Helped a lifestyle digital publication break the 1M traffic threshold with organic website and social media content.

1M+ Organic Traffic Y2Y 2022-23

30%+ average monthly IG engagement for 12 consecutive months

Significant growth in paid Content Interest

UrbanMatter, Inc. is a Chicago-based digital media platform launched in early 2015 to be the city’s best source for local news and has become one of the fastest-growing media companies. Focusing on hospitality, tourism, entertainment, arts, culture, and community, Urban Matter Chicago is a digital publication positioning itself as the leading information source for those looking to enjoy their time in Chicago and a thought leader in building a more united community across neighborhoods.

Coming back from the pandemic lockdown, Chicago’s media world is more competitive and active than ever. With new businesses and events showing up left and right at an exponential rate, Urban Matter needed a unique voice to stand against major competitors such as Choose Chicago, Eater Chicago, and Time Out. On the social side, Urban Matter has been sharing local photographers' works, which has built a decent fanbase. However, the shortage of original content has become an issue with establishing their presence and credibility on social media when larger outlets have a dedicated social team constantly pushing out original content.

Our first approach was expanding general editorial based on what our competitors are doing while adding some personal twist. For example, most major digital publications in Chicago focus on providing monthly activity guides and new business highlights, so we added monthly “Things to Do in Chicago” articles to stay competitive while utilizing these summary lists to boost a tighter internal linking structure to other articles throughout the month. We’ve also expanded editorial to develop weaker categories such as the art, culture, and community/non-profit segments.

60% of modern digital press is about trends. Staying trendy was Urban Matter’s biggest challenge due to its small business nature, and we decided to tackle the problem head-on. Through effective social listening and competitor research, we made sure to stay in the game with popular themes such as Dry January, Mardi Gras, and St. Patrick’s Day while carefully choosing additional themes that our competitors, such as Lunar New Year celebrations, Filipino-American Heritage month, etc may overlook.

In the meantime, we’ve developed new content partnerships with existing and new media partners to leverage them as our trend tippers instead of passively receiving pitches from publicists and PR firms.

A unique voice is what you need to stand out in the media world truly. With a highly selective curating process, we developed an editorial feature program where we create unique writeups for various events. Instead of directly using the press release or news tips sent to us, our approach allowed Urban Matter to establish itself as one of the few digital outlets that create “real content” with a unique voice that is different from the rest of the world.

After evaluating the existing social media statistics, we identified Instagram as Urban Matter’s primary channel with the strongest fan base and footprints. We developed an engagement strategy that collaborates with local influencers in Chicago, focusing on the niches in line with Urban Matter’s editorial coverage. We also developed an organic content strategy to avoid 100% reposting photographers by creating local guide posts, interactive stories, and city exploration reels.

Urban Matter’s Chicago site alone captured over 1 million visits, accounting for over 1/5 of the total traffic under the national Urban Matter website and two other city sites, and is the second highest-performing site among the four. This number is significant as the national site relied on nearly 100%+ paid content, whereas Urban Matter’s Chicago site was 90% organic/editorial. Compared to the previous year, the client gained over 350M new users (51% increase), 600M more (50% increase) pageviews, with average session durations increasing by 10%. The holiday season traffic was over 2x higher than the previous year, finishing the year at an unprecedented peak.

After two years of intensive, unique content development and in-person engagement, Urban Matter has established a powerful local presence and spread its brand name across communities and neighborhoods. Chicago audiences and travelers now see Urban Matter as a trustworthy source of relevant information.

Urban Matter is now recognized as a media authority and thus has gained access to higher-level conferences, events, and EXPOs that didn’t include Urban Matter on the media list. Urban Matter’s Chicago site is no longer just another digital publication, but one authoritarian and influential enough to be regarded on the same level as larger, multi-media publications in the area.

Increased Instagram reach and engagement have led Urban Matter to new opportunities regarding influencer partnerships. Larger influencers are now on the organic collaboration team, and Urban Matter has discovered high-value affiliate and sponsorship opportunities through leads captured via Instagram.