Top INMA articles from 2018 highlight focus on digital subscriptions

Editor's Inbox | 26 December 2018

By Dawn McMullan

Senior Editor

INMA

Dallas, Texas, United States

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In the day-to-day job of editing content for INMA.org, sometimes the big themes are forgotten. Which is why sitting down and looking at our most-read articles is a bit like like watching a time-lapsed video of World Congress or a highlight reel of industry headlines.

For 2018, the theme is clear: Reader revenue via digital subscriptions. All but the 10th most-read article for the year focus on this topic. Also obvious: Schibsted is doing a bang-up job at it.

Here are the top pieces of content for the past year (not including our posts on Globa Media Awards, which always top the list). I hope you enjoy the highlights as much as I did in this week of reflection before we hit 2019:

1. 4 kinds of content readers will pay for, by Anna Careborg, head of premium content at Svenska Dagbladet.

2. Axios reaches today’s reader with “Smart Brevity” journalism, by INMA’s Shelley Seale, covering a members-only Webinar with Kate Meissner, vice president of business development at Axios.

Axios’ articles are written by subject matter experts and are frequently shorter than 300 words.

3. 7 global trends in news media subscriptions, also by INMA’s Seale, covering a Webinar by our Executive Director/CEO Earl J. Wilkinson and Robert Whitehead, a long-time INMA leader and director of the McPherson Media Group.

4. Aftenposten stopped chasing Facebook reach, brought in US$500,000 extra annually, by Siri Holstad Johannessen, head of sales and marketing; Sidney Johan Clay Glastad, who works in digital marketing at Schibsted Norway; and Marius Thorkildsen, digital engagement manager at Aftenposten.

Looking at subscribers as the key performance indicator (KPI) turned out to be motivating for everyone at Aftenposten.

5. Schibsted grows digital subscriptions with predictive analytics, by Ciarán Cody-Kenny, data scientist for Schibsted products and technology, and Eivind Hjertholm Fiskerud, head of data analytics.

The algorithm created by Schibsted learns the difference in behaviour patterns between those who do not purchase and those who do purchase during the target period.

6. Getting smarter about subscriptions beyond the meter — and without a silver bullet, by INMA’s Wilkinson.

Steven Neubauer of NZZ in Switzerland and Siri Holstad Johannessen of Schibsted talk next-generation paid content models at the INMA Media Subscriptions Summit in London.

7. 5 key facets to Wall Street Journal’s subscription growth, by Suzi Watford, executive vice president and chief marketing officer at The Wall Street Journal.

Digital subscribers accounted for 60% of The Wall Street Journal's base in early 2018.

8. What if digital subscriptions aren’t the answer? by Kirk MacDonald, senior consultant and Internet publisher at Pyrrhonian Partners.

9. Schibsted retains digital subscribers with automated onboarding, by Siri Holstad Johannessen, head of sales and marketing, and Tor Marius Espedal, a customer experience manager at Schibsted Norway.

Changes in the onboarding experience increased rates of first renewal by 3% and total subscription revenue per year rates by about 4% at Schibsted.

10. Digital touchpoints yet to replace print for retail advertising, by Gary Meo, senior vice president and sales director/newspaper media at Nielsen Scarborough.

According to a 2017 Nielsen Homescan study, about 80% of U.S. households still use circulars and other traditional, printed sources for product information

I also want to mention No. 11, 5 technologies catapulting the media industry into the future, by Sumaiya Omar, founder at HashtagOurStories. Omar is someone to listen to, and I don't think we’re done with this list yet. Stay tuned in 2019!