I gleaned a lot from my conversation with Tim Franklin, senior associate dean, professor and the John M. Mutz Chair in Local News at Medill, and Larry DeGaris, executive director of the Medill Spiegel Research Center, about the Subscriber Engagement Index — and what the members’ data has revealed about audience, engagement and the (other) bad C-word, “churn.” When it comes to compelling content, it appears quality and originality is a key factor to inspiring sign-ups, ensuring brand loyalty, and subscriber retention.

Check out the Quick Read from Editor & Publisher at the link, and let us know if your newsroom is being intentional about creating journalism that is special, critical and that subscribers can’t get anywhere else. Thanks for reading!

https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/original-distinctive-content-holds-value,244115

#subscriptions #newsmedia #journalism #brandloyalty

From Behavioral Data to Exclusive Content, Newspapers are Creating Valuable Strategies to Retain Readers

By: Gretchen A. Peck

The “Trump Bump” phenomenon experienced by national and larger regional newspapers in the wake of the presidential election brought a sea of new subscribers to their print and digital titles. Whether that was a direct response to the anti-press rhetoric that’s been pervasive in national politics, or whether people just finally realized that news has value, is still up for speculation and study. But the phenomenon was real for those larger titles, which now must make concerted efforts and campaigns to appeal to these new readers, and to keep their interest and retain their subscriptions.

Photo courtesy of The New York Times

Tag: subscriptions

The Subscriber Engagement Index data reveals key metrics for compelling subscribers and reducing churn

Getting readers is one thing; keeping them is another

From Behavioral Data to Exclusive Content, Newspapers are Creating Valuable Strategies to Retain Readers