At The Audiencers’ Festival in London this June 24th, Panos Sarlanis, Co-founder of IamExpat Media, invited by kind invitation by code.store, the media tech and low-code experts, shared their journey of empowering expats navigate every aspect of life in a new country. 

The secret? Understanding their audience’s needs, building revenue streams around this and continuously innovating to serve evolving needs. 

> IamExpat serves a million monthly users across the Netherlands, Germany and Switzerland, with revenue spread across four streams: advertising, classifieds, events and affiliates. No single one carries the business

> Products came from asking what readers needed rather than how to monetise content. Directories of trusted professionals, tax advisors, lawyers, English-speaking dentists, now contribute more than the job board or the housing platform

> The fairs have drawn over 40,000 visitors and 600 exhibitors since 2015, putting readers and advertisers in the same room. Direct contact turns out to be how new products get sold

> When Covid killed the fairs they moved to webinars as a stopgap. It became permanent, and pulled in advertisers who would never have bought online display

> Panos Sarlanis is candid about the fragility. Platform shifts, cookie deprecation, creators and AI are all live threats, which is the argument for spreading revenue rather than optimising one stream

From personal need to pioneering platform

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Founded in 1891, Irish News has long been considered the paper of record for Northern Ireland.

Today, the top selling regional daily newspaper in the UK and Ireland, it continues to lead the way in print whilst steadily investing in a digital-first future, grounded in editorial integrity and community connection.

I spoke with Paul Donnelly (CTO) and Annette McManus (CMO) about their transformation:
Rather than chasing headlines or quick wins, the team is focused on building long-term sustainability by aligning technology, editorial, and audience insight with strong foundations:

• Step 1: build solid tech stack foundations
• Step 2: Customer segmentation and prioritisation
• Step 3: Funnel optimisation, KPIs & next best action

> Irish News, the top-selling regional daily in the UK and Ireland, decided digital growth would not come at print's expense. A strong print business bought them time to test rather than panic

> The overlooked advantage of going digital was identification. Print readers are anonymous, online ones can be recognised, segmented and served differently

> Their sharpest finding is simple. When the homepage banner is absent, traffic to the subscription page is, in their CMO's words, "more or less gone"

> Segmentation started with interest rather than value. GAA fans and politics readers were treated as distinct groups, and the GAA campaigns produced clear registration and subscription lifts

> Since March the subscriber base is up over 15%, driven by a 109% rise in new orders against the previous six months. They are one year into a three-year plan, and churn is now appearing alongside growth

Protecting print while growing digital

From the outset, the Irish News team made a clear strategic choice: digital growth would not come at the expense of print. With print still playing a vital role in the community and business, this transformation has been about complementing, not replacing, the legacy product.

This strong print position has been a real advantage. Without immediate pressure to shift wholesale to digital, the team has had the breathing space to make thoughtful decisions, test ideas, and invest steadily in a model that will support Irish News in the long term. What’s more, the ability to recognise readers online, compared to anonymous print readers, would prove invaluable to their wider business strategy.

The process of digital transformation at Irish News:

Step 1: Build solid tech stack foundations. 

A digital transformation begins with infrastructure – integrating best-in-class technology including Poool’s dynamic paywall and registration tools, with a strong focus on actionable data.

While still early in their journey, the goal is a foundation that supports deeper audience understanding across the funnel (registration, engagement, conversion, retention), better targeting, and ongoing optimisation. But they’re the first to say the work is far from done.

“We’ve made real progress integrating the basics – tighter paywall metering, landing pages, but we know our data isn’t fully there yet. We’re putting the blocks in place.” – Paul

• CMS and subscription management: ArcXP
• Paywall, landing page, promotional modules, onboarding and cancellation: Poool
• Payments: Stripe
• Tech partners: code.store
• Mobile app: Pugpig
• Strategy partners (at various moments): FT Strategies & Atlas (a recurring revenues growth consultancy)

Step 2: Customer segmentation and prioritisation

The Irish News’s digital transformation began with a clear focus on identifying and prioritising audience segments. Rather than treating all readers the same, initial segmentation has focused on high-value groups such as frequent newsletter subscribers, engaged GAA (Gaelic Games) fans and Politics readers, registered users as well as lapsed subscribers.

These segments are beginning to shape decisions around the user journey, allowing them to tailor content, messaging, and offers to the needs and behaviours of each segment, ensuring that the most valuable and engaged groups are at the heart of the strategy.

Step 3: Funnel optimisation, KPIs & next best action

User journey mapping has been a major focus and is an evolving area.

The team is actively working to improve each stage of the funnel with clear KPIs: from anonymous visitor to engaged reader, subscriber, and retained customer. One of the strongest learnings so far is the power of simple changes like dynamic subscription prompts and homepage banners to drive results.

What’s already in play:

• Subscription promotion: Dynamic offers tied to editorial moments and brand consistency across channels.

• Metered registration model: A key driver of first-party data and user engagement.

• Landing page optimisation: Focus on benefit-led messaging, journalist credibility, and price framing.

• App engagement: Supporting retention by encouraging usage of the app among new registrants and subscribers.
• Structured onboarding: Both for registered users and new subscribers.

• Offboarding: Launching soon.

This funnel thinking is now shifting toward retention especially as Irish News sees churn emerge alongside subscriber growth. Building strong onboarding, engagement, and habit loops will be central to sustaining momentum.

“We’re working to get as much of Poool’s infrastructure on site as we can – including more dynamic elements, including walls and promotional messaging adapted to the content – as we’ve seen it works. For instance, when we don’t have the banner on the homepage, the traffic going through to the subscription page is more or less gone” – Annette 

An essential to every step: content marketing, editorial collaboration & brand consistency

The Irish News is in the early stages of developing a content strategy that sits above the daily editorial cycle designed to support both brand and subscriber growth.

The most notable success so far has been with GAA-focused campaigns, which have clearly driven registration and subscription lifts. These trials have proven the value of editorial-marketing collaboration, and future campaigns will aim to replicate that success across other core interest areas including politics and opinion.

Crucially, writers are now put front and centre in both content and marketing, helping to build trust and emotional connection with readers. 

Community remains central to The Irish News’ brand positioning.

The transformation has been about more than technology – it’s also been about being unmistakably clear on who they are and what the brand stands for. The recent rebrand was a pivotal moment in positioning Irish News for the future, ensuring that every reader touchpoint reflects the depth of its journalism, values, and connection to community.

This renewed clarity informs everything from content strategy to marketing messaging, ensuring consistency across channels while strengthening recognition and trust. As The Irish News grows its digital audience, using digital tools to create engagement opportunities, this brand clarity will be a key driver of both acquisition and retention connecting with readers not just on what we cover, but why it matters to them.

The results: steady, sustainable growth

The Irish News is now seeing consistent subscriber growth, with digital making up a growing share of total revenue. Since March, their total subscriber base has grown by over 15%. This has been driven in part by a 109% increase in new subscription orders compared to the previous six months.

“We’re making progress, but we’re still learning,” Annette explained. “Some months we hit our targets, other months we don’t and that’s okay at this stage. We’re learning quickly about what drives long-term relationships with readers and we know there’s work to do.”

The next phase will be focused on deepening engagement and improving the subscriber experience. That includes strengthening onboarding, supporting habit formation, and building a more deliberate content strategy to better serve subscribers and keep them engaged for the long term.

Step 4 & beyond: Transformation never stops! This is only the beginning…

For The Irish News, this is a thoughtful, steady transformation. They’re building a model rooted in editorial strength, audience insight, and a realistic understanding of the journey ahead.

There’s a long road still to go but the momentum is real, and the strategy is sound. Print remains strong. Digital is growing. And the foundations are being laid for a business that will endure well into its next century.

“We’re still at the start of our journey,” Paul said. “Phase one is a three-year plan, and we’re only a year in but digital is now firmly at the centre of how we think about the future of Irish News. It’s no longer an add-on; it’s shaping the way we build, test, and grow.” – Paul

For instance, a new Subscription Manager will own these projects going forward, ensuring that Irish News continues to test and optimise their strategy. One of the first projects will be to add more dynamic elements to increase conversion, particularly with the goal of expanding Irish News’ international subscriber base, those who can’t buy a physical paper.

“The great thing about Irish people is that we only seem to get more Irish when we’re abroad! It’s a huge potential market for us… We just want to make sure that we know what works with our audience here before taking all of that learning when we spread our wings a bit more!”  – Annette

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Alban Mazrekaj leads the Editorial Product Development team at NZZ, establishing a new way of  working that respects journalism while making it more audience-centric, going beyond traditional  journalistic performance metrics to align with broader business goals. 

With this kind of job description, how could we not want an interview to find out more!

“In product management, empathy for users is key. But in media, success starts with empathizing with  those who create the experience: journalists. Their work is the foundation upon which all product  experiences are built. Without understanding their needs and challenges, no product can truly  succeed.” 

> NZZ has built an Editorial Product Development team that sits beside the classic product team. Three editorially-minded people translate journalists' needs into product decisions rather than imposing product thinking on them

> Each of the three keeps a foot in the newsroom, spending two days a week in their original editorial role. One is a former newsletter editor, now the newsletter product manager

> The journalists who suit these roles aren't the ones who love the craft most. They are the ones already asking about target groups, business goals and internal processes

> Research found readers couldn't tell opinion pieces from news. The fix, showing the writer's face in the teaser, needed editorial buy-in, and it lands better from a colleague than from a product manager with post-its

> Because the team already knew the photo desk's workflows, defining requirements took half the time. Success is measured on completion rates, recirculation and engagement, treated as a leading indicator for churn

Tell us a little bit about you & your background 

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Journalist, Writer, Consultant and Professor specialized in Digital Media, Ismael Nafria Mitjans has published multiple books diving into the strategies of successful digital subscription media businesses, including Argentina's Clarín.

Speaking at The Audiencers' Festival London, in June 2024, Ismael shared 5 secrets behind the leading Spanish-speaking media subscription's success. If you speak Spanish, you can learn more about Clarín's strategy in Ismael's book, Clarín Actualizado. 

5 key elements to Clarín’s digital transformation success

1. Strategy
2. Registration & Subscription
3. Big Data team
4. Newsroom organization
5. Decisive notes

Plus Ismael shares their latest numbers and figures.

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Can you introduce the Les Coops de l’info group? 

Les Coops de l’info is a cooperative press group of six local publishers and one media for younger audiences.

Our local media serve six regions in Quebec and Eastern Ontario. The oldest of our media, Le Soleil, has been covering the greater Quebec City area since 1896, while our youth site, aimed at ages 8-12, Les As de l’info, has just celebrated its first anniversary. 

Kim, what’s your role in the group? What are your main challenges at the moment?

I’m the Digital Growth Coordinator. My main task over the last few months has been to train teams on how to use (and maximize value) of our new CMS and other tools that will enable us to achieve our goal of having 100% digital distribution by the end of this year. I also have the task of working with the entire Digital Growth team to acquire new subscribers. 

Historically, as a publication, we’re well anchored in print, so making the transition to digital has been a major challenge. In my day-to-day job, it’s the mindset change that’s the biggest challenge.

The post From the brink of bankruptcy to digital transformation: the impressive story of Les Coops de l’info appeared first on Audiencers.

190 years of family-owned business, with 6,400 employees working at over 140 subsidiaries across 19 countries and nearly 80% of EBITDA coming from digital… What can Ringier’s success in adapting to, and thriving in, the digital world tell others hoping to do the same?

Percentage of EBITDA from digital is an important KPI for Patrick Rademacher and the Ringier group, who use this metric to measure how they’re succeeding in the digital transformation of their portfolio.

Having gone from a printing plant and newspaper 190 years ago to starting their digital transformation around 15 years ago, their goal is to be equipped for not only surviving but thriving in the digital future of publishing.

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