You're reading The Audiencers' newsletter #57 sent out on February 19th, 2025. To receive future newsletters straight to your inbox every two weeks, sign up here.
In today’s newsletter:
- Inside The Kyiv Independent’s Membership Model
- elDiario.es reaches 100,000 members – here’s how they achieved this milestone according to their team
- Game on: how The Economist increased CTR by 2.8%
- The Washington Post’s newsletter quiz
- Recommendations to add to your reading list
Inside The Kyiv Independent’s Membership Model
With a community-focused membership model, 70% of The Kyiv Independent’s revenue comes from their readers, and there’s not a paywall in sight.
> Banners and messaging around membership that reflect their mission-led, impactful, human journalism with a unique angle (english-language but from people on-the-ground in Ukraine)
> Targeted banners with Poool, regular design and messaging changes to reignite conversion rates, high visibility across the site, and innovative campaigns such an anniversary ‘membership target’, with a countdown on the banner (last year’s edition had significantly higher click-through rate than the regular bannar, and went beyond the target, gaining over 1600 new members in a month!)
> Community building, online and offline, with a community map so members can place themselves within the community, journalists getting involved in the community and road shows to connect with members in real life
I interviewed COO Zakhar Protsiuk on their unique model and impressive strategy that’s allowed them to gain 14,500 members, high LTV and well-below-average churn rate at 1.8%.
> Full article on The Audiencers
elDiario.es reaches 100,000 members
Congratulations are in order for Spain’s elDiario who reached 100,000 members earlier this month.
Some key figures:
- 1,192 people have supported the publisher since their first steps in 2012
- 14,245 contribute pay above the base rate (€80 annually)
- 3,425 members have taken advantage of the reduced rates for the unemployed, students, workers in ERTE or with low income
- elDiario.es also gives free access to another 1,193 people, for readers in a very precarious situation who cannot afford the reduced fees
- Despite these bonuses, the average fee paid by elDiario.es members is €5.9 /month, a figure that is very close to the monthly fee of those who pay a full rate
How did they reach this milestone, according to Marketing and Membership Director, Esther Alonso
A direct and personal connection with the community:
“Our editor-in-chief maintains a close and personal relationship with members—calling them to listen to their concerns and ideas, responding to their emails, and always being present and approachable. This hands-on engagement fosters trust and strengthens our bond with the community.”
The newsroom is a key stakeholder and ambassador of the membership program
“Our journalists are actively involved in the membership program, not just as reporters but as direct participants in our community. They attend events, engage with members, and seek their support, reinforcing a collaborative relationship between the newsroom and the people who sustain our work.”
Transparency at the core of their values
“We are committed to transparency. Every year, we voluntarily publish our financial accounts, allowing members to see how funds are allocated. This guarantees that the newspaper operates with integrity and efficiency, ensuring accountability and reinforcing trust. Open access to financial information reassures our members that decisions are made in their best interest.”
> The full press release is here (in Spanish)
Game on: how The Economist increased CTR by 2.8%
By Tsering Lock, Retention Manager, Onboarding, at The Economist.
Here at The Economist, we are continuously testing to optimise campaigns and maximise performance. Across the industry more brands are using gamification to connect with their audience and increase motivation to take high-value actions. Having recently partnered with Moveable Ink who specialise in generating personalised campaigns without the use of complex coding, we saw this as an interesting opportunity for our onboarding journey.
We tested converting our static, unpersonalised checklist email into a gamified version that updates based on a subscriber’s actions. The checklist highlights four key retention-driving actions: downloading the app, attending an event, listening to a podcast and signing up to a newsletter. It is sent to subscribers after their first month.
The results were outstanding: a 2.8% uplift in click through rate that was statistically significant. We are now looking to further incorporate gamification and interactive features into our comms.
The Washington Post’s unique newsletter quiz
Love The Washington Post’s newsletter quiz! An engaging, interactive way to personalize newsletter recommendations for subscribers.
Things I like in particular:
> Short, simple and easy to answer questions, with single-click reply, emojis to help comprehension and key words in bold, to be able to understand the question at a glance
> A progress bar, ability to go back and change answers and of course the fact that the subscribe button is still easily accessible in the corner (maybe it’s not a significant acquisition moment, but including it here increases visibility of their paid model)
> A personalized response based on previous answers, with the ability to sign up in a click. I know they’ve previously integrated these steps into the subscriber onboarding journey, but this “quiz” is a great way to bring the feature to existing subscribers (and gain data on their interests)
> Answers are saved for further personalization, and WP are transparent about this, sharing this fact with the user on the first page
Full user journey screenshotted in my LinkedIn post
Content to add to your reading list
- The four dimensions of personalization
- Digital transformation guide from API (love the format)
- Recurly’s 2025 subscription report (in particular: « Acquisition Decline Highlights Retention’s Importance »)
- The future of news and the promise of community-centered journalism
See you in two weeks,
Madeleine
