Frustrated that she couldn’t break into women’s magazines, Tobi Oredein decided to do her own thing. That was Black Ballad, now the leading lifestyle publication for and by Black women in Britain. In the 12 years since launch, it has evolved from a free-to-read blog to a unique audience data powerhouse and event organiser.
At this year’s MediaVoices Publisher Summit, I spoke to Tobi Oredein, CEO and Founder of Black Ballad, the lifestyle publication for and by Black women in Britain. We talked about the brand’s 12-year journey to becoming an independent media company and how data now sits at the heart of its membership and events strategy.
Listen to the full interview below, or search for ‘The Publisher Podcast’ wherever you listen to podcasts.
Oredein started her working life as a journalist. “I was fascinated with women’s magazines, but as a young black woman, I didn’t see myself there. I kept freelancing, I kept moving around, but I couldn’t get a permanent job.”
Frustrated that she couldn’t break into the industry, she eventually decided she’d had enough. “I remember thinking, you know what, I’m just going to do my own thing.” Her own thing was Black Ballad, now the leading lifestyle publication for and by Black women in Britain.
Starting as a free blog inspired by the US publication Essence, Oredein set out to fill the gap she saw in the UK market. “I thought I could do that in the UK, which is very naive,” she laughed. But today, Black Ballad is a force to be reckoned with: bringing together multiple publishing streams from memberships to events, research to brand sponsorships, the brand posted revenue of £450,000 in 2023, with the figure estimated to now be close to £1 million annually.
The turning point was Black Ballad’s membership scheme, spawned by Oredein’s husband and co-founder Bola Awoniyi’s work as a research analyst looking at the impact of technology on media. “He was looking at The Information and there was this idea that if you had a very defined audience, you could charge for quality content. That’s how we became a subscription business,” Oredein explained.
Data-driven growth
Once it was on a sustainable footing, thanks to a mix of angel investors, crowdfunding and regular membership revenue, the Black Ballad offer began to broaden, with audience data at the heart.
Oredein noted a gap in research data around Black women in the UK and Black Ballad secured funding for a dedicated research project. A total of 3,500 Black women took the resulting survey. “That helped inform a lot of the editorial direction we take today,” said Oredein.
Audience data is now baked into the Black Ballad operation, with Oredein describing it as key to ongoing growth. “One of the things we’ve said since we started Black Ballad is that good journalism is actually based on fact, understanding your audience and knowing them.”
Oredein uses Black Ballad’s annual reader survey to support future direction. “We look through the data and I can say, ‘the next place we should go is maybe Liverpool or Birmingham’ based on what [the audience] is asking for.”
However, the focus on audience data, including micro-surveys, has also helped win partnerships with brands from L’Oréal to Garnier. “We work with a lot of brands who do surveys and give out audience perks. For every survey we do, there’s a minimum of 50 to 100 Black women who take it, so we’ve got a good sample size.”
Black Ballad Weekender
Events are becoming increasingly important for Black Ballad and Oredein said that the title’s event strategy has been driven directly by listening to the audience. “Our audience were asking us to do these in-real-life events. I think for Black women, for any marginalised audience, there’s always this wanting of a safe space, this wanting of community.”
Black Ballad started small, with gatherings of 20 to 30 people. “We’ve done every event you can think of – exercise classes, money workshops, writing workshops, cornrow masterclasses.” Now, its headline event, The Black Ballad Weekender, attracts 2,000 Black women over two days.
Oredein cites The Essence Festival in the US and Stylist Live in the UK as inspirations for her Weekender event. “But as a Black woman, I was thinking, what happens when you make this primarily for Black women? What happens when you have a workshop about a career, but you’re talking to Black women and the challenges they face in the workplace? It’s different.”
The first Weekender event, originally planned as a one-off, was held to celebrate Black Ballad’s 10th anniversary in 2024. “We pulled it off, but the audience were like, ‘We want this every year’. One of the brands offered us a year-long brand partnership and I started to realise brands also thought it was a good idea.”
Awareness and scale
With Black Ballad Weekender making sense on the commercial front as well as for audiences, it has become a fixture on Black Ballad’s calendar. Featuring brand activations on beauty, work and money across two days of workshops, masterclasses and panel discussions, brands come looking specifically to reach their readers.
She said a lot of brands have a perception problem and they come to outlets like Black Ballad because they want to change perceptions with the audience. “For us it’s a lot of awareness, social coverage, and perception change.”
The social coverage comes directly from Black Ballad but also, crucially, from the audience. “We have a content creator team who’ll be working out what our panels are going to look like at the Weekender, but then our audience organically shares too. It’s like, ‘Oh, I was here’. We create that moment where you want to post, you want to tell people you’re there.”
Social reach has also helped Oredein answer partner calls for scale. Quick to note that audience size isn’t everything, she acknowledges that a lot of brands are still looking for scale.
“The Weekender actually answers that conundrum. You’re getting 2,000 Black women there. You’re getting millions of social impressions. So when a brand says ‘What about scale?’ I can answer through The Weekender.”
Listen to the full episode above, or by searching ‘The Publisher Podcast’ wherever you find podcasts.
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