How a journalist covering climate, nature and conversation built a newsletter with a 70% open rate from @pressgazette PLUS from @damianradcliffe and @wnip 3 strategic considerations for publishers' e-commerce plans

August 16, 2022

Wow, another bumper crop of stories for those working in the media. My friend Damian Radcliffe continues his excellent coverage of the increasing role that e-commerce is playing in the revenue plans of publishers. Thomas Baekdal challenges the idea that micropayments will ever be a major revenue stream for news, and the Press Gazette interviews a journalist who has built a solid subscriber base for a newsletter covering climate, nature and conservation.

This is an excerpt from our free-to-download report, eCommerce in Publishing: Trends & Strategies A number of publishers were already embracing the potential for eCommerce. However, the growth of the subscription economy, coupled with changing COVID-era consumer habits – and the likelihood of their continuation – has encouraged more media players into the eCommerce fold. In …

Damian Radcliffe has been doing some excellent coverage on the increasing role that e-commerce is playing in the revenue strategies of publishers. Does e-commerce fit your culture? And as you move into e-commerce, you have to consider the expectations that consumers have about the frictionless experience that consumers have become accustomed to.

Why The Signal AI Deal To Buy KELP Is Important - 08/15/2022

An interesting move amongst companies using AI to help companies monitor their reputations.

A sceptic's view of micropayments for news

Yesterday, I highlighted Thomas' sceptical view about data, and today, he's skewering the idea of micropayments for news. Some of this is down to the long-term value of a news story, which by definition is a story about a particular moment in time whereas if you buy a song, a movie or TV series you love, it has value over time. And Thomas makes another really good point in this thread:

"1: Most news articles are not designed as a one-off value. Instead, most stories are just a glimpse of a bigger story, so buying one article makes no sense."

Press Gazette has been reporting on British journalism without fear or favour since 1965. Our mission is to provide a news and information service which helps the UK journalism.

She identified a gap in the market, and this really is an example of the 1000 true fans model of building a sustainable business. And she says: "Yeo attributes the growth of Inkcap Journal to both her existing following from work as a climate journalist, and the fact that its features were “tapping into the different interests of lots of people."

Track audience growth with simple, easy-to-read graphics from built-in platform data.

Dashboards can be very valuable, and it can make data accessible. The one caveat I would have is to be very careful in the KPIs that you choose and how they are interpreted by your staff. I remember consulting with a major news group that had Chartbeat's Big Board up in their newsroom. It's a really digestible view of what audiences are paying attention to, but the journalists took away this lesson: When they posted a new story, it moved up the leaderboard. The journalists took away the lesson that they needed to produce more stories to remain high on the board, but this was the opposite of their group's strategic goals. It wasn't just about a quick hit but about quality and engagement.

I also remember a situation when I was a regional executive editor for Gannett. We had a press officer in the community (who had been an editor at the paper before) who wanted us to publish a story about their organisation on Friday afternoon when she had filed the press release. I pushed back, and I brought the team around our Chartbeat screen. Late on a Friday afternoon was when we had the lowest audience and the lowest engagement, which was why we wouldn't push the story out then. Making data accessible is important but making sure that staff understood what the data was telling them was as important.

More notes on ValueAct’s Sulzberger love tap, plus Rivian’s latest correction, and Elon’s Twitter liquidity headfake.

Media watchers from the FT to Puck expressed concern that an activist investor would distract the New York Times from its focus on building a subscriber business.

Apple is set to expand ads to new areas of your iPhone and iPad in search of its next big revenue driver. Also: The company slows its pace of acquiring startups, and Peloton embarks on a major overhaul.

The move by Apple to move into the ads business mirrors other B2C businesses creating more ad-supported tiers as consumers become more price sensitive about the subscriptions that they have. And it also is a sign that Apple is looking for new ways to earn revenue from its services businesses.

Consumers Are 'Trading Down,' Buying Less, Commerce Signals Data Shows - 08/15/2022

It's interesting to see a story like this in a media publication, but I think it's another signal that consumers are pulling in their horns and being much more considerate about their purchases and the cost of them.

Go beyond AB tests. Pinpoint the most impactful features to build before sinking any time into them. Improve the odds of finding high-value problems to disrupt.

I am getting so much value out of Refind when it comes to product, and it flagged thi

I am getting so much value out of Refind when it comes to product, and it flagged up this excellent resource on product analytics. Be sure not only to read this post but also the rich links. It's an outstanding resource.

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