© Illustration by Aurélie Garnier
“You’re part of this community – it’s more than just a subscription and we need your help. We don’t know everything and there are experts amongst you. Be a part of Daily Maverick, share your expertise.”
This is the idea that came into the Daily Maverick team’s head in 2019. One that led to a huge internal database of contactable ‘Insiders’ (Daily Maverick members) who are experts in every industry and discipline possible.
I spoke to Francesca Beighton, Head of Growth and Julia Harris, Head of Reader Revenue, to hear more about this unique strategy.
Key takeaways to copy & share
> Daily Maverick asks members for their profession and expertise through a three-step survey inside the onboarding emails, building a searchable database of contactable experts it calls their superpowers > The framing did the work. Questions were put as a benefit to the member, a chance to contribute to the journalism or join a panel, rather than as data collection > The database holds doctors, economists, professors, game farm owners. Government advisers on the Covid vaccine trials became an Ask the Experts webinar that drew 2,500 members during lockdown > Their own regret is not selling it hard enough internally. Editorial gains the most from a room full of reachable experts, and editorial was the team least aware it existed > The Times runs the same idea as call-outs, asking readers how they beat a diagnosis or why they were running the marathon. Reader-led pieces humanise the journalism and feed the comments
