Anyword Case Studies Boosting Subscription Acquisition and Retention for News Publishers with IoT

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	Boosting Subscription Acquisition and Retention for News Publishers with IoT Anyword

Boosting Subscription Acquisition and Retention for News Publishers with IoT

Anyword

Technology Category	Networks & Connectivity - NFC Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms
Applicable Industries	Cement
Applicable Functions	Quality Assurance Sales & Marketing
Use Cases	Experimentation Automation Time Sensitive Networking
Services	Testing & Certification Training
Challenge	In early March, news organizations across the U.S. initiated an Accelerator Program with the Facebook Journalism Project. The primary objective was to collaboratively enhance their digital subscription businesses, with a particular emphasis on subscriber engagement and retention. This initiative was a follow-up to the Accelerator’s pilot program in 2018, which focused on acquiring digital subscribers. The challenge was to improve subscription retention and engage the newsroom to help keep subscribers engaged. The participating publishers, including the Omaha World-Herald, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Media Network, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Denver Post, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, the Tennessean, the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsday and Advance Local for Syracuse.com, among others, were tasked with building on these learnings over the next nine months. Read More
About Customer	The customers in this case study are various news organizations across the U.S. that participated in the Accelerator Program with the Facebook Journalism Project. These include the Omaha World-Herald, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Media Network, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Denver Post, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, the Tennessean, the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsday and Advance Local for Syracuse.com, among others. These news organizations were looking to enhance their digital subscription businesses, with a particular emphasis on subscriber engagement and retention. Read More
Solution	The solution involved a two-day, in-person session covering topics like each news publisher’s results strengthening their subscriptions business since the 2018 Subscriptions Accelerator, prioritizing the metrics that matter when measuring subscriber retention, and engaging the newsroom to help keep subscribers engaged. For instance, the Chicago Tribune focused on increasing newsroom engagement with straightforward metrics ‘scorecards’ for each market, as well as individual dashboards for editors and reports. They also engaged subscribers through paid campaigns and customized content recommendations in Zaius email platform to drive digital subscriber growth and retention. The Seattle Times, on the other hand, made a serious push into rigorous A/B testing, testing price, payment options, newsletter signups and recirculation of related stories, among others. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Networks & Connectivity - NFC

Platform as a Service (PaaS) - Application Development Platforms

Applicable Industries

Cement

Applicable Functions

Quality Assurance

Sales & Marketing

Use Cases

Experimentation Automation

Time Sensitive Networking

Services

Testing & Certification

Training

Challenge

In early March, news organizations across the U.S. initiated an Accelerator Program with the Facebook Journalism Project. The primary objective was to collaboratively enhance their digital subscription businesses, with a particular emphasis on subscriber engagement and retention. This initiative was a follow-up to the Accelerator’s pilot program in 2018, which focused on acquiring digital subscribers. The challenge was to improve subscription retention and engage the newsroom to help keep subscribers engaged. The participating publishers, including the Omaha World-Herald, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Media Network, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Denver Post, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, the Tennessean, the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsday and Advance Local for Syracuse.com, among others, were tasked with building on these learnings over the next nine months.

About Customer

The customers in this case study are various news organizations across the U.S. that participated in the Accelerator Program with the Facebook Journalism Project. These include the Omaha World-Herald, Miami Herald, Philadelphia Media Network, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Denver Post, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Seattle Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, the Tennessean, the San Francisco Chronicle, Newsday and Advance Local for Syracuse.com, among others. These news organizations were looking to enhance their digital subscription businesses, with a particular emphasis on subscriber engagement and retention.

Solution

The solution involved a two-day, in-person session covering topics like each news publisher’s results strengthening their subscriptions business since the 2018 Subscriptions Accelerator, prioritizing the metrics that matter when measuring subscriber retention, and engaging the newsroom to help keep subscribers engaged. For instance, the Chicago Tribune focused on increasing newsroom engagement with straightforward metrics ‘scorecards’ for each market, as well as individual dashboards for editors and reports. They also engaged subscribers through paid campaigns and customized content recommendations in Zaius email platform to drive digital subscriber growth and retention. The Seattle Times, on the other hand, made a serious push into rigorous A/B testing, testing price, payment options, newsletter signups and recirculation of related stories, among others.

Impact #1	The operational results of the Accelerator Program were significant. The Chicago Tribune was able to increase newsroom engagement and engage subscribers through paid campaigns and customized content recommendations. The Seattle Times was able to significantly increase their weekly subscription rate, newsletter signups, and conversion rate through rigorous A/B testing. The Denver Post was able to significantly increase their digital subscriptions and focus on re-engaging subscribers who are “dabblers” to make them more regular readers. The Philadelphia Inquirer was able to significantly increase their digital subscribers and digital revenue. Overall, the Accelerator Program was successful in helping news organizations across the U.S. enhance their digital subscription businesses.

Impact #1

The operational results of the Accelerator Program were significant. The Chicago Tribune was able to increase newsroom engagement and engage subscribers through paid campaigns and customized content recommendations. The Seattle Times was able to significantly increase their weekly subscription rate, newsletter signups, and conversion rate through rigorous A/B testing. The Denver Post was able to significantly increase their digital subscriptions and focus on re-engaging subscribers who are “dabblers” to make them more regular readers. The Philadelphia Inquirer was able to significantly increase their digital subscribers and digital revenue. Overall, the Accelerator Program was successful in helping news organizations across the U.S. enhance their digital subscription businesses.

Benefit #1	The Seattle Times increased the weekly subscription rate new subscribers move to, after the completion of their trial offer, by 25% with no negative effect to new start volume or increase in churn at the time of switching to full rate.
Benefit #2	The Seattle Times updated the site’s newsletter calls-to-action, with a 350% increase in newsletter signups on the tested modules.
Benefit #3	The Seattle Times provided alternative payment methods like PayPal and Amazon Pay that resulted in increased conversion by 15%.

Benefit #1

The Seattle Times increased the weekly subscription rate new subscribers move to, after the completion of their trial offer, by 25% with no negative effect to new start volume or increase in churn at the time of switching to full rate.

Benefit #2

The Seattle Times updated the site’s newsletter calls-to-action, with a 350% increase in newsletter signups on the tested modules.

Benefit #3

The Seattle Times provided alternative payment methods like PayPal and Amazon Pay that resulted in increased conversion by 15%.

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Overview

Boosting Subscription Acquisition and Retention for News Publishers with IoT

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit