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The Met Office: Taking TikTok by storm
Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing,
11
(4),
339-348
(2024)
Abstract
The Met Office has a remit to communicate with all citizens of the UK, providing them with weather information to stay safe and thrive. This considerable task requires the team to be innovative in its approach and consider all possible channels. While weather is a national obsession for many, reaching younger audiences has historically been difficult for the Met Office. With a strong track record of success on more traditional social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, the Met Office spotted an opportunity in 2020 to leverage a new, developing channel: TikTok. This fast-growing platform could not be ignored as a key channel to reach that much sought-after younger audience. This paper outlines the journey the Met Office has taken towards building an award-winning TikTok channel. From tentative experimentation to finally realising a shared purpose with learning content, the channel has grown from less than 100 followers to nearly 280,000 in three years, received over 2.6 million likes, partnered with other brands, and mastered the live format. A recent video on climate change received 7.2 million video views. The Met Office’s work has been recognised by awards from The Drum, The Chartered Institute of Public Relations and The UK Social Media Awards, to name but a few. This paper also includes a case study on how TikTok played a pivotal role in communicating rare, red weather warnings in 2022, how the Met Office overcame security challenges posed by the platform, and hints and tips for success.
Keywords: TikTok; social media; weather; climate; communication; content
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Ross Middleham is Creative Lead at the Met Office, where he leads design and video production to provide branded, tailored content for the Met Office’s public-facing social networks and communication channels. Ross drives creativity throughout the organisation. He manages the publishing of content, joins up activities and sets the direction across the Met Office communications channels. He studied new media production at Bournemouth University, is a Trustee of Arts University Plymouth and a judge on The Drum Awards.
Sarah Fysh is Head of Content and Syndication at the Met Office, where she manages an award-winning creative team of presenters, graphic designers and videographers producing 24/7 content for social media, broadcast and news and media websites. She has over 25 years’ experience as a communications and digital professional, both in-house and agency-side. She has worked across multiple industries for such brands as HSBC, ITV Digital, FremantleMedia and Tangozebra. She is a Trustee of Arts University Plymouth and the Theatre Royal Plymouth.
