INMA Knows Subscriber Retention

One-third of reader churn could be saved with payment retries

Research requested by INMA on 13 million news media subscribers worldwide shows news publishers could save thousands of subscribers by optimising payment retries.

22 July 2020

Wall Street Journal data makes the case for a robust onboarding experience

A study by The Wall Street Journal showed habits made in the first 100 days of a digital subscription predict whether a new reader will drop the subscription.

30 June 2020

Die Zeit bolsters retention and bottom line with membership programme

Die Zeit’s membership programme, Freunde der Zeit, offers subscribers a host of exclusive benefits such as live events and digital offerings. The programme heavily involves the newsroom and is changing the editorial staff’s relationship with readers.

26 July 2020

Telegraph creates new scoring metric for audience engagement and retention

The Telegraph’s solution to a content strategy plan that would most influence reader subscription, engagement, and retention was to develop its own metrics model. Here’s how “Project Habit” came about and what it’s taught the newsroom.

10 August 2020

What can AI teach us about behaviours leading to churn?

INMA Researcher-in-Residence shares two models from the data of two news media companies, showing how loyalty scores, last visit recency, and social shares factor into reader churn.

05 July 2020

Times, Sunday Times decrease churn by 49% with digital butler

The Times and The Sunday Times used JAMES, a digital butler driven by Artificial Intelligence, to determine what stories readers were looking for.

11 June 2020

Newsday Onboarding and Engagement Email Campaign

The original email series offered minimal touchpoints, including monthly newsletters and occasional alerts before getting price increase notifications. The new engagement program, which begins after the welcome series, includes 17 unique emails that will rotate throughout the customer's lifecycle, highlighting ...

01 March 2020

What newsrooms can learn about reader retention from a former DJ

Focusing on what your audience needs and wants can help media companies increase retention and reduce churn. Are you listening?

30 August 2020

Segment customers by churn risk, price elasticity for long-term profitability

Knowing whether a reader is a high or low churn risk or has high or low price elasticity will help news media companies determine how to price and present products to them.

08 June 2020

In crisis and normalcy, why measuring and maximising subscriber lifetime value is key

A Webinar for INMA members looked at how news publishers can calculate and maximise the lifetime value of their digital subscribers — an especially relevant topic as the industry works through the COVID-19 crisis.

18 March 2020

Subscriber retention during the downturn

An INMA Readers-First Meet-up took a look at the current traffic and subscriptions bump from COVID-19, as well as tactics publishers can look at to capitalise on that. One publisher, The Seattle Times, shared lessons learned from one of the early COVID-19 hotspots in the United States.

16 April 2020

Nikkei improved subscriber retention with 3-question survey

Nikkei launched its digital edition 10 years ago but faced challenges making readers aware of new products. The news media company changed all that with a short survey.

03 May 2020

Svenska Dagbladet learns subscription, retention lessons from hit podcast

Svenska Dagbladet recently released a podcast — starting with two free episodes and followed by a few paid ones — that was its most successful product ever. Here are some thoughts from its editor-in-chief and CEO on how it plans to keep that subscription momentum going.

08 March 2023

V+ extends the reach of Vorarlberg’s media companies with 1 subscription

With V+, Russmedia created one subscription that unites the contents of Vorarlberg’s three largest news offices.

19 February 2023

News publishers can prevent churn with help from apps

During Wednesday’s Webinar, Paul Roberts, head of payments and billing for Aptitude Software, joined Erica Katsambis, vice president/sales, partnerships and solutions at Minna Technologies, to offer INMA members tips for reducing churn during these times of economic uncertainty.

25 January 2023

Combatting multichannel subscriber churn during economic uncertainty

INMA Presentation File

25 January 2023

News companies can maximise subscription value during economic downturn

News media companies are shifting their focus during the stressful economic times of 2023 toward value for subscribers and away from market share. Here are three ways they can do that.

23 January 2023

Media companies can maximise reader revenue amid the economic downturn

News media companies are shifting their focus during the stressful economic times of 2023 toward value for subscribers and away from market share. Here are three ways they can do that. Also, getting ChatGPT to study the Financial Times.

18 January 2023

Subscription marketing analytics should start small, involve humans

Professor Przemyslaw Jeziorski of the University of California/Berkeley shares his thoughts on how data — with human help — can be helpful with reader retention.

08 January 2023

Post and Courier shares 4 lessons learned from newsletter strategy

The Post and Courier collaborated with the Google News Initiative to explore the efficacy of paid newsletters as a viable growth strategy for the U.S.-based news company, which saw impressive engagement, especially with a sports newsletter.

08 January 2023

Subscription marketing analytics should start small and involve humans

Professor Przemyslaw Jeziorski of the University of California/Berkeley shares his thoughts on how data — with human help — can be helpful with reader retention. Also, a few examples in prompting AI tools to create a marketing campaign using the subscription landing page of The New York Times.

04 January 2023

The Courier increases engagement with 3 experimental, personalised subscriber e-mail updates

The Courier tested a personalised e-mail update for subscribers to increase overall engagement, which led to fully integrating the e-mail into onboarding campaigns as a subscriber benefit.

02 January 2023

Funke Mediengruppe fights for good journalism, regardless the platform, with 4 strategies

The way people consume journalism has changed, but Funke Mediengruppe has found they are willing to subscribe for the right content. Adapting to changing needs and demands is critical for success moving forward.

19 December 2022

How to create a great content experience with fragmented news sources

During Wednesday's Webinar, INMA Product Initiative Lead Jodie Hopperton led a discussion about how product and newsrooms can work together to reach users in an increasingly digital environment.

14 December 2022

Schibsted provides B2B customers with All Access product

All Access is a seamless news solution that gives businesses access to Schibsted’s largest digital newspapers in Norway with just one login. Aftenposten, VG, E24, Bergens Tidende, and Stavanger Aftenblad are included in this product.

12 December 2022

Piano shares how publishers can improve retention in a post-pandemic world

Two years after COVID-19, the phenomenal subscription growth the news industry experienced has slowed across the board. During this week’s Webinar, Piano’s Alexander Kreybig shared strategies for engagement and conversion post-pandemic.

07 December 2022

Schibsted’s live content strategy creates a better journey for subscribers

Schibsted found a way to provide relevant, up-to-date content for subscribers through API-powered content feeds and created a better overall journey for users.

27 November 2022

Carreira uses multiple platforms to grow its younger audience

Carriera decided to target a younger audience by creating content for multiple platforms, using podcasts and LinkedIn. This digital transformation has dramatically increased pageviews and subscriptions.

22 November 2022

Público boosts conversion, retention with space for reader interaction with company

Público’s Área de Leitor is a private area allowing a subscriber or a registrant to autonomously manage their relationship with Público’s newspaper.

23 October 2022

Pricing strategies to maximise revenue growth, retention

INMA Presentation File

18 October 2022

Is solutions journalism the industry’s answer to trust and retention?

Kyuwon Lee, international associate at Solutions Journalism Network in Southeast Asia, shares his thoughts and strategies about solutions journalism and how it can help media companies overcome news avoidance.

17 October 2022

Could solutions journalism be the industry’s answer to trust and retention?

Kyuwon Lee, international associate at Solutions Journalism Network in Southeast Asia, shares his thoughts and strategies about solutions journalism and how it can help media companies overcome news avoidance.

17 October 2022

Mediahuis finds a unique way to tell readers they matter

The video for the Mediahuis campaign used humour to drive home the importance of staying informed.

03 October 2022

Spokesman-Review increased retention by bringing back the past

With readers who have a fondness for the past, The Spokesman-Review had to create a bridge to get them to the digital future. This involved an e-edition, The Spokane Daily Chronicle, which launched in 2021.

21 September 2022

New way of cross-functional collaboration in mixed teams

INMA Presentation File

14 September 2022

Retaining subscribers: Área do Leitor (Digital Client Area)

INMA Presentation File

13 September 2022

Mååål! When football, robots manage to retain subscribers

INMA Presentation File

13 September 2022

Digital subscription growth continues despite news fatigue, world events

During Wednesday’s members-only Webinar, Readers First Initiative Lead Greg Piechota shared new findings on subscriptions and engagement, then sat down with three INMA members to gain insights into what they expect from the future and how they are preparing for it.

24 August 2022

Zeit Online changes onboarding to leverage subscriptions from day one

Zeit Online found a way to solve one of its biggest challenges: that engagement dropped after the first day of subscribing. Their four-step approach increased conversions in early subscription trials by 10%.

03 August 2022

HT Media uses WhatsApp, personalisation to increase subscriptions for financial product

HT Digital has used innovative approaches, including utilising WhatsApp, to drive subscriptions and boost engagement in its Mint brand. In this week’s INMA members-only Webinar, executives explained its digital engagement strategies, including how it moves readers down the subscription funnel.

01 August 2022

Wall Street Journal drives subscription growth with student programme

Subscribers acquired at a younger age represent a greater lifetime value for news media companies than older subscribers. Here’s how the WSJ has leveraged the student market to drive subscriptions.

27 July 2022

Untold story of APAC publishers’ struggle, late win in digital subscriptions

INMA Presentation File

14 July 2022

Data shows frequency, content consumption predict churn rates

During the recent INMA Digital Subscriber Retention Master Class, researchers and media leaders from Medill Research Center at Northwestern University, The Los Angeles Times, Corriere della Sera, and The Times of India shared how they are using data to better understand their customers and improve efforts to retain them.

07 July 2022

Nurturing media subscribers is key to controlling churn

Leaders from Arizent, Amedia, Público, Media24, and Ringier Axel Springer shared how they are addressing churn throughout the customer lifecycle during a recent INMA master class.

06 July 2022

Proactive, data-driven approach reduces churn for news media

To reduce churn, media publishers should look at their subscribers and determine which customers are at a higher or lower risk of churning.

23 June 2022

What does behavioural data say about retention

INMA Presentation File

21 June 2022

Winning tactics to help you retain more subscribers

INMA Presentation File

21 June 2022

When offboarding becomes onboarding

INMA Presentation File

14 June 2022

Predicting who is likely to churn, automating retention process

INMA Presentation File

14 June 2022

How Corriere della Sera halved its churn

INMA Presentation File

14 June 2022

Building blocks of modern subscriber retention program

INMA Presentation File

07 June 2022

Dow Jones finds experimentation leads to subscription success

Dow Jones found that developing an experimentation mindset could change its outcomes, and that's reflected in subscription results.

06 June 2022

These levers, relationships impact the lifetime value North Star

Media decision-makers should quantify monthly start volume based on paywall settings, price elasticity, and churn.

16 May 2022

Bild’s subscription testing drives its reader revenue plan

Bild has performed extensive testing to see what works with its pricing. Its takeaway: Pricing structures can evolve and change.

08 May 2022

News publishers can borrow 9 lessons from streaming to build subscriptions

News media companies have much to learn from leaders in the video streaming space and can use some of the same ideas to grow their own subscriptions at scale. Michael Ribero, chief subscriptions officer at The Washington Post, explains how.

27 April 2022

Hindu Group experiments with digital subscriptions

The Hindu has led the way in digital innovation in India, and its recent experimentation with digital subscriptions has provided promise and insight for the future.

19 April 2022

Newsday looks at 5 key retention drivers, metrics

After enjoying massive growth of digital subscriptions in 2020 and 2021, Newsday began identifying retention drivers for 2022.

17 April 2022

Media should optimise go-to market offers with lifetime value as North Star

The lifetime value North Star and optimisation framework help marketers make critical decisions based on maximising revenue opportunity.

12 April 2022

What are the benefits, risks of long trials?

Original research from INMA Readers First Initiative Lead Greg Piechota shows the world’s top news publishers have embraced trials to speed acquisition and improve retention of subscribers.

03 April 2022

Live experiences boost The Athletic’s already robust subscription efforts

The Athletic began in 2016 with the goal of filling a void in premium sports content, and it has scored big with fans. Recently, it pulled in live experiences as part of its content offering.

22 February 2022

Wyborcza.pl supports social causes with subscription offers

When protestors filled the streets in reaction to strict new abortion laws, Wyborcza saw an opportunity for action: Each time someone bought a new subscription, the money was donated to the All-Polish Women’s Strike.

18 January 2022

Daily Sun uses multi-platform, new content strategy to generate revenue

As print revenues declined, the Daily Sun started creating new products and expanding its platform offerings to reach subscribers.

28 December 2021

33 strategies help media companies keep new subscribers

E-mail and newsletter expert Dan Oshinsky shared 33 tactics for onboarding a new subscriber, to build habit and engagement in the first critical 100 days.

21 December 2021

ROI is strong with media brand marketing, acquisition campaigns

Acquisition marketing spend has retention effects on current print and digital subscribers, which should be included in the ROI calculations from marketing campaigns.

14 December 2021

Survey shares media companies’ thoughts on first-party data model

When Viafoura asked its clients what their No. 1 priority is for 2021 and 2022, the almost universal response is to turn their unknown audiences into known audiences. Viafoura COO Mark Zohar shared this and more in an INMA members-only Webinar about building first-party data.

13 October 2021

Subscription marketing: 3 ways to build the engine to drive new acquisition

By identifying the audience segment upon arrival, defining the goal by segment for the next user interaction, and delivering the segmented user experience (UX) that guides the audience toward the goal, media organisations will navigate customers through a journey to maximum monetisation.

06 October 2021

Customer-first approach in product, content are key to digital engagement

Being customer-obsessed can help publishers develop the right content and product efforts — e-mails, newsletters, niche and local content — to support engagement. Leaders at The Wall Street Journal, Lee Enterprises, Ringier Group, and The Indian Express shared their strategies during the Digital Reader Engagement Master Class in September.

28 September 2021

How publishers can successfully rebundle the news

Rebundling the physical newspaper for a digital world can be done, but it comes with its own set of challenges. Research from Twipe, as well as a look at Aftenposten frequency of visits and share of sessions, bring key audience insights.

21 September 2021

Is the mobile Web or an app right for your media company?

How do users interact with news media brands in mobile and apps? An INMA Product Initiative Meet-up delves into this topic, asking one big question: Is an app right for your news media company?

15 September 2021

Media subscription teams could learn a lot from online dating

Media companies tend to get caught up in sales jargon, but it is helpful — and perhaps ultimately more successful — to think of subscription management in terms of personal relationships.

13 September 2021

Prensa Libre focuses on 3 short-term challenges as it grows digital subscriptions

As part of the Facebook Latin America Reader Revenue Accelerator Programme, Prensa Libre adopted an experimental mindset as it launched its digital subscription platform and brought together a multi-disciplinary team.

12 September 2021

Expressen’s call-to-action button increases digital traffic, conversions

When the Expressen team joined the Facebook Accelerator programme, it was already accustomed to following and trusting data for its big decisions. That trust led to the magic of its call-to-action button.

06 September 2021

Map out an effective subscriber re-engagement strategy with these 3 actions

Media companies must learn how to keep their new audience members interested and paying as the pandemic slowly settles. Here are three ways to do just that.

24 August 2021

Somedia learns the value of frequently testing its push notification strategy

Working with the Facebook Accelerator Programme, Somedia’s experimentation with push notifications led to 30% more users clicking, 50% more sessions, 25% of former active users re-engaged, and a four- to five-times lift in newsletter subscriptions.

23 August 2021

MediaNews Group’s e-mail newsletters align process and purpose

MediaNews Group relied upon deliberate cross-company product prioritisation, collaboration, and execution to create its successful newsletter initiative.

22 August 2021

Segmented approach to digital audience management maximises monetisation potential

It is important to design the customer journey by creating a segmented approach to achieving a given goal, whether that is increased engagement, registration, conversion, or retention.

17 August 2021

NZME drives digital access amongst print subscribers while engaging print readership

A key part of NZME’s strategy was to retain print subscribers by getting them to activate their digital subscriptions.

09 August 2021

Diar's “coopetition” model increases subscriptions for Aller and Amedia

Diar has created a new model of collaboration between news companies — called coopetition — to leverage first-party data and boost revenue.

08 August 2021

New York Times uses packaging to appeal to professional readers in B2B strategy

During the pandemic, demand for information was at an all-time high. Shaping product offerings for the B2B market became an important part of The New York Times’ subscription strategy.

02 August 2021

7 best practices for media reflect industry innovation, transformation

News publishers need to understand what their audience is reading and capture data across all aspects of their organisations.

13 July 2021

Insider campaign targets, wins back former subscribers

Insider traditionally focused on new subscribers but found success with a campaign to attract churned readers.

28 June 2021

Mackay Daily Mercury grows with digital My Town series

The My Town series is driven by a passion for connecting people through storytelling.

24 June 2021

Večernji list’s fresh new Sunday print edition resonates with readers

Four sections — politics and society, the world, culture and sport, and great life interviews with strong personalities — all make the new Sunday a can’t-miss piece of reading.

21 June 2021

Financial Times changed its value proposition for B2B subscriptions

By adjusting its strategy, Financial Times grew from a subscriber base of 250,000 to its current numbers, where 625,000 people have access to FT paid for by their organisation.

14 June 2021

Editorial and product teams must work together to acquire, retain subscribers

News teams that drive content have the closest relationship with subscribers and the biggest impact on their day-to-day experience. Their partnership with product teams is crucial to reader revenue models.

07 June 2021

Strong foundations, habit formation create basis of subscriber retention strategy

Building habits and encouraging content consumption ultimately lead to higher retention rates. The four pillars of an effective retention strategy are: investing in strong foundations, forming subscriber habits, managing the reader lifestyle, and optimising acquisition for a higher lifetime value.

10 May 2021

4 news media companies share subscriber engagement, retention experiments

McClatchy, News UK, South China Morning Post, and The Financial Times stepped up their work on better engaging and retaining subscribers during 2020. Here are their stories.

10 May 2021

Preventative retention targets subscribers before they become “sleepers”

Building habit in readers before they become subscribers may prevent churn. Ruby Allen, digital retention manager at Gannett, takes a deep dive into current research on preventative retention and how news media companies should be approaching it.

09 May 2021

3 news companies share how they organise for retention

Dagens Nyheter, Mediahuis, and Nine share their subscriber acquisition strategies in light of the COVID bump of 2020.

09 May 2021

Do you know when new subscribers cross the “Retention Point?”

INMA Researcher-in-Residence Greg Piechota shares what news media can learn from audience data about a subscriber’s “Retention Point.”

04 May 2021

WSJ cuts through the clutter with Read Yourself Better marketing campaign

The Wall Street Journal’s Read Yourself Better campaign encouraged readers to rise above the noise on social media to find trustworthy information.

22 March 2021

4-step process helps news publishers analyse subscriber churn

News media companies can use a simple and practical method for effectively analysing subscriber churn.

25 January 2021

Online conversations are key in retaining digital subscribers

Media companies can use online conversation tools to keep new digital subscribers engaged with their content.

19 January 2021

SCMP shares best practices for building user loyalty using AI

South China Morning Post, together with 18 other media companies, the London School of Economics, and Google News Initiative, developed an AI loyalty playbook. Here is what the group learned about what churn and retention mean in the context of a media publisher employing best practices for user loyalty.

11 January 2021

Revamped lifestyle content in Sydney Morning Herald, The Age keeps subscribers engaged

Lifestyle coverage in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age used to “fill gaps,” but now its attracting readers and encouraging them to stick around.

08 December 2020

Spokesman-Review increases subscriptions, decreases churn with better communication

The Spokesman-Review’s digital churn rate has dropped from 49.19% in 2018 to 32.62% in 2019 and is trending even lower for 2020. Here’s a look at the e-mail programme that helped with that and the testing that’s bringing in new subscribers.

07 October 2020

Researcher shares key considerations for acquisition, retention strategies

Patrick Appel of Piano Research shares key things publishers should think about when planning acquisition and retention strategies.

17 September 2020

Publishers must focus on retention and acquisition for long-term success

Patrick Appel of Piano says publishers should not focus on acquisition at the expense of retention if they want to build a sustainable, long-term revenue strategy.

10 September 2020

What is the value of knowing a reader?

Deciding what resources to invest in moving anonymous users to known users depends on the lifetime value of a subscriber, the amount of digital advertising revenue at risk, and the incremental lift in subscriptions from knowing the reader relative to an unknown user.

31 August 2020

Funke Media Group uses topic modelling to plan content

Funke Media Group's analytical methodology allows the media company to find out what topics are of most interest to readers.

16 August 2020

How to reduce digital subscriber churn by addressing payment failures

If one-third of digital subscribers lost to news companies did not want to cancel, why are they? Here are the main reasons and five ways to stop passive cancellations from happening.

09 July 2020

Media companies tout product features over content as subscription benefit

Research shows product features — apps, premium newsletters, e-replicas of print editions, access to archives — are most frequently listed by news media companies as they market to potential digital subscribers.

06 July 2020

3 strategies to end your digital subscription plateau

Recent case study examples show extending promotional terms, increasing the amount of premium content, and reducing friction during the checkout process are a few ways media companies can break through and advance their digital subscription goals.

01 July 2020

What news media can learn about audience retention from Netflix

The video streaming provider Netflix retains 65% of its subscribers after one year while news media companies have a median retention rate of 25%. INMA Researcher-in-Residence Grzegorz Piechota shares what publishers can learn about free trials and monthly payment plans from video streaming customer data.

01 July 2020

Everything you wanted to know about retention but were afraid to ask

Research shows a subscriber’s experience during the first 100 days are key to forming a habit and retaining the subscription. INMA Researcher-in-Residence Grzegorz Piechota shares onboarding lessons from The Wall Street Journal, as well as video-streaming lessons from Netflix and what AI can teach us about churn behaviours.

29 June 2020

Clarín, Die Zeit share building blocks of reader loyalty clubs

News publishers across the world are focused on loyalty, with some finding success with structured reward programmes for their readers. Two media companies share their best practices for reader loyalty programmes.

17 June 2020

Trial subscriptions drove the pandemic surge

INMA Researcher-in-Residence Grzegorz Piechota shares analysis of 284 news sites showing cancellation rates are lower for monthly subscribers who signed up during the pandemic.

16 June 2020

Trial subscription wins, loyalty club shifts amid the pandemic

Subscribers who converted during the pandemic are churning less than usual, quite likely because of the engaging news cycle. Another change during the crisis is a creativity of loyalty club programmes.

15 June 2020

5 best practices for retaining audiences post-pandemic

From a close look at the onboarding process to proactively dealing with cancellations, there are many ways news media companies can work to retain those readers gained during the COVID bump.

07 May 2020

Research shows the best ways to keep new subscribers post-crisis

Researcher-in-Residence Grzegorz Piechota shares best practices from non-news subscription companies and three ways to keep it fresh with new subscribers.

21 April 2020

Research shows best practices in retention while COVID bump peaks again in U.S.

Research shows news media companies in the United States will likely show better digital subscription numbers in April than March. Also: Retention lessons from non-media companies, a reminder that future readers are important, and how infographics are winning the COVID content battle for eyeballs.

20 April 2020

Schibsted focuses on retention, value proposition for loyal subscribers

Schibsted launched several initiatives to incentivise its most loyal subscribers to reduce future churn. Here are the details.

02 March 2020

Amedia reduces churn with focus on payment, win-back, onboarding processes

Amedia focused on five key areas to reduce churn in late 2019, saving approximately 10% of its total subscription sales year-over-year with its cross-functional task force, jokingly called “The Churnminators.”

01 March 2020

Ready, Set, 70,000! How Expressen Went from 0 to 70,000 Subscribers in a Year

To build a digital subscription service in four months. By studying others’ success and mistakes we were able to set high, almost unattainable goals, and to prioritize among all our ideas to focus on the right efforts to quickly catch up to our competitors and create a source of digital reader revenues. Make ...

01 March 2020

Content Mining with Topic-Modeling

When are readers on the page, what do they read? What are they willing to subscribe for? And what do they keep coming back for? We wanted to answer these questions to get to know our readers better, to find out what is important to them and what they need. And to find out what each of us can do to achieve ...

01 March 2020

Chicago Tribune Reaches 100k Digital-Only Subscriber Milestone

The Subscriber Appreciation campaign sought to increase retention through direct communication from the Chicago Tribune Publisher & Editor in Chief Bruce Dold thanking subscribers and reminding them just how much their subscription supports the newspaper In an effort to increase engagement and encourage ...

01 March 2020

Rethink your metrics to improve subscription success

Patrick Appel of Piano and Greg Piechota, researcher-in-residence at INMA, provided insight into how to improve subscription success during INMA’s Media Subscription Week 3.0 in New York City on Thursday morning.

27 February 2020

8 trends help publishers get, keep digital subscribers

Less free content and longer promotional periods are two noteworthy trends in the digital subscription space.

27 January 2020

How Mittmedia uses machine learning for insights into subscriber churn

Mittmedia learned some surprising things when employees took a deep dive into the company’s data as it relates to user churn. Two team members shared their findings in an INMA Webinar.

22 January 2020

Using data science to reduce churn, engage readers at Globe and Mail

The Globe and Mail’s loyalty and retention team worked with data science and database marketing staff to better understand and act on subscriber behaviours to reduce churn and increase engagement.

19 January 2020

You lost a subscriber. Now what?

When readers unsubscribe, seek to understand how engaged they were prior to unsubscribing and send personalised offers to encourage re-subscribing to boost future retention rates.

14 January 2020

Partnership with star basketball player helps Bay Area News Group lift retention, subscriptions

Klay Thompson’s pre-game newspaper reading ritual is the inspiration behind a multi-year campaign that has effectively engaged audiences, boosted Bay Area News Group’s education programming, and given subscriptions and retention a lift.

13 January 2020

Reducing churn in the first 100 days at Wall Street Journal

The Wall Street Journal engages its subscribers from the moment they become members. Here is a detailed look at how the company, with 2.6 million paid members, has used its onboarding process to reduce churn.

12 January 2020

What research, case studies indicate about raising digital subscription prices

The relationship between digital engagement, longevity, and price increases were the focus of an INMA Readers First meet-up, featuring case studies from Dennik N, Piano, and Mather Economics.

09 January 2020

Aftenposten Wine Club increases subscriber revenue, decreases churn

Aftenposten reuses written content to increase average revenue per user for loyal subscribers interested in wine without using any additional market spend.

21 October 2019

Stavanger Aftenblad’s comment campaign goes viral in effort to reduce churn

Stavanger Aftenblad’s comment campaign was designed to get subscribers to take advantage of a subscriber benefit they may have overlooked, thereby reducing churn.

07 October 2019

What if news media were a game, with fans instead of subscribers?

Kent Schacht of the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA), Satwant Singh of the National Basketball Association (NBA), and Matthijs van de Peppel at NRC Media discuss their best membership practices at the INMA Reader Revenue Symposium.

25 September 2019

Globe and Mail deconstructs its onboarding experience

In the first 30 days of onboarding new subscribers, The Globe sends clear communication to reduce churn and begin fostering a long-term relationship. Its five communication steps cover confirming account information, creating a successful start, nurturing behaviour, building a habit, and encouraging monthly engagement.

15 September 2019

Mediahuis shares lessons from reader activation efforts

Understanding how often and in what manner readers engage with digital subscriptions helps Mediahuis reduce churn. The company’s goal: to see 65% of its digital subscribers engaging in its content each day.

10 September 2019

Research: Thanking customers yields a powerful ROI

Research by Torstar shows thanking customers reducing audience churn, especially with a direct mail outreach.

20 August 2019

Globe and Mail creates its own paywall strategy model for retention

By creating its own paywall model, The Globe and Mail can choose paywall articles for maximum reader subscription and retention.

15 August 2019

Patching holes in paywalls, promoting journalism, calculating churn

INMA Researcher-in-Residence Grzegorz Piechota shares data, case studies, and opinion on paywall security, promoting journalism as a service instead of content access, monetising podcasts, and tracking churn.

22 July 2019

Schibsted reduces churn by helping readers visualise a subscription’s value proposition

Schibsted has implemented a new, four-part, anti-churn solution, which staff can monitor through a live anti-churn tracking dashboard. Here is a detailed look at the plan and how it’s going three months in.

01 July 2019

Avoiding churn in the early subscription stage

In the early stages of a user purchasing a digital subscription, it is essential to demonstrate the product’s value.

12 June 2019

How Globe and Mail turned reader attention into reader retention

The Globe and Mail Member Benefits programme offers benefits like experiences, online business tools, and E-books/guides that keep readers interested and engaged once they subscribe.

13 May 2019

8 opportunities for subscriber retention

Keep churn to a minimum by focusing on onboarding, reducing customer effort, and telling a compelling story.

12 March 2019

NWZ reduces churn by strengthening subscriber relationships

During 2018, Germany’s NWZ heavily nurtured its subscriber relationships with a subscriber benefit programme, events, a more robust app, and a revamped CRM programme — all of which has already resulted in modest churn reduction.

11 March 2019

Research: Attracting, keeping digital subscribers requires different content

Detailed content analyses reveal different kinds of content and content pathways result in conversion of audiences vs. keeping digital subscribers. News publishers should put resources toward all these pathways.

05 March 2019

Schibsted tests onboarding processes to increase subscription value

In 2018, Schibsted tested several ideas for increasing retention and engagement, many of which were successful. Here is an in-depth look at three of them.

04 March 2019

Kristeligt Dagblad increases digital engagement 95%

Kristeligt Dagblad launched a successful campaign and revamped its online content to motivate print readers to “go digital” — thus increasing digital product use by 95% and reducing churn by 27%.

28 January 2019

USA Today Network finds quick success with subscriber engagement, retention programme

Auto bill pay enrollment has increased 22% under USA Today Network’s Voice of the Customer subscriber engagement programme. This and other positive findings are the result of the news media company’s customer- and data-driven initiatives toward subscriber retention.

14 January 2019

INMA releases report on nurturing value for digital subscribers

Nurturing value for digital subscribers to regain a growth path is the focus of the new INMA report, written by INMA Researcher-In-Residence Grzegorz Piechota and part of the association’s Readers First Initiative.

20 December 2018

How Wall Street Journal uses a data-led, member-first metric to reduce churn

To reduce churn, The Wall Street Journal team is focusing specifically on who is at risk, what actions have a positive effect, and where communication can be improved.

17 December 2018

4 steps for implementing data in the subscription process

Product development, sales optimisation, minimising friction, and retaining customers are the core of a subscription business. Strategic data usage within each area can propel revenue.

10 December 2018

New INMA report delves into subscriber retention, consumer engagement

Including case studies from Financial Times, Times Newspapers, The Wall Street Journal, Aftenposten, and The New York Times, INMA’s latest strategic report continues its leadership role on the subject of digital subscriptions.

20 November 2018

Globe and Mail changes investment product suite, strategically retains audience

When the Globe and Mail retooled its investment platform, the media company sought to understand its customers, remained available to answer questions, and accepted that some people would leave the platform. The results: Low attrition and CDN$2 million annual savings.

12 November 2018

Times, Star Tribune, AJC share effective retention practices

Three news media companies share strategies for improving retention and reducing churn. Louis Deering, senior digital marketing manager for Star Tribune in Minneapolis, Minnesota, talked about the "lifetime value" of customers — which was a common thread connecting all three companies' strategies.

09 November 2018

Introduction

Exclusive INMA material on “Subscriber Retention”

One-third of reader churn could be saved with payment retries

Wall Street Journal data makes the case for a robust onboarding experience

Die Zeit bolsters retention and bottom line with membership programme

Telegraph creates new scoring metric for audience engagement and retention

What can AI teach us about behaviours leading to churn?

Times, Sunday Times decrease churn by 49% with digital butler

Newsday Onboarding and Engagement Email Campaign

What newsrooms can learn about reader retention from a former DJ

Segment customers by churn risk, price elasticity for long-term profitability

In crisis and normalcy, why measuring and maximising subscriber lifetime value is key

Subscriber retention during the downturn

Nikkei improved subscriber retention with 3-question survey

Svenska Dagbladet learns subscription, retention lessons from hit podcast

V+ extends the reach of Vorarlberg’s media companies with 1 subscription

News publishers can prevent churn with help from apps

Combatting multichannel subscriber churn during economic uncertainty

News companies can maximise subscription value during economic downturn

Media companies can maximise reader revenue amid the economic downturn

Subscription marketing analytics should start small, involve humans

Post and Courier shares 4 lessons learned from newsletter strategy

Subscription marketing analytics should start small and involve humans

The Courier increases engagement with 3 experimental, personalised subscriber e-mail updates

Funke Mediengruppe fights for good journalism, regardless the platform, with 4 strategies

How to create a great content experience with fragmented news sources

Schibsted provides B2B customers with All Access product

Piano shares how publishers can improve retention in a post-pandemic world

Schibsted’s live content strategy creates a better journey for subscribers

Carreira uses multiple platforms to grow its younger audience

Público boosts conversion, retention with space for reader interaction with company

Pricing strategies to maximise revenue growth, retention

Is solutions journalism the industry’s answer to trust and retention?

Could solutions journalism be the industry’s answer to trust and retention?

Mediahuis finds a unique way to tell readers they matter

Spokesman-Review increased retention by bringing back the past

New way of cross-functional collaboration in mixed teams

Retaining subscribers: Área do Leitor (Digital Client Area)

Mååål! When football, robots manage to retain subscribers

Digital subscription growth continues despite news fatigue, world events

Zeit Online changes onboarding to leverage subscriptions from day one

HT Media uses WhatsApp, personalisation to increase subscriptions for financial product

Wall Street Journal drives subscription growth with student programme

Untold story of APAC publishers’ struggle, late win in digital subscriptions

Data shows frequency, content consumption predict churn rates

Nurturing media subscribers is key to controlling churn

Proactive, data-driven approach reduces churn for news media

What does behavioural data say about retention

Winning tactics to help you retain more subscribers

When offboarding becomes onboarding

Predicting who is likely to churn, automating retention process

How Corriere della Sera halved its churn

Building blocks of modern subscriber retention program

Dow Jones finds experimentation leads to subscription success

These levers, relationships impact the lifetime value North Star

Bild’s subscription testing drives its reader revenue plan

News publishers can borrow 9 lessons from streaming to build subscriptions

Hindu Group experiments with digital subscriptions

Newsday looks at 5 key retention drivers, metrics

Media should optimise go-to market offers with lifetime value as North Star

What are the benefits, risks of long trials?

Live experiences boost The Athletic’s already robust subscription efforts

Wyborcza.pl supports social causes with subscription offers

Daily Sun uses multi-platform, new content strategy to generate revenue

33 strategies help media companies keep new subscribers

ROI is strong with media brand marketing, acquisition campaigns

Survey shares media companies’ thoughts on first-party data model

Subscription marketing: 3 ways to build the engine to drive new acquisition

Customer-first approach in product, content are key to digital engagement

How publishers can successfully rebundle the news

Is the mobile Web or an app right for your media company?

Media subscription teams could learn a lot from online dating

Prensa Libre focuses on 3 short-term challenges as it grows digital subscriptions

Expressen’s call-to-action button increases digital traffic, conversions

Map out an effective subscriber re-engagement strategy with these 3 actions

Somedia learns the value of frequently testing its push notification strategy

MediaNews Group’s e-mail newsletters align process and purpose

Segmented approach to digital audience management maximises monetisation potential

NZME drives digital access amongst print subscribers while engaging print readership

Diar's “coopetition” model increases subscriptions for Aller and Amedia