Search results for "reader revenue"
Why Slate picked engaged time as their north star metric
On their 20th birthday last September, the digital magazine Slate reported 17,000 paying subscribers for their membership program, Slate Plus. Today, that number is at 35,000. The surge in subscribers owes in part to the Trump bump—Slate Plus membership jumped by 46% after the election. But the underlying catalyst is that Slate has gone all-in on loyalty to lower their dependence on platforms like Facebook and monetize their incredibly loyal audience.
The 5 big trends media execs must understand to succeed
How has both consumer consumption of news and traffic patterns changed year-over-year? What about the role of platforms? Every October, media analytics platform Chartbeat identifies macro trends in audience behavior…
If you’re pivoting to video, do it right
The phrase “pivot to video” has become something of a cliché in the media industry. Lately, the mere mention of this phrase triggers a slew of mean-spirited tweets, resentment, and existential mourning for the written word among those who wonder what publishers are thinking — and where their strategy lies.
Three lessons the Pacific Northwest can teach local media everywhere
The transformation of the media business shows no signs of slowing. While all areas have been disrupted, local news has been among the hardest hit. These neighborhood news providers have seen steady cuts and closures. This has left “news deserts” in which wide swaths of America have a troubling shortage of local news coverage. Undoubtedly, local news remains important to the communities it serves and its survival essential.
A great local news story: the growth of Spirited Media
When Spirited Media launched Billy Penn in 2014, the online publication had a broader mission than simply covering local news in the City of Brotherly Love. Co-founders Jim and Joan Brady wanted to do no less than rejuvenate local journalism itself by building a new business model that made local news coverage relevant to a younger audience, who saw traditional print media as old and stodgy. It was a tall order by any measure.
Strategies used by digital-native news publishers to drive user engagement
Getting ones’ news digitally is not just for millennials—it’s the norm these days. In fact, most U.S adults get their news digitally. Strong digital native brands, those originally founded on the web like Vox Media or Huffington Post, have emerged as leaders in the news marketplace. A recent report from Pew Research Center looks at 36 digital native news outlets that averaged at least 10 million monthly unique visitors in Q4 2016. The analysis provides an excellent snapshot of the digital native news industry’s audience strategies to increase outreach and engagement.
The subscription discussion we should be having
While the industry rightfully focuses on growing new subscribers and experimenting with business models, the discussion should not end there. What we’re not talking enough about is that subscribers are a distinct audience. They engage with your content in a different way and are loyalists in a different way. Understanding these differences is where publishers will build their revenue strategies to take their businesses to the next level.
Facebook’s support for subscriptions is a double-edged sword
Campbell Brown, the former NBC and CNN broadcaster who is now Facebook’s head of news partnerships, confirmed in a speech at a digital publishing conference that the social network plans to roll out support for subscriptions as part of its mobile Instant Articles platform. This plan is likely to cause some cheering in media land. As with most things involving Facebook, however, this deal sounds like a classic Faustian bargain.
Engagement and the evolution of audience to advocates
Digital media is waking up to the hard truth that more is not always better. As a result, the strong belief that a high volume of content attracts a high number of page views is being replaced by the stark realization that quality trumps everything – even traffic.
The data shows it: Article pageviews and their value don’t correlate
Advertisers know that not every view is created equal and that it’s important to understand your brand in context. It’s why ad tech companies created targeting options. It’s why content can be bought by topic. Are the companies creating content thinking about getting the most value out of their audiences in the same way?
Why the duopoly should help publishers drive subscriptions
It’s been difficult to motivate the big drivers of digital content consumption – namely Facebook and Google – to help push payments for publishers. There are good reasons for this: The tech giants don’t have an inherent reason to drive subscriptions or put up walls between their unfettered platforms and paid content. But if they truly want to support quality journalism and the good content that delivers so much drives so much engagement on their platforms, then it’s important they put time and resources into supporting these publishers.
Artificial Intelligence gains momentum with news media
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is hard at work in today’s news media. And for those not already leveraging AI, the time is now. In the new report, Artificial Intelligence: News Media’s Next Urgent Investment, Martha L. Stone, CEO of the World Newsmedia Network, in association with the INMA, explores how AI is being applied in today’s news industry.