Overview of this campaign
When facing the critical challenge of having more subscribers over 80 than under 40, we launched a radical and exciting experiment. We isolated metrics to exclusively focus on readers under 40, effectively making 90 percent of our subscribers invisible in our dashboards.
This data-driven approach aimed to:
- Understand younger reader preferences: By removing the influence of older subscribers, the experiment aimed to gain clearer insights into what content resonated with the younger demographic.
- Optimize content creation: This understanding would then be used to guide the newsrooms in tailoring their content to better cater to the interests of younger readers.
- Increase engagement and subscriptions: The ultimate goal was to drive growth in both traffic and subscriptions, particularly among the younger demographic, thus securing the long-term sustainability of Amedia's publications.
The experiment, conducted at two newspapers, aimed to demonstrate that by focusing on the needs of younger readers, Amedia could achieve success in attracting and retaining them, ensuring a future for quality journalism in a changing media landscape.
While the experiment was designed to address the needs of younger readers, we were also curious about key concerns:
- Impact on the older demographic: Would the older demographic abandon us if their content preferences were no longer prioritized?
- Changes within newsrooms: What adjustments would need to be made in newsroom operations and editorial strategies to effectively cater to the needs of a younger audience?
The experiment sought to answer these questions, demonstrating that focusing on the needs of younger readers could not only attract new subscribers but also potentially maintain the loyalty of the existing audience.
Results for this campaign
A Win-Win for All
- Shifting Content: We shifted our content strategy to focus on topics relevant to younger audiences, such as family life, health, relationships, local businesses, and personal finance.
- Changing Perspectives: We changed our perspective, focusing on younger entrepreneurs and professionals rather than established middle-aged figures. This applies for all relevant topics.
- Transforming Newsrooms: Our newsrooms adjusted their editorial processes to prioritize topics and narratives that resonated with younger readers. This change in focus also inspired a shift in mindset among our staff, fostering a more collaborative and innovative environment.
- Unexpected Success: We saw an increase in overall readership, demonstrating that the content resonated with a broader demographic. This suggests that the content we created for younger readers also appealed to older readers, who continued to engage with our publications.
Key Successes:
- We saw an increase in overall readership and a significant boost in subscriptions.
- Romerikes Blad, one of the newspapers participating in the experiment, experienced a remarkable 30% growth in its under-40 demographic since the project's inception nine months ago.
Conclusion:
This experiment demonstrated that by embracing a data-driven approach and making strategic adjustments in content creation, editorial processes, and even organizational structure, we could effectively cater to the needs of a younger generation, attract new subscribers, and maintain the loyalty of our existing audience, ensuring a sustainable future for our publications.