How El Dodo’s Facebook and YouTube strategy led to profitability in three years

All of El Dodo’s content is originally from The Dodo with written translations and captions of the audio interviews. All of the Spanish translations are written in a conversational tone by El Dodo editors in keeping with other coverage areas, according to Nicole Hendrickson, vp of social at The Dodo.

While the translation strategy works well for a media company that does not have the resources to build an entire bureau in another country — which has not always been the most successful strategy for other digital publishers, like BuzzFeed — there are cultural nuances that get looked over by redubbing the content that was initially created for a different audience, said Nick Cicero, vp of strategy at streaming and social intelligence company Conviva.

The Dodo has also recorded some interviews in Spanish as well as in English. El Dodo also collaborates with Spanish-speaking followers and influencers to tell their stories on Facebook Stories or in the community pages.

In the fall, however, El Dodo will release its first Spanish series as an extension of its English-language series called “Faith Restored.” It will be distributed on Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and TikTok and will cover animal rescues, a topic that Hendrickson said gets a lot of views from the target audience already.

El Dodo has a five-person team that started with a platform manager and later added a community manager and three video editors and producers. While the plan is to continue growing the team, Kim said that El Dodo’s staff will remain based in the U.S. and will work on cultivating partnerships in other countries in Central and South America with shelters and content creators. As Kim’s team grows, it will train colleagues on content that resonates.

El Dodo is starting to experiment on new platforms as well, including TikTok where it currently has under 1,000 followers, with a goal of reaching an audience like The Dodo’s 1.4 million followers. Content on both channels is personality and character-driven, crucial for platform growth, said Cicero.

What’s even more crucial for growing a new foreign language brand on TikTok and other social media platforms is having on-screen talent and behind-the-camera creators who understand the audience that they’re making this content for, Cicero added.

The focus for the next growth phase will remain on digital video and content production, but Kim said she expects the other revenue lines that The Dodo has honed over the past seven years — book licensing, OTT extensions, events, and even a pet insurance licensing deal — will eventually be applied to El Dodo in due time as well.  Kim did not say how much money these individual revenue channels brought in. 

“El Dodo is The Dodo, just a year or two behind,” said Kim.