"The strategic insight that this is really going to move the needle in terms of subscriptions set the foundation for us to put much more resources in newsletters," he says. While the pandemic and an intense news cycle has helped the NYT to grow its newsletter subscriber list to 15 million people, large investments in newsletters have also paid off. "Our subscriber-only newsletter portfolio is designed to take people who are becoming habituated to The Times and used to reading us in the inbox and then really giving them more reason to subscribe and to retain their subscriptions by bringing them expert, interesting and provocative voices," says Pasick. Subscriber-only newsletters meanwhile offer deeper takes from subject experts on topics that subscribers care most about and the company has this year deepened its focus on developing the lower part of its “funnel” of readers. "The Morning is our big top of the funnel briefing which we often use as a way to kind of introduce people to times journalism and get them used to reading every day," says Pasick. Different newsletters can, however, play different roles in boosting the company's subscriber business.ĭaily briefings such as the hugely successful The Morning (17m subscribers) help introduce readers to the NYT and establish a relationship with the publication. "Subscription revenue is really driving the strategy for newsletters," says Pasick.Īccording to the NYT, 15 million people read one of its almost 60 newsletters every week which says Pasick share a goal of bringing "the best journalism to the inbox". Its own research has revealed that subscribing to more than one newsletter is the biggest predictor of someone becoming a long-term subscriber. "We have a big, world-class advertising sales operation but newsletters are really seen as one of the best ways to habituate readers and move them down the path to being paying subscribers." "Over the last three, four or five years the company's attention has really shifted towards subscription revenue and that was what kick-started this latest era for newsletters at the NYT," says Adam Pasick who oversees the publisher’s portfolio of newsletters. Although the NYT sent its first email newsletter some two decades ago, it’s been in the last few years that newsletters have really come into their own. The publisher counts some 8 million subscribers and newsletters have played a key role in getting there. This summer, in a bid to increase the value of a subscription, the publisher made 19 of its newsletters subscriber-only, among them newsletters from well-known columnists Jamelle Bouie, Paul Krugman and Frank Bruni. One s ubscription-driven publisher for which newsletters are increasingly important is the New York Times. Publisher newsletter strategies: New York Times For subscription-led businesses such as the Financial Times, exclusive content in newsletters is an important way of demonstrating the value of being a paid subscriber. Our research has found that for advertising-supported publishers such as Reach and The Evening Standard, newsletters play a key role in first-party data capture.įor others such as Axios and Morning Brew, advertising carried in newsletters is in itself an important revenue stream. And newsletters, finds the Institute, are a key way of creating engagement. The top 10% of publishers have almost 2.5 times the engagement rate as the bottom 10%. Research by US non-profit, the Lenfest Institute shows a clear correlation between reader engagement (which it defines as active subscribers that log in to their accounts in a given month) and reader retention. Newsletters are currently one of the most popular ways for publishers to sidestep Google and Facebook’s algorithms and connect directly with readers - an increasingly important revenue stream.įor newsrooms relying on reader revenue, engagement is key. Newsletters are also especially popular with older readers - the demographic that is also more likely to take out a paid subscription. Numbers were even higher in places such as the US and Belgium. ![]() More than one in six people across 40 countries access news through newsletters each week according to the 2020 Reuters Digital News report. Search for how to generate engagement, traffic and revenue and newsletters regularly feature among the top things on which to focus. Today, you would be hard-pressed to find a major news publisher that’s not connecting with its readers through email newsletters – or that at least has not seriously considered it. Previous articles have put a spotlight on membership, philanthropy, crowdfunding and how individual journalists use newsletters to connect with readers. ![]() We take a look at publisher newsletter strategies in the latest of a series exploring new ways to make journalism pay.
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