We kicked off the recent INMA Building Direct Traffic Audience master class with a key question: How will consumers discover products and platforms amidst technological change?

Discovery is changing — and fast. I opened the master class with a snapshot of the current landscape: Platforms are everywhere, algorithms are increasingly unpredictable, and organic social traffic is declining at pace. AI is already altering how people search and interact with content, and we can no longer rely on the distribution methods that once fuelled our growth. 

The ground is shifting. And while that might feel unsettling, it also offers an extraordinary opportunity to rebuild, refocus, and reconnect with our audiences in new ways.

Rather than chasing the next trend, we’re being invited to reimagine how journalism shows up — not just on the homepage but everywhere people are. That means more customer-centric thinking, smarter packaging of our products, storytelling that works across formats, and a renewed focus on building direct, meaningful relationships.

Simon Kingsnorth, a U.K.-based marketing expert and best-selling author, captured this shift well when he said, “Preferences are tied to the user, not the platform.” 

It’s a call to anchor ourselves in audience needs rather than platform dynamics — to understand who we’re serving and what they value, regardless of whether we’re reaching them on TikTok, in e-mail, or via search.

Liesbeth Nizet, head of future audiences monetisation at Mediahuis, is actively living this future. 

Her role is dedicated to reaching and monetising younger audiences — not just by adapting legacy brands but by launching new ones built entirely for how Gen Z engages. 

Their new product, SPIL, carries the tagline “Ask the news to change your views,” a striking invitation to interaction and dialogue rather than passive consumption. As she put it, “News is no longer the default, it’s in the mix.” 

It’s been a long time since we were competing just with other publishers. We’re up against everything else on a user’s screen. That requires us to think differently about how we tell stories, how we invite participation, and how we build habit.

Jennifer Hicks, director of audience reach at The Wall Street Journal, brought this to life through her team’s work activating WSJ journalists on LinkedIn. She reminded us that “people gravitate to people,” and showed the power of leaning into authentic, individual voices — particularly those with deep subject matter authority. 

The content that performs best isn’t always what we expect but instead is what feels real and trustworthy. It’s not about chasing virality;  it’s about showing up with value and consistency.

We also heard a provocative, and much needed, talk from Sinead Boucher, CEO and owner of Stuff in New Zealand. 

What if we simply stepped away from platforms entirely? That’s exactly what Stuff did when it left Facebook, and they’ve seen (surprisingly) positive results: more loyalty, more impact, and a stronger sense of brand purpose. Their mantra, “follow no one,” isn’t just about journalism; it’s about discovery, independence, and building a business that isn’t reliant on third-party gatekeepers.

Across all of these examples, a few things became clear:

We need to master multi-format storytelling — not as a future goal but as a present-day imperative. We need to understand and optimise every point of discovery, from newsletters to search to app notifications. And we need to develop thoughtful, platform-specific strategies — while ensuring we’re not beholden to any single one.

It also means rethinking monetisation. The models that worked five years ago may not work today, let alone tomorrow. We have to be open to experimentation — and, just as importantly, we have to be rigorous in how we measure success. Scale alone is not enough. Impact is what matters.

So yes, the landscape is chaotic. Yes, the rules are changing. But this is our moment to lead with creativity, with courage, and with a relentless focus on our audiences. If we’re willing to rethink the way we tell stories, how we invite people into them, and how we build direct, meaningful relationships, we’ll come out stronger.

Because in the end, the platforms may change. But the mission of journalism — to inform, to challenge, to connect — remains the same. The opportunity now is to meet that mission in new ways for a new era.

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