You're reading The Audiencers' newsletter #73 sent out on October 1st, 2025. To receive future newsletters straight to your inbox every two weeks, sign up here.
In today’s newsletter:
- The Telegraph is dedicating 90% of resources to the app: with the aim of convincing 100% of subscribers to use this product
- Are 50% off promotions killing your subscription revenue?
- The Guardian now has 1.3 million “recurring supporters”: what are the team doing right?
- What we’ve been reading this week: articles to add to your reading list
The Telegraph is dedicating 90% of resources to the app
At the UK’s The Telegraph, the app has become the most engaging platform and the best predictor of subscriber retention.
> The app performs significantly better than the website: 15% more usage, 8% more sessions per week, 6 points higher 30-day retention…
> And resources are following: approximately 90% of resources are dedicated to the app, and teams have been built around the app product.
> The Telegraph is now aiming for 100% of digital subscribers to use the app, with aggressive promotional campaigns from day one and better-integrated web-to-app pathways.
Are 50% off promotions killing your subscription revenue?
The psychology behind discount addiction could be undermining your long-term revenue goals
Research in behavioral economics shows that customers who acquire subscriptions through heavy discounts (30% or more) often develop what’s called “reference price anchoring.” They anchor their perception of your product’s worth to the discounted price, not the full price.
This shows up in LTV as price sensitivity increases, perceived value decreases and “waiting behaviour” develops as audiences start gaming your system.
The good news? You don’t have to go cold turkey on promotions. You just need to get strategic about how and when you use them:
> Target your discounts strategically: instead of broad promotional blasts, create targeted discount strategies based on user behavior and segments, such as win-back campaigns or bundle strategies
> Time-limited value adds: replace percentage discounts with time-limited bonus features or content access to create urgency without devaluing your core offering
> Consider a “price-last” approach like Le Monde: rather than doubling down on discounts, they developed multi-account subscriptions and fraud prevention technology, allowing them to offer family plans at higher price points.
TL;DR: The most successful publishers understand that sustainable growth comes from acquiring customers who value your content enough to pay full price for it.
> A brilliant piece by Multidots’ Suchit Patel, worth diving into and sharing with the team
The Guardian now has 1.3 million “recurring supporters”: what can you learn from their strategy?
The Guardian released their 2024/25 annual report, sharing that they now have 1.3 million “recurring supporters”, up 13% year on year
What’s the secret behind their success?
> A focus on supporter motivations, a critical building block for driving acquisition and creating a two-way dialogue with readers. These are largely global, product agnostic, and stable over time.
> Motivations are translated into impactful copy that is continuously tested and optimized, articulating the value exchange and asking for financial support but with low-barrier for entry
> Messaging and marketing campaigns lean into the news cycle, speak to current events, play around with tongue-in-cheek, and wins are always carried across. Failure has also taught them a lot too…
> Innovation and optimization in other areas, such as the article counter (a fitbit for news), integrating the payment flow into the ask and testing recurring revenue options over one-time donation
> The Guardian has been quick to understand the potential of international markets with higher propensity to support. 38% of revenue is now generated outside of the UK.
Seriously strong strategies paying off 👏 👏 👏
(The Guardian spoke at our 2024 Festival in London about developing their proposition, summary here)
What we’re reading this week
- IamExpat: Keeping users at the center when diversifying revenue
- The News Creators Report: A research study exploring the rise of News Creators, their approach to informing audiences and their financial sustainability.
- Doing User Needs right: The Bureau of Investigative Journalism share their secrets
- What if all media is marketing?
See you in 2 weeks for the next newsletter,
Madeleine
