Thread by @deekshith_np

We at @weatherindia are celebrating 600% growth in monthly web traffic at the end of 50 months of editorial operations.

Along the way, we saw many ups & downs! We learnt critical lessons about digital media, science writing & weather forecasting in India.

Here's a compilation👇

Four years ago, @timesbridge joined hands with @IBM to make weather & science news popular in India with the theme #MausamIsAwesome! Initially, we assumed our audience was very niche & planned to grab their attention with detailed, expertly curated features.

Alas, we were wrong!

Appetite for #ScienceWriting was no longer limited to an ‘urban-elite India’, and instead of long commentaries, readers craved quick, actionable insights!
But mainstream media had limited space for sciency content, leaving a huge void. We were quick to recognise this gap!

We broadened our coverage & doubled down on beats like space, palaeontology, pollution, wildlife & #ClimateCrisis. The versatility we built over years allowed us to pivot quickly towards niche beats like health during #pandemic, enabling exponential readership growth since 2020.

More importantly, we developed a very loyal, recurring reader base, particularly around extreme weather events and #space!
Our weather forecasts are hyperlocal, and our coverage of COVID-19, key astronomical events and space missions and UN events attract a more niche audience.

TWC India’s social handles attract millions of eyeballs every month, with our science news featuring consistently on Twitter @MomentsIndia. Our presence on social media is cemented by constant interactions with celebrities, actors, experts, researchers, influencers & changemakers

Times Bridge’s core values, #immerse & #excellence, made this phenomenal growth possible.

What worked? Two simple strategies carried out relentlessly for 50 months
#Consistency: Generating consistent volume on winning themes
#Innovation: Frequent experiments with formats & beats

"Doesn't science media serve only a small urban audience in India?" asked a friend when I joined @weatherindia in 2018. Today, I am glad to see that our content has percolated miles below the 'young-urban' strata & is appreciated across India's diverse landscapes and demographic!

It took a visionary leader like @rsjaitly to recognise the potential for such content in India. Building on this vision, @ViralRJani has guided this brand to unimaginable heights, as he does with every brand he leads. I'm indebted to them for their belief in our young team.

@nikhilmtweets almost single-handedly laid a solid foundation for this wonderful brand! @Su4ita built us a unique identity & lakhs of followers on social media. Today, our core strength lies with incredibly talented writers like @kun5k, @ashmitagupta_21, @anujav_97 & Ankush!

Numerous people have been a part of this journey over the years, & it’s impossible to thank them all in one thread! But a huge shoutout to immense contributions of @MrigDixit, @garg_ashish197, @gulshanchugh, @shakunsaraf, @iAmritMann, @AshwinRaghunath, @dasneha775 & @dhruvmohan97

For me, the most important part of this journey is a reaffirmation of my belief in growth story of science media in India. Building a brand is tough & scaling it is tougher! But we only have our incredible readers to thank for guiding us every step of the way with their choice.

This is just the beginning! We have a long and tedious journey to become truly accessible to everyone who wants to learn more about #weather & #science. But I am glad to have this dedicated set of people helping us build a brand as unique and original as @weatherindia!