Delgado says.
By focusing on what works — and cutting back on what doesn’t — Metro are maximising the return on their editorial effort and strengthening their reach across platforms.In their own words…
“It’s been one of the easiest rollouts I’ve done with any tool… it was just one training session with the team and then they went with it.”
— Sofia Delgado, Audience Growth Director, Metro
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