From special interest publishers such as Which? to news media such as The New York Times, leading publishers develop robust strategies to attract and sustain subscribers.
Their ability to create habit-forming engagement loops, personalise content, and build meaningful relationships with their audiences holds lessons for any business looking to strengthen subscriber loyalty.
Below, we look at some of the strategies and look at two brief cases, one from Which? and one from the German news brand Der Spiegel.
Five Audience Engagement Strategies
1. Put Your Audience First
Top media brands prioritise their audience’s needs and delivering genuine value, ensuring that interactions feels purposeful and relevant
- Quality Over Quantity: Successful media subscription models focus on high-value content. Brands like The New York Times prioritise quality journalism, deep analysis, and vertical niches (e.g., The Athletic) over commoditised news. Others can do the same by offering curated storytelling, lifestyle content, or educational resources reinforcing their brand authority.
- Personalisation & Curation: The Financial Times and Bloomberg, for example, use algorithms to tailor content to reader habits, maximising engagement. Others can apply data to personalise emails, product suggestions, and dynamic website experiences.
- Community-Driven Content: The Guardian invests in audience feedback and user-generated content, giving readers a voice and creating a sense of belonging. Others can invite customer involvement through testimonials, style inspiration, product tips, or brand stories.
2. Build Loyalty Through Storytelling
The best media companies craft compelling narratives that keep people coming back.
- Immersive Storytelling: Great media companies use storytelling to draw people in. Others should use storytelling to connect with customers, whether through founder stories, product origins, or mission-driven content.
- Behind-the-Scenes Access: Many media outlets give premium subscribers a peek behind the curtain. Others can offer VIP experiences, showcasing craftsmanship, sharing behind-the-scenes videos, or providing early access to new products.
- Mission-Driven Engagement: Readers connect with brands that share their values. Readers know what to expect of them. Others can use mission-driven approaches to build strong bonds with their audience, with Patagonia an example.
3. Create Habit-Forming Engagement
As alluded to in a previous SubscriptionX contribution here, retaining and developing Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) are critical components of publishers’ subscription strategies.
To build long-term loyalty, media companies have mastered the art of habit formation by developing and offering multi-format content across platforms:
- Newsletters: Brands like Morning Brew and Axios engage readers with daily email digests. Others can use regular newsletters with curated content, exclusive offers, or personalised insights to maintain a presence.
- Audio & Video: Podcasts (e.g., The New York Times’ The Daily) and videos add depth to the user experience. Others could create videos, educational content, or podcasts that provide ongoing value.
- App Strategies: News brands drive engagement through app notifications, drawing users back for real-time updates and exclusives. Others could develop apps offering timely updates, personalised deals, or special features.
- Gamification and Interactive Tools: The New York Times’ Wordle game encourages daily interaction. Others could use quizzes, challenges, or rewards to create habit-forming relationships.
4. Encourage Two-Way Conversations
Audience engagement isn’t a one-way street. Media brands excel at fostering interaction and dialogue, and retailers could follow suit.
- Interaction: The New York Times has vibrant comment sections and reader submissions. Others could boost engagement through product reviews, interactive Q&As, etc.
- Social Communities: Many media brands have thriving subscriber communities on platforms like Discord, Slack, and other private groups. Others could create similar spaces for enthusiasts, offering insider content and direct access to brand ambassadors.
- Events: Events are becoming part of many media brands’ DNA. They run subscriber-only discussions, live Q&As, and webinars. Others could offer live-streamed product demos, expert talks, and exclusive experiences.
5. Use Data to Drive Engagement
Media companies obsess over engagement metrics—tracking everything from time spent on articles to reader drop-off points. Brands should embrace a similar data-driven mindset.
- Behavioural Insights: The Wall Street Journal uses subscriber data to optimise content. Others could do the same to tailor marketing, suggest relevant products, and improve customer journeys.
- Retention Signals: Media brands identify at-risk subscribers and re-engage them with personalised content and other means. Others could use similar tactics to detect churn risks and offer targeted incentives.
- Testing & Iteration: News outlets experiment with content formats and publishing times. Others could A/B test emails, campaign messages, and engagement tactics.
Take a Look: Which? Freemium Newsletters
In 2021, Which? decided to change their newsletter programme from a member-only to a freemium model. According to Richard Headland, former Editor-in-Chief of Which?, their “intention was to build a much larger, registered prospect pool – a sizable proportion of which we could prompt to take out a paid subscription.”
They launched “nine topic-specific newsletters, adopting the 80/20 rule on all newsletter content, where 80 per cent of links were free to read and 20 per cent behind the paywall.”
Their initial targets were around growth. “We quickly became good at acquiring tens of thousands of free newsletter signups each month, growing newsletter subscriptions from around 1 million to 2.7 million over three years.”
However, as Richard also points out, a big audience means little if they are not engaged.
“With open rates not being as reliable as they were, we prioritised improving click-through to the website and keeping unsubscribes low. The key to both is excellent content and compelling hooks. So, we analysed what was working and focused relentlessly on choosing stories that readers would love, and crafting headlines that prompted them to engage.
“The final metric we prioritised was conversion to paid subscription and cross-sell to Which?’s products and services, attributing sales back to the newsletters they came from. We got good at this too. In the last financial year, newsletters accounted for nearly 46,000 subscription sales.”
According to Richard, newsletters accounted for up to 15 per cent of all subscription conversions in a given month (the rest being SEO, PPC and so on). “So a lot … and at a low cost too!”
Here are five tips from Richard on getting the best out of your newsletters:
- Set clear targets for newsletters to motivate your teams – whether that’s growth, CTR or conversion. Make them realistic but stretching. Assess your progress against them as often as possible.
- Respect the reader’s attention (and cluttered inbox!). They’ve given you their email address. Give them back content they will really value and anticipate receiving. Make it good enough to share – not to unsubscribe to.
- In consumer markets, everyday topics or products prompt more engagement than bigger-ticket items. For Which?, think ‘best coffee’ rather than coffee machines, or ‘best dishwasher tablets’ instead of dishwashers. That’s not to say you can’t include big-ticket items but engage the widest possible audience first.
- Test everything! Content selection, subject lines, offer tactics, offer positioning… Either A/B or test an agreed approach for a set period, then really learn what’s working and what’s not.
- Treat every newsletter subscriber as someone who could potentially become a loyal customer over time. Don’t force things. This is about building a relationship and creating the right conditions for them to buy.
Richard now runs a content consultancy called RSS Media. Connect with him on LinkedIn, or read more here.
Take a Look: Der Spiegel’s Habit Equation
Der Spiegel faced retention challenges despite strong acquisition numbers. To improve this, they adapted the RFV (recency, frequency, volume) model to include regularity and habit, creating an engagement score that became a cornerstone of their retention strategy.
Knowing what to measure to fix the problem is a good start. Spiegel took inspiration from a concept initially popularised in e-commerce, which involves creating an engagement score known as RFV (recency, frequency and volume). They shared some of the lessons with The Audiencers.
- Low-engaged, full-paying subscribers initiated 40 per cent of subscription cancellations. Armed with an “early warning system,” the team can work actively to prevent churn.
- High engagement in the lead-up and during subscription presents a strong foundation for a lasting relationship.
- When comparing highly engaged readers to their low engaged counterparts, they observed “a distinct divergence in subscription choices: High engagement readers are more inclined to opt for long-term subscription plans, spanning three and twelve months, as opposed to monthly cancellable subscriptions.”
The engagement score became a powerful tool for aligning user behaviour with business goals, helping to reduce cancellations and extend subscription periods. There is more about their approach here.
Cobus Heyl
Heyl is a Content Partner at Atlas and Founder of That Coalition, a fractional event services and content provider.
Heyl has worked with third-party clients such as Chartbeat, Lineup Systems, and Tubular Labs in Europe and the US, Prospect in the UK, and industry bodies such as PRCA (Communications and Public Affairs) in the UK, MVFP (German Publishers Association) and the Association of Indian Media (AIM).
Subscribe!
Our editor carefully curates two InternetRetailing newsletters a week filled with up-to-date news, analysis and research. In addition to this, there is a dedictaed mailer focusing on the subscription economy with detailed commentary from Heyl every second Wednesday – click here to subscribe to the FREE newsletter.
And why not follow us on LinkedIn to receive the latest updates on our research and analysis.
