Subscribers are getting a lot of attention this day, as they should.
This week, at the Tow Center Conference, Journalism + Silicon Valley, at Columbia University, Mark Thompson, CEO of The New York Times used the word “subscriber” more than 15 times.
“We see our biz as a subscription service first; a pivot around innovation; focus around reader. …..We have to have a special relationship with our readers….The future is how readers relate to our products.”
Thompson not only speaks about cultivating the Times’ subscribers, he applies it, too. I know, I am a Times subscriber.
Rarely a day goes by when I am not approached by the Times, digitally, to remind me of a service that I am entitled to that I should apply for, or perhaps a list of the news items I may have missed. Sometimes it is all about the theater or cooking apps.
Regardless, the brand New York Times is in my soup, so to speak.
I feel that like I am in the Times’ radar——and I say that in a good way.
I like this, not just as a subscriber, but as a media person advising media companies worldwide. I believe that, while trying to attract new audiences via new platforms and social media, it is extremely important to cultivate the subscribers who already believe in you, but who may feel that they are not as important to the newspaper as their parents used to be. Loyalty pays, as airlines and hotels have found out for 20 years now. I believe that we have not done enough to cultivate loyalty from our readers. This is a good time to start.
Meanwhile, our former clients at The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age are trying out an “editor’s edition” email newsletter to subscribers to lift engagement – a move that aims to get more reader input into coverage.
The weekly newsletter will look at the big issues of the week, with the editors-in-chief of both newspapers sharing their thoughts, and showcasing the best journalism of the week.
Here is an idea I like very much and hope to do follow up with my colleagues in Australia to see what reaction they get.
All efforts to remind loyal subscribers of their importance are worthwhile and will pay off in the long run.