This report captures a market full of promise but constrained by fragmentation. It paints a picture of an industry with surging audience demand, growing ad spend, and accelerating experimentation, but also one struggling to speak a common language. Publishers must respond to the need to more clearly define and align terms, metrics, and more for podcasting to realize its full potential.  

The leaders find clarity amid fragmentation 

Oxford Road describes podcasting today as “a new kind of chaos.” Definitions are blurred, ownership within marketing teams overlaps, and measurement standards vary by platform. Even basic questions, what qualifies as a podcast, or how to count impressions, remain unresolved. 

Despite this, leading publishers are finding stability through consistency and alignment. The report highlights the tension between open RSS distribution and platform-specific shows, noting that this confusion hinders advertiser confidence. Those offering clear definitions and uniform reporting stand out as trusted partners. 

Podcast ad spending in the U.S. is expected to reach $2.55 billion in 2025, up 47% since 2022. But “inconsistent ROI frameworks” still slow advertiser confidence. Organizations that define podcasting clearly, both internally and externally, maintain steadier revenue and stronger brand trust. Clarity is becoming a competitive advantage. 

Video drives discovery and reach 

Audio remains the medium’s core, but video is transforming how audiences discover and consume shows. Oxford Road cites Edison Research data, which shows that YouTube now accounts for 25% of all U.S. podcast listening, making it the single largest platform by reach. 

Oxford Road calls this “video-led listening,” where video extends reach and awareness even when audiences ultimately engage through audio. Video boosts discoverability and monetization but complicates measurement. Pixel tracking is unavailable on YouTube, and attribution remains inconsistent across platforms. 

The most successful publishers integrate video strategically, using it to complement, not replace, the intimacy, credibility, and depth of spoken-word audio. 

Measurement-minded publishers attract investment 

Measurement remains podcasting’s biggest obstacle. Oxford Road’s What Brands Want 2025 survey found that nearly half of marketers cite limited performance data as their top barrier to investment. More than three-quarters said they would increase spending if YouTube offered measurement comparable to pixel-based attribution. This lack of consistent insight continues to hold back growth in podcast investment. Even more striking, 76% say they would increase investment if YouTube podcasts offered measurement comparable to pixel-based digital attribution. 

The report details the industry’s current “metric mayhem.” Advertisers juggle promo codes, vanity URLs, and clean-room data that rarely align. The result is wasted time, conflicting results, and suppressed investment in what remains a high-potential medium. 

In response, Oxford Road is convening an Alliance for Measurement in Podcasting (AMP) task force. The group includes leading brands, platforms, and agencies working to standardize performance attribution and audience measurement. The report suggests that those engaged in this type of collaboration are laying the groundwork for scalable and repeatable growth. Clearly, alignment on metrics equals acceleration in investment. 

Credibility drives podcast performance 

Oxford Road calls 2024 “The Podcast Election,” pointing to the moment when the medium transitioned from a niche format to a major force in shaping public opinion. During the campaign cycle, candidates and advocacy groups leaned into long-form, host-led, trust-based media to reach audiences that traditional advertising struggled to engage. 

That shift highlights podcasting’s central strength: credibility. Listeners see hosts as trusted sources, and the relationships they form translate directly into advertising effectiveness. The report notes that this trust-based environment is attracting new categories of advertisers and more direct response spending. 

The broader takeaway is that influence and authenticity define podcasting’s commercial value. Publishers and creators who understand the emotional connection between host and audience are better equipped to maintain brand-safe environments and drive measurable outcomes. Credibility is a key differentiator. 

Definition and alignment unlock scale 

Oxford Road’s call to action for the industry is clear: define, align, and scale. The agency urges consensus around a shared definition of a podcast as “an audio-driven, on-demand program rooted in the spoken word, typically episodic, conversational, and distributed via open RSS or other platforms, often supplemented by video.” This definition bridges the gap between the medium’s origins and its evolution toward multimedia formats. It creates space for innovation while preserving the integrity of audio-first storytelling. 

Once definitions are established, alignment on measurement and performance can follow. Oxford Road believes that this clarity will unlock a “wildly undervalued channel,” positioning audio as an efficient and trusted form of digital engagement. 

Podcasting continues to grow. But its next phase depends on shared standards for definition, data, and performance. The momentum is real, but so are the constraints. Only through collective clarity can podcasting realize its full commercial and cultural value. 

The post Podcasting’s next stage of growth begins with clarity appeared first on Digital Content Next.

But, unlike a number of other legacy social networks, the platform continues to go from strength to strength. Back in 2022, I argued on these pages that media companies need a dedicated YouTube strategy, a sentiment that remains equally relevant three years on. 

Here are six reasons why many media companies need to reconsider the value they attach to YouTube, and six proven tactics to help maximize their impact and approach to the platform.

YouTube enjoys huge reach and engagement 

According to the Business of Apps website, YouTube has more than 2.7 billion monthly active users. Over 238 million of these users are in the U.S., the StatsUp site notes. In terms of reach, that makes it either the biggest, or second largest, social network in the world, depending on your source. Either way, it’s a huge audience.

Lastly, engagement dwarves other social networks. “YouTube takes the lion’s share of … social media time,” comments Simon Kemp, the Chief Analyst at DataReportal. “The world spends almost twice as much time using YouTube as it spends using the platform’s next nearest rival, TikTok.” 

Despite this, many publishers continue to treat YouTube as an afterthought compared to shinier, newer, visual-oriented platforms like the aforementioned TikTok or Instagram. 

Esra Dogramaci, a digital news executive and YouTube specialist, who has worked for international broadcasters including Al Jazeera, BBC, DW, and others, agrees. “News organizations [and] publishers should have always been paying attention to YouTube,” she told me. “We often forget that YouTube is the second biggest search engine, and [the] world’s largest video platform.”

It’s a core platform for reaching Gen Z and Gen Alpha

Efforts to more effectively engage younger audiences is a key goal for many media companies. It’s no surprise that YouTube can be a pivotal plank in these strategies. Afterall, as Rande Price, VP, Research at Digital Content Next, recently reflected, “prioritizing video formats that are concise, authentic, and visually native to social platforms is essential to reaching Gen Z.”  

Data published at the end of last year found that more than seven in 10 Gen Z consumers (71%) discover new media content (such as music, podcasts, and TV series) through YouTube, only just behind social media as a whole (72%).

Moreover, 73% of U.S. teens aged 13-17 (a mix of Generation Z and Generation Alpha, a demographic born after 2010) say they use YouTube every day. According to insights from the Pew Research Center, that means YouTube is “the most widely used and visited platform” among this age group. That includes 15% who said that their use of the platform is “almost constant.”

Short-form video is growing in popularity 

There are multiple ways to harness YouTube to attract younger audiences. As Price points out, “tone, pace, and relevance” are intrinsic to this. Those sentiments are applicable to all content on the platform, including YouTube Shorts, an area seeing considerable growth. Last month, Neal Mohan, YouTube’s CEO, revealed that “YouTube Shorts are now averaging over 200 billion daily views!” 

That audience isn’t just Gen Z, although they are a significant share of Shorts consumers. 

Publisher’s short video strategies therefore should encompass YouTube, as well as TikTok, and Reels on Facebook and Instagram. These formats can also encourage consumption of long-form video, as well as acting as their own, standalone, genre.

“YouTube Shorts is… the ‘take away’ version prior to the ‘dine in’ experience,” contends Dogramaci. She argues that Shorts can serve as a gateway to your main channel especially if it is fully optimized. (For tips on how to do this, read to the end of the article!) 

“It appeals to younger audiences with short-form content,” she says, “provided that you’ve done all the housekeeping in terms of channel and video optimization.”

YouTube is becoming a podcasting behemoth 

YouTube now has 1 billion monthly active podcast users worldwide. That’s more users than Spotify, Variety says. 

According to Edison, YouTube is the most popular service for listening to podcasts in the United States, ahead of Spotify and Apple. So, if content creators aren’t distributing their podcasts on YouTube, they are potentially missing out.

Furthermore, “YouTube is often the first place people go when looking for a new podcast,” the platform’s blog claimed earlier this year. To aid with this discovery, in May, the company began releasing a weekly chart of YouTube’s Top 100 podcast shows in the U.S.

And as the differentiation between video and audio content continues to blur, Gen Z is driving much of this trend, Edison found. Their research stated that this age group feels that “video provides a better understanding of context/tone through facial expressions and gestures,” and it also enables consumers to feel “more connected to the podcaster(s).”

It’s big on screens of all sizes 

Although the smaller screen garners a considerable amount of YouTube consumption, the growth of connected TV’s (CTV) has also been pivotal in YouTube’s continued growth. 

In the U.S., YouTube is now watched on TV screens by more people than on mobile. Or, as the company put it at the end of last year, “YouTube is the new television.”

That said, the platform is at pains to point out that this isn’t the same as “the ‘old’ television,” pointing to Shorts (which are popular on TV, just ask my kids), live streams, podcasts, sports, and full shows, as part of the platform’s content mix. 

Emphasizing its popularity, data from Nielsen shows that 11.6% of all TV viewing time in the United States is to YouTube.  That’s ahead of viewing time from the likes of Disney, Fox, and Netflix. 

Given these findings, in an age of investment in FAST channels (Free Ad-Supported Streaming Television) it’s a reminder that brands and media companies still need to factor YouTube into their video strategies. Its TV audience is simply too big to ignore. 

YouTube matters to news consumers 

The variety of content on YouTube, and its reputation as a source for entertainment, influencers, and User Generated Content (UGC) can mask its popularity as a platform for news and information. New data from the Digital News Report 2025 emphasizes this. Around a third of their global sample uses YouTube (30%) for news each week, just behind Facebook (36%). Given that weekly usage of YouTube for any purpose stood at 63% this is a high percentage of global digital news consumers using the platform for news. 

In major markets such as India, the use of YouTube for news stands at more than 50%, an important consideration for international news brands seeking to gain a foothold in the world’s most populous nation. Large news audiences on the platform can also be found in other major emerging markets such as Nigeria, South Korea, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Brazil.

Making inroads into these markets won’t necessarily be easy for traditional media brands, however, as much of the consumption is centered around what the Report authors refer to as “alternative media voices.” This category includes online influencers and personalities, independent journalists, as well as politicians who can go direct to audiences, by-passing traditional media gatekeepers. 

Nevertheless, given concerns about misinformation on YouTube – and other social networks – there are opportunities for trusted news and media brands to meet user needs for news and information. And they are in a position to do so in a manner that also offers the credibility that audiences desire.

Conclusion

YouTube’s reach, variety of content offerings, and resonance with younger and news audiences mean that it is an essential distribution platform for publishers in 2025. Of course, it’s not without its challenges. Around 70% of content is algorithmically recommended, meaning that YouTube’s recommendation engine can divert viewers away from publisher channels to other creators. It can also be very difficult to drive traffic from the site back to your own properties. 

Yet, YouTube’s size, versatility, and reach – especially with Gen Z and teens – make it hard to overlook. Whether your goal is audience growth, revenue diversification, or brand-building, a dedicated YouTube strategy will be a must for many content creators. Publishers who invest in understanding and leveraging YouTube’s evolving ecosystem will be best positioned to thrive in the digital content landscape; and the pivotal role YouTube plays in this space. 

The post Yes, YouTube is the future of publishing: here’s why appeared first on Digital Content Next.

Here are some impressive experiments and innovations in the podcast space:

AI translations

UK news publisher The Telegraph has been producing a podcast called Ukraine: The Latest daily since the start of the war. It has been downloaded over 100 million times since 2022, with episodes exploring military strategy, history, weaponry, economics, and more. 

In February, to coincide with the third anniversary of the war in Ukraine, The Telegraph launched translated versions of the podcast in Ukrainian and Russian. This was made possible using an AI-powered voice cloning and translation model. This creates a “digital likeness” of the presenters, closely mimicking the rhythm and nuance of their voices.

“To be clear, this is AI helping to present our journalism, not produce it,” said Associate Editor and presenter Dominic Nicholls in an introductory video demonstrating the technology. The translations help reach those with restricted access to news on the war, as well as expats around the world.

The AI model was adapted by The Telegraph team in-house, before being refined by a native Ukrainian speaker fluent in Russian and English. The Telegraph emphasises that all episodes will be checked to ensure translation accuracy, as well as fine-tune speed and pacing.

Although there have been experiments with AI hosts and translation, this is the first example of a media company deploying it on this scale. For a daily podcast, especially one where the information need is so critical, this is a worthwhile investment that will help it reach the people it needs to.

High quality AI translations like this will be beyond the budgets of many publishers. But as the translational tools improve and become more accessible, using AI translation to reach new audiences is worth considering. Editorial oversight, however, is vital to maintain trust and quality.

Bundled podcast subscriptions

Publishers have been experimenting with paid podcasts for some time now, as paywalling technology has improved. From The Economist putting almost all its podcasts behind a paywall, to The Local offering premium versions of its free weekly podcast for members, there are many variations of paid audio strategies.

One that stood out was the DMG Media’s launch of The Crime Desk. The publisher had seen success with true crime podcasts like The Trial of Lucy Letby. Now, it has brought all podcasts under ‘The Trial’ brand into one subscription bundle.

The Crime Desk offers subscribers ad-free bonus episodes on global trial cases. It also includes access to the archive of more than 200 episodes covering everything from the Holly Willoughby kidnap plot to the Diddy trial. Subscribers will also get new series released in their entirety. However, free listeners will only be able to access one episode a week. The launch offer is £1.99 a month, or £19.99 annually.

“There will always be a free trial to air – we’ve got to have a shop window. It’s arguably a public service as well,” the Daily Mail’s head of podcasts Jamie East told Press Gazette. A soft launch phase “had seen subscriptions well into the thousands, and at a similar conversion rate to the podcast industry standard of 5%.”

Building a paid bundle around groups of podcast topics is viable for publishers that produce a wide range of podcasts or with strengths in specific subject areas.  However, East noted that although they’ve had success elsewhere, that doesn’t necessarily mean a paywall is viable. “You can only really launch a subscription model around a hit. There’s no point otherwise,” he told Press Gazette. “It needs to be pretty bedded in before you can do it, or achieve such huge scale that it’s a no-brainer. We’ve not quite reached that with any of the other verticals.”

Reusing popular print content

One unusual podcast launched last year is Your History, from The Times. The newspaper has published daily obituaries for over a century, many of famous people. The team realized that there was an opportunity to highlight some of the Times’ best writing, which happens here, as well as capitalize on audience curiosity in historical figures.

The twice-weekly podcast brings out”‘remarkable tales of lives well lived,” from musicians to politicians, scientists, and sporting legends across episodes averaging 10-15 minutes. Anna Temkin, deputy obituaries editor, presents the podcast.

This is an excellent example of taking existing content and transforming it into another medium. The obituaries pages of newspapers contain a wealth of fascinating life stories, especially when someone well-known dies. By simply reading out the obituary – a low tech and low cost solution – The Times makes this content accessible and relevant to a new audience who aren’t necessarily newspaper subscribers.

Podcasting has room for innovation

Reader revenue is an important strand for each of these publications. The Telegraph and The Times both have hard paywalls, and use podcasts as a top-of-funnel strategy to introduce listeners to their journalism. In these cases, applying strategies that help widen listenership through translation or opening up paywalled content is key.

Although the Daily Mail has some paywalled content, the majority is accessible to read for free. This allows the podcasts to build up a large audience.In this case, The Daily Mail has created a paid bundle around popular shows to monetize a smaller but more dedicated fan base.

The extent to which other publishers can use these tactics will depend on where podcasts sit strategically. If they’re a “shop window” to showcase journalism, it is worth exploring options to leverage podcasts to expand audiences. However, podcasts also have great power as a retention tool superserving a publisher’s most loyal readers. With continued experimentation and innovation, podcasts offer the potential to grow audiences and support, or even build, direct revenue. That’s not hype; that’s just smart strategy. 

The post 3 podcast innovations that build audience and revenue appeared first on Digital Content Next.

Warren Cohen, Vice-President and Head of Video and Audio at New York Post Digital Network, jokes that despite the age of the publication, his team is the “youngest video department” in the country. This underscores how relatively-new the brand’s cross-platform approach is. (Cohen has had his role for just under a decade.) Yet, The Post’s multi-platform strategy is a mature one that seeks to maximize the various tools at the team’s disposal.

A video strategy means YouTube (and more)

Central to any brand’s video approach is, of course, YouTube, where The Post has 1.86 million subscribers. Its content focuses on news, entertainment and sports and the channel features both timely clips and original series. There is plenty of video at NYPost.com too. However, Cohen explains that “we want to offer our audience things that they can’t get anywhere else on site.” He adds that the brand also wants “engagement throughout our owned and operated platforms, our open web product, our mobile app.”

This neatly sums up how Cohen and his team are doing things. Respecting the platforms they use is central to the strategy. Not everything is intended to be part of a funnel leading people to the outlet’s website or the print product. While doing so would be possible in an ideal world, Cohen is realistic. “I just don’t think that’s user behavior,” he says.

Cohen also notes that the audience on places like YouTube “tends to, in general, be younger. They also “spend most of their lives in the social networks and not necessarily websites.” This all means “we are trying to tweak the way we approach the off-platform audience” The takeaway is that trials and testing is crucial.

Beyond YouTube, The New York Post has built up a significant presence on the video-based social platforms. It has 2.2 million followers on TikTok and 1.6 million on Instagram. The Post also has a separate NY Post Sports Instagram account with over 41,000 followers. Cohen believes that “social really excels with short duration views… It’s the joke, the quick hit, the reaction.” Meanwhile, he observes that YouTube videos are increasing in length.

Cross-platform monetization strategy

As the video work is not primarily a funnel to subscriptions, it has to be monetized separately. This is done through a mix of programmatic advertising and sponsorships. For instance, a tri-state Cadillac dealership sponsors “24 Hours”, as series the publication makes with reality stars. Cohen is looking to develop more such deals in the future.

The determination to fully cash-in on IP goes beyond sponsorship. Cohen reveals that “we’ve had a good upsell to kind of the television and broadcast markets, and that’s always been really organic.”

He has a word of warning for others in the industry: “I think a lot of rivals might have been overly invested in studio and development operations.” While The Post wants to use the best technology and infrastructure it can, and its infamous Page Six column launched a video studio in January 2024 “we really try to let the content speak for itself, and then see where can use it to adapt.”

He also says that others “have added a lot of staff and infrastructure, hoping for big payoff.” In part he notes that this is impart because of consolidation the TV markets, and because “selling the networks is not as lucrative as it once was.”

Success stories from The Post’s approach include “Bronx Zoo ‘90”, a show about the 1990 New York Yankees which was turned from a newspaper series into a TV series by Peacock. There is also “Smothered”, a digital video series that was upsold to TLC and ran for several years. Of the strategy, Cohen says, “we’re really trying to leverage and ‘video-ify’ the best of the newsroom.”

Despite being a New York institution, The Post has been sure to have connections in Los Angeles. Troy Searer, president of New York Post Entertainment, serves as the company’s ambassador to Tinseltown and Cohen works closely with him “to make sure that no IP is left behind”.

An adaptable audio strategy

On the audio side, The Post’s podcast strategy is to offer deeper context for its audience.  “They’re the number one product for engagement,” says Cohen. Sports is a particularly important player in the company’s podcasting roster. It has separate shows for almost every New York-based team. Turns out, Giants fans don’t want to listen to podcasts that are discussing the Jets, or, as Cohen puts it: “It would be hard to have a football podcast overseas and have it feature Manchester United and Manchester City, right?”. Quite so!

“Podcasting is a giant area for us to … use our expertise in a different way,” he adds.

There is more to come on the podcasting front. The New York Post has struck a deal with Red Seat Ventures, an independent podcast production firm that was bought by Fox, to develop a flagship podcast. Cohen describes the creation of such a show as “long overdue.”

He and his team try and maximize the value they get from every piece of podcast content. “We get a lot of breakout clips,” from a 30 to 45-minute podcast, reveals Cohen. “We get a lot of moments.” He says that The New York Post wants to “micro chunk the content in a way that the audience can consume it however they want.”

Don’t fear cannibalization

The big worry many publishers have when they start making content on platforms outside of their own website is cannibalization. While they might be helping YouTube get an audience, they may not necessarily be doing so for their own outlet. This is not a concern for Cohen. “We don’t see any cannibalization of audience” he says. “We see audience that we might not have otherwise reached.”

During the recent New York Knicks NBA playoff game against the Detroit Pistons, The Post held a watch party from which it shared clips. “We’re creating content that we do distribute through all our platforms,” says Cohen.

Ultimately, Cohen says that the work he and his team is doing is “a meaningful contributor [to] revenues for the company at this point.” It shows that investing in a dedicated multi-format approach that adapts each piece of content specifically for the it is on can pay off.

The post The New York Post’s multi-platform publishing strategy appeared first on Digital Content Next.

Second only to comedy, news podcasts are a dominant podcasting genre. A new report from Sounds Profitable, in partnership with Signal Hill Insights, finds that 31% of podcast listeners consumed news content in the past month. The findings underscore a significant shift in how Americans engage with news, moving away from traditional TV broadcasts and toward more personalized, on-demand listening experiences.

News podcast consumer demographics

The average age of a news podcast consumer is 47, closely mirroring the overall U.S. adult population. This starkly contrasts television news audiences, where the average age skews significantly older—70 for MSNBC, 69 for Fox News, and 67 for CNN. This demographic shift highlights how younger audiences gravitate toward podcasts as a preferred medium for staying informed. Balancing short-form daily news updates with longer-form analytical discussions allows podcast listeners to integrate news consumption seamlessly into their routines.

The social influence factor

One of the study’s more interesting findings is the role of social influence in driving news podcast discovery and engagement. News podcast listeners exhibit significantly higher levels of social sharing and recommendations compared to their non-news counterparts:

• 73% receive podcast recommendations from friends and family, compared to 51% of non-news listeners.
• 73% actively recommend podcasts to others, versus 49% of non-news listeners.
• 83% say they are likely to listen to a podcast recommended by someone they know.

This word-of-mouth dynamic plays a crucial role in podcast adoption, highlighting the importance of personal connections in shaping media consumption habits. While platforms and algorithms contribute to discovery, personal recommendations remain the most powerful driver of engagement.

Additionally, news podcast listeners are more likely to consume content with others. Unlike other podcast genres that often cater to solo listening, news podcasts frequently become a shared experience. Group listening fosters discussions and deeper engagement with the content, whether in the car during a commute or as part of a morning routine. The study reveals that 88% of news podcast consumers who listen with others cite “listening while traveling” as a major benefit, compared to 66% of podcast listeners.

Advertising challenge and opportunity for news podcasts

Despite their high engagement levels, news podcast listeners are not immune to advertising fatigue. The study reveals that:

• 21% have stopped listening to a podcast due to excessive ads.
• 14% cite repetitive content as a reason for abandoning shows.

This finding challenges the assumption that strong host-listener relationships can completely counteract fatigue. Even among engaged audiences, there is a threshold for how much advertising they are willing to tolerate.

However, the research also uncovers a compelling opportunity for brands. News podcast listeners are more receptive to brand-sponsored content than the general podcast audience:

• 61% say they are likely to listen to a brand-sponsored podcast.
• 46% indicate that a company’s involvement makes them more likely to try a new podcast than 34% of non-news listeners.

Brands can forge meaningful connections with news podcast audiences by positioning themselves as content partners rather than just advertisers. By integrating seamlessly into the content, brands can enhance rather than disrupt the listener experience.

Podcasts and the future of news consumption

The traditional model of news consumption—gathering around the television at a fixed time—has largely faded. Instead, audiences curate their news experiences through digital and on-demand platforms. While social media and news websites play an important role in this transition, podcasts offer a unique advantage: deeper engagement and trust.

Unlike passive scrolling through headlines, listening to a news podcast requires intentional engagement. The hosts of these podcasts often become trusted voices, forming strong bonds with their audience. This level of trust is a significant draw, positioning news podcasts as a vital part of modern news consumption. However, the challenge lies in maintaining audience engagement without alienating listeners through excessive advertising.

The findings from this report offer a compelling look at the evolving media landscape. News podcasts attract a younger and more engaged audience and reshape how people discover, consume, and share news. The influence of social recommendations and the potential for shared listening experiences emphasize the unique role of news podcasts in today’s information ecosystem. Additionally, the nuanced relationship between advertising and engagement further solidifies their distinct position.

The post News podcasts are wildly popular. But who’s listening? appeared first on Digital Content Next.

Given these financial realities, revenue diversification is essential. Fortunately, there are many ideas out there to learn from. Here are five alternative – and well-established – revenue sources that are poised to become more prominent, and important, for publishers in the year ahead. 

1.  Artificial Intelligence (AI) licensing opportunities

As Generative AI continues to gain traction, many media companies are signing licensing agreements with the companies behind these technologies. 

There are pros and cons to this, with several publishers currently litigating against their content being used by these platforms. However, for some media companies, AI licensing agreements offer an alluring mix of copyright protection and monetization opportunities.

Examples that we have seen in the past year include: 

• Hearst’s partnership with ChatGPT which promises “appropriate citations and direct links.” 

• UK-based publishers including the Financial Times, Guardian Media Group and Sky News, signing a strategic partnership ProRata.ai. DMG Media, home of The Daily Mail, has also taken an equity stake in the company.

• Reuters, Axel Springer and the USA TODAY Network are featured content partners for a voice delivered summary of the news and weather that is built into Microsoft’s Co-Pilot product.

• Reuters also agreed a multi-year deal with Meta, supplying content for queries asked about the news in Meta’s AI chatbot. 

However, not all publishers are ceding the AI opportunity to tech companies, which could offer licensing revenue closer to home. One major publisher, Dow Jones, recently signed up nearly 4,000 news publishers for Factiva Smart Summary, a new Generative AI feature in its business intelligence platform. These licensing agreements span more than 160 countries and 29 different languages. Partners include The Associated Press, Swiss News Agency AWP Finanznachrichten AG, News Corp Australia, and The Washington Post. 

As Generative AI continues to expand, expect more of these partnerships and products in 2025. 

2. Live events and experiences 

Pre-pandemic, live events offered a major source of revenue optimism for publishers. Post-COVID, this has morphed into a mix of in-person, online, and hybrid models. To draw sponsors and sell tickets, events work best when aligned with your brand and the content you are known for, an approach that a growing number of media outlets are leaning into.

Forbes has capitalized on its 30 Under 30 list by wrapping a live multi-day event around it. Their 2025 program includes a private concert, networking opportunities, industry-focused excursions, as well as sessions with speakers. 

Condé Nast leveraged one of its best known brands to launch Vogue World in 2022, which are going strong. Hosted in global fashion capitals like New York and Paris, these annual one-day events are also live streamed. Hollywood is the location for their 2025 event. The company is also hosting an immersive exhibition in London, narrated by Cate Blanchett, which explores the history of the modern runway show.  

The Innovation Consulting Group notes that some publishers derive up to 20% of their income from events. Events, they observe, can “help hike circulation, attract advertisers who might not advertise in the magazine’s media,” as well as “give magazines “face time” with their subscribers and potential subscribers.” 

Given these strategic and financial benefits, we can expect more publishers to explore the burgeoning events market in the year ahead.

3. Podcasting revenue innovation

Podcasts have been a bright spot for many publishers for a while, with many doubling down on the medium despite wider financial challenges. For the biggest shows and brands this can be a particularly profitable space. 

Continued optimism for this medium means that some publishers are looking to expand their podcasting portfolio and innovate on the ways they monetize. 

The New York Times, which recently paywalled their podcasting archive, launched a podcast for Wirecutter, its product recommendation vertical. The move, eight years after they acquired Wirecutter, demonstrates how they are still seeking to expand and monetize this brand, and that the see audio as a key means to do achieve that goal. This follows The Economist’s premium podcast push, in which it leverages podcasts as a critical component of its successful subscription-based revenue model. 

Meanwhile, the merging of events and podcasts is growing in prominence and revenue potential. Fans can connect with hosts and each other, deepening loyalty to brands and shows. All the while, podcasts offer media companies multiple monetization opportunities that go beyond advertising and subscriptions. 

This summer, The Ringer hosted a residency for six of their podcasts at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles. “As an audience engagement tool it takes fandom to a different level,” says Geoff Chow, Head of Podcast Studios & Managing Director for The Ringer.

The Wall Street Journal’s recent dive into “The Rest Is History” podcast revealed that its hosts were netting nearly $100,000 a month, through a combination of their podcast, monetizing clips on YouTube and live events. “History professors struggle to get students excited about the past,” the Journal wrote. “Yet at a recent live show in London, Holland and Sandbrook drew a raucous Gen Z audience with a rock-concert vibe.” 

Wondery  is similarly looking to create live tours for some of the most popular podcasts. With more than 200 active shows, over a quarter of which hit No. 1 on Apple Podcasts, they have a potentially large paying audience to tap into. Participants in their membership plan, Wondery+, get early access to these live events, a membership benefit deployed by Slate and others. 

As podcasts continue to evolve, these types of live events and tie-ins with wider memberships programs, will only become increasingly intertwined.

4. E-commerce and affiliate partnerships

With e-commerce now worth nearly $1.2 trillion in the USA alone this year, this is too big a market for media companies to ignore. In response, media entities are progressively integrating e-commerce into their platforms, selling merchandise and other products directly to consumers. 

The Daily Wire generated over $22 million from commerce in 2023. nearly 10% of its revenues. Axios reports that much of this derived from its Jeremy’s Razors products, which produced $19 million in sales. Their merchandise store made up most of The Daily Wire’s remaining commerce income.

Recommendation sites are another area of e-commerce that media players continue to explore. The Associated Press partnered with Taboola in March to launch AP Buyline, offering how-to guides and reviews in areas such as fashion, beauty and wellness, tech, pets and Black Friday deals. 

This launch came against a backdrop whereby some of AP’s core business is being squeezed. Local publishers Gannett and McClatchy ended their long-standing partnerships with AP,  due to a desire to cut costs and invest elsewhere. As the AP themselves note, fees from U.S. newspapers were at one point responsible for “virtually all of its revenue.” However,  diversification means “U.S. newspaper fees now constitute just over 10% of its annual income.”

Across the pond, The Independent, a UK newspaper, reported a 26% increase in revenue from e-commerce in the past year. Although review sections have potentially been impacted by recent changes to Google’s site reputation abuse policies, some publishers are growing their e-commerce revenues, despite inflationary pressures and a cost-of-living crisis. 

Such initiatives highlight how publishers can leverage their editorial authority to benefit from reader’s purchasing decisions. Effectively creating affiliate partnerships can assist audiences and a publishers’ bottom line.

5. The games people play

The last piece of our revenue puzzle for 2025 sees publishers continuing to invest in games. 

As twipe explains, games “engage readers differently than traditional news content.” “They provide a mental break, foster daily engagement, and satisfy psychological cravings… forming daily habits crucial for subscriber retention.” 

Subsequently, games can be a valuable plank in helping to drive loyalty. Jonathan Knight, head of games at The New York Times, says that “when we see subscribers engage with both games and news in any given week, we’re seeing some of the best long-term subscriber retention from that pattern.” Subsequently, the Gray Lady has expanded their portfolio of games. They’ve also made games more prominent on their app, encouraging audiences to “come for the games, stay for the news.” 

In that vein, French outlet Ouest-France publishes a game called “mystery photo of the day”. Readers must match the photo with the article in which it featured.  “It’s a way to get them to discover our articles,” says Emmanuel Chevalier, head of Ouest-France’s  digital acquisition department. Meanwhile, Hearst’s acquisition last year of Puzzmo is another example of a publisher flexing their financial muscles to expand their games offering. 

Games can offer an escape from an often bleak news agenda, providing a means for audiences to come back every day, and thereby create a deeper connection between readers and publishers. Because of this, games are poised to play an even more critical role in engagement in revenue strategies in 2025 and beyond.

Looking ahead at the importance of revenue diversification

From AI licensing to live events, e-commerce, podcasts, and games, publishers are actively diversifying their income strategies in response to shifts in markets and consumer needs. While advertising and subscriptions remain critical components of the media revenue landscape, media companies continue to experiment and innovate to leverage their brand strengths to create other revenue streams. 

Through these efforts, publishers are finding new ways to connect with audiences and drive revenues. In doing this, they are also trying to lay long-term foundations, with several of these strands focused on fostering loyalty, deepening engagement, and connecting with audiences in innovative ways.

As we head into 2025, the challenge will be scaling these initiatives in an increasingly competitive landscape. When many publisher peers are doing similar things, distinctiveness, brand value and relationships, as well as pricing points, will be paramount. 

At the same time, given the need to reduce reliance on traditional revenue models, diversification remains more important than ever. Doing this successfully requires flexibility, creativity, and a willingness to experiment. 

If this is executed well, like some of the examples that we have seen here, then innovative strategies to create income offer more than just means for survival. After all, revenue diversification offers perhaps the only pathway to long-term growth and resilience in an ever-evolving media ecosystem. As such, the need to explore some of the types of ideas outlined in this article, and to actively move away from a reliance on advertising and subscriptions, is non-negotiable.

The post Beyond subscriptions and advertising: 5 proven revenue tactics to try appeared first on Digital Content Next.

That’s left some publishers and podcast production houses scrambling to figure out a video strategy to complement their audio-only offerings. But there’s at least one player in the game that seems well prepared for the platform shift: Crooked Media. 

The company, which is focused on news, politics, and liberal-leaning commentary and analysis, currently boasts more than 40 podcasts in its portfolio. And video is a big part of Crooked Media’s strategy — but they’re not just playing on YouTube. The company is also pushing video content on TikTok, Instagram, and X (formerly known as Twitter). And even better? Crooked Media is generating revenue along the way.

The YouTube video-podcasting strategy

“We ​​started putting streams of Pod Save America on YouTube in early 2018,” says Matt DeGroot, the company’s vice president of production. 

These days, every audio-only episode of an ongoing and regularly published Crooked podcast also has a video component, which is uploaded to YouTube. For Crooked, the foray into video has been part of a deliberate plan to grow its audience.

“Really the biggest impetus there and why we’ve pushed so hard is that people who consume podcasts on a traditional platform like Spotify or Apple Podcasts, tend to go to those platforms knowing exactly what they’re looking for. So, there isn’t a ton of discoverability,” DeGroot says. 

“Everyone uses YouTube, and YouTube — for better or for worse — knows what people want to see. YouTube will find our shows and basically serve it up to people,” he says. “And people on YouTube might be a little more curious and willing to take a chance on new content.”

Over time, Crooked has built a significant audience that is unique to the platform. It has 10 channels and playlists that are updated regularly, and the company currently claims more than 1.2 million YouTube subscribers. 

When a big news event happens, Crooked can leverage its political commentary and analysis from a show like Pod Save America and tap into an audience who may already be searching YouTube for information. “If there’s a big story happening and Pod Save America is doing an episode, reacting to it or explaining the context, that’s a great opportunity for someone new to sort of stumble upon it,” DeGroot says.

For example, earlier this month, the company posted a segment from Pod Save America that featured the hosts of the show discussing Vice President Kamala Harris’ debate performance, and global superstar Taylor Swift’s endorsement of the Democratic candidate. 

Those events were dominating broadcast news, digital media outlets, and social platforms. And Crooked was there, ready and waiting for curious YouTubers to find them. Their video on the subject got nearly 730,000 streams as of this writing, and is one of the top 15 most popular videos on their channel.

“We’ve really been able to harness that power and seize those moments in a way that is hard to do on a podcast platform, where, like I said, people really know what they’re looking for when they open the app,” DeGroot says. “YouTube just gives us more opportunity to find new people.” 

Beyond giving people a new entry point to their content, video gives audiences a new format to access the Crooked universe. “More and more with the advent of smart TVs, we’ve been seeing a lot of people who are really consuming the YouTube product from their televisions and treating it like watching the evening news,” DeGroot says.

This is especially true for older audiences.

“My mom, bless her heart, she does not know how to use a podcast,” DeGroot says. “She doesn’t know how to find a show there. But she knows YouTube and she knows how to type in Pod Save America and get to the channel and pull up the latest episode.”

However, while video has helped build Crooked Media’s audience, the experience remains audio-centric. “We get anecdotal comments of people saying, ‘Oh, I put this on while I’m making dinner.’ They may not be watching it a hundred percent with their eyes on the screen the whole time, so it’s still somewhat of an audio experience, because they’ll have it on in the background while they’re cooking.”

Cashing in on YouTube

Because the company publishes Crooked Media’s podcast content as YouTube videos, its ad sales team has more touch points to offer potential sponsors. 

“YouTube runs ads and we have that aspect of monetization. But then our sales team also does sell against that for the podcasts,” DeGroot says. “So an episode of Pod Save America, for example, the ads that appear in the podcast when you listen are also in the YouTube version.” In this way, a client gets a two-for-one. It can buy ads from one media company and get two distinct audiences.

In addition to selling to two audiences, Crooked is also leveraging video content to create exclusive offerings for advertisers. “That’s something we’ve started doing this year — having a single sponsor,” DeGroot says. “Someone like ZBiotics sponsors Hysteria’s ‘This F*cking Guy’ series. So we’ll include a 30 second ad read in the middle of the video, and maybe a short mention of the sponsor at the beginning. It’s a great way to add that additional revenue and help pay for the production costs that do naturally come with video, because it is a time consuming and work intensive thing.”

However, Crooked is looking beyond advertisers when it comes to monetizing video. The company has a paid subscription offering — called “Friends of the Pod” — which provides subscribers with ad-free podcast feeds, bonus content from Crooked hosts, and the ability to talk directly with on-air talent on Crooked’s subscriber-only Discord server.

“Friends of the Pod” also get subscriber-only YouTube shows. “One is a weekly, called, Terminally Online, and then we have a couple biweekly shows — Dan Pfeiffer’s Poller Coaster, and another election special called Inside 2024,” DeGroot says. “Those are available as both audio and video components to subscribers.”

Social video strategy

While Crooked Media is going big on YouTube, it’s not the only social video platform the company is publishing on. “There are real opportunities in that sort of shorter form content,” DeGroot says. “We are not oblivious to the fact that a lot of people, if they see a video on YouTube even if it looks really appealing to them, if it’s 90 minutes long, they’ll say, ‘I don’t have time for that. I’m not gonna take a chance on this random video.’” 

To counter this, Crooked Media will splice one of its full length episodes into shorter clips — something that’s 60 or 90 seconds long — and upload that content to TikTok, Instagram, or X. “People are willing to give that a chance,” DeGroot says. “They’ll see a video short clip and be like, ‘Oh, what are these people saying?’ And from there it draws them in and makes them curious to hear more,” which could lead them to YouTube or a podcast platform.

Pod Save America has about 14,000 followers on TikTok, but their short videos reach way more people than that. A recent post discussing a press conference that former President Donald Trump had garnered more than 100,000 views.

Crooked’s podcast host will also create what DeGroot calls “ancillary” content — behind the scenes moments that still speak to the brand’s broader tone. That might include the hosts’ live reaction to Donald Trump’s guilty verdict in his recent criminal trial, or an on the ground video message from the Democratic National Convention.

“For those videos that live on  TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube shorts, it’s a feature that we’ve been really pushing lately and finding a lot of success with,” DeGroot says.  “We’ve found that doing those types of things really helps the content spread on those platforms and bring in new people who then get excited to watch the podcasts.” 

For DeGroot, the video strategy across platforms is all about creating more touch points — for audiences and advertisers. 

“It’s gonna take some time to build that audience, and you really have to nurture it over time,” he says. “As long as you keep on your patterns, stay with it, and stay consistent, you will get the rewards from that.”

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The evolution of the podcast industry is nothing short of remarkable. Once a niche hobby, podcasting has become a mainstay format in the media landscape, driving entertainment, engagement, and brand connection. Creators are critical to this thriving ecosystem, crafting compelling stories that have done nothing less than revolutionize modern media. The Podcast Trends Report delves into five significant trends in the podcasting world, all viewed through the lens of the creators, which highlights opportunities in this dynamic medium.

Creators drive podcasting trends

Many creators are capitalizing on the podcast opportunity. These creators aren’t just hosting shows; they’re cultivating networks of content that engage listeners across devices and formats. From true crime investigations to heartwarming advice, diverse topics have allowed podcasters to build dedicated fandoms who consume their content religiously. In fact, over half of podcast listeners say they can’t get enough of their favorite shows. To meet this insatiable demand, creators are expanding into new formats like video podcasts, giving audiences a multimedia experience that enhances traditional audio storytelling.

For creators, this expansion means more than just increased visibility. It’s about crafting a holistic entertainment ecosystem that keeps listeners engaged across multiple platforms, allowing for a deeper connection between creators and their audiences. Networks like Team Coco, led by Conan O’Brien, have leveraged their star power to expand into YouTube, video sponsorships, and social media campaigns, proving that podcasts are more than just a “side gig”—they’re the center of today’s media universe.

A media mainstay

Podcasts have evolved beyond being an optional addition to media plans. They effectively drive full-funnel results, provide incremental reach, and create real brand impact. With advancements in advertising technology, brands are tapping into the power of podcasts more than ever. The reach of podcasts extends far beyond audio, with over 13 million monthly listeners consuming audio and video content. This cross-format potential has positioned podcasts as a vital tool in modern media strategies.

Brands like Kia have recognized this potential, utilizing podcasts in campaigns across multiple platforms, from host-read ads on popular shows to video content on YouTube and social media. Such campaigns demonstrate the versatility of podcasts and their ability to serve as a dynamic, multi-channel touchpoint for brands seeking to reach an engaged, loyal audience.

Growth of video podcasts

While audio remains the core of podcasting, video podcasts are quickly gaining momentum. For creators, video presents an opportunity to expand their content’s reach, tapping into audiences on platforms like YouTube. For advertisers, video podcasts offer a new avenue for creative ad placements incorporating visuals, making capturing attention and driving engagement easier. The growth of video podcasts is still in its early stages, but the upside is clear: fans are willing to follow their favorite shows across mediums, and brands that embrace this format stand to gain.

Creators who pivot into video extend their brand’s footprint and foster deeper connections with their audience. Video enables fans to engage with the content in a new, more immersive way, blending the intimacy of audio with the visual appeal that drives platforms like YouTube. This format is becoming a vital pillar of the podcasting world, creating fresh opportunities for brands and creators alike.

Bridging cultural gaps

One of podcasting’s greatest strengths is its ability to bridge cultural gaps. Listeners come to podcasts seeking authentic voices and real conversations that resonate with their identities and experiences. According to our data, 58% of multicultural podcast listeners say podcasts allow them to hear from diverse creators, and nearly 30% are more likely to tune in to connect with their culture or community.

Investing in diverse creators allows advertisers to reach new audiences and foster trust and loyalty. Brands that partner with podcasts focusing on culturally relevant topics or collaborate with creators from diverse backgrounds are well-positioned to make a lasting impact. For instance, our “Diverse Voices” collection provides a platform for underrepresented podcasters, offering brands a way to tap into this growing market.

Binge-worthy content becomes a podcasting trend

Binge culture is dominating TV and streaming platforms and is now becoming a podcasting trend. Creators are releasing seasonal drops and limited series to encourage listeners to consume multiple episodes back-to-back. This trend is transforming how podcast content is structured and consumed. Nearly two-thirds of podcast listeners report bingeing multiple episodes in a single session, indicating that podcasting adapts to audience preferences for serialized, binge-able content.

This format also presents exciting opportunities for brands. Seasonal podcasts or limited series allow for continuous engagement, with brands sponsoring entire seasons or crafting storylines that extend across multiple episodes. This gives listeners a richer, more integrated experience while amplifying brand visibility.

Creators will fuel the future of podcasting with their creativity and passion. From expanding into video to telling binge-worthy stories, podcasters are breaking new ground and opening new opportunities for brands and audiences. As the medium continues to grow and evolve, brands that invest in podcasts—and the diverse voices behind them—will be well-positioned to tap into one of the younger audiences.

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If you’re planning to launch a podcast, there are five key marketing and audience development strategies you need to be thinking of, according to Christy Mirabal, an independent podcast marketing executive. She’s spent more than a decade building audiences for audio power players like Sirius XM, Sony’s Global Podcast Division, Stitcher, and HarperAudio. Here, she shares her five tips for success in podcast marketing. 

1. Get to know your listener 

“You can’t really build a marketing strategy without first knowing who you are building your podcast for,” says Mirabal. “If I had a nickel for every time somebody was like, ‘Well, this podcast is for everybody,’ I’d be rich. Because that’s not true – you know, no movie is for everybody – and that’s true for podcasts, too.”

Many podcasts are hyper-focused on a topic, so they attract specific, niche audiences. And people who market audio content need to think about how to specifically connect with that niche.  

“For example, if you’re making a music podcast that’s trying to reach someone in their mid-to-late ‘30s, you’re not gonna reach them on TikTok, But you might reach them at a music festival, right?” she says. 

Connecting with your target audience way before launching — whether in person or through online surveys – will help a media company find out if the people they’d like to target would actually want to listen to the program they’re cooking up. Knowing why the listener wants to consume a podcast will then inform how it’s marketed when it comes time to launch. 

2. Ask: What is your podcast’s end goal?

When setting key performance indicators (KPIs) for a podcast marketing plan, Mirabal recommends backing up and asking a key question: What is your company’s end goal with a podcast? That will “help establish your north star metrics,” she says.

A media company may launch a podcast with the hopes of monetizing a series through paid advertising. If that’s the case, the end goal is likely clear cut: Grow a scalable audience that’s attractive to advertisers. 

“But for a lot of brands, that’s not necessarily the end goal,” Mirabal says. “Maybe they’re looking to extend their brand and get it in front of a different audience. Maybe it’s just somebody’s passion project — like someone in the c-suite really believes in something and they want to do a podcast to get the word out there. And so the KPIs that you develop, if you are making a passion project, that’s gonna be a completely different path and a different set of KPIs than if you’re trying to monetize your work.” 

Setting clear goals as a team from the jump will help determine the answers to key questions: Should we have a paid marketing and audience acquisition budget? Should our strategy be focused on organic growth? Do we need to set an audience bar to sell to advertisers? 

3. Bring your entire company on board 

As you begin to plan your podcast’s launch date, it’s crucial to make sure there’s cross department collaboration within your organization to make sure the show’s roll out is a success. 

“Map out all of your own channels where you might promote the podcast to your audience,” Mirabal says. “With bigger media companies, sometimes these channels can be very matrixed.”

Coordinate with the team who owns newsletters, those who run a site’s content operation, and the groups who steer social. 

“Somebody who owns a newsletter channel might need completely different assets and different collateral than someone managing a homepage,” Mirabal says. 

Bringing in the art department to work with each vertical is also key. Even though podcasting is often an audio medium, launching and promoting a show requires engaging visual imagery.  

When a potential listener is searching for a podcast to listen to, they’ll come across your show’s visual identity first.

“If you’re making a show about shoes, there are probably a decent number of podcasts that also have shoe content,” Mirabal says. “So if people search ‘shoe podcast,’ and your art is not jumping off the page, people are just not ‘gonna click on it, and you’re never going to get the chance for that listen to happen.”

4. Establish a multi-channel storytelling plan

When bringing on a podcast editorial team, it’s important to communicate early on that part of their role will be to capture content that will go beyond the podcast product itself.

If the creative team shepherding the podcast is not thinking about promotional assets while they’re conducting interviews or recordings, a marketing team may be at a loss months down the line when it comes time to launch.

“A producer would tell me about this amazing interview that they had six months ago,” Mirabal says. “And I’m like, ‘Did you get anything from it — did you get any images or did you get any video?’ And they’re like, ‘No.’ And I always ask why, because I could totally do something with that. If you’re not thinking about the promotional assets while you’re actually making the podcast, it’s such a missed opportunity for fun things that your marketing team can really utilize.”

Have your podcast production team meet with your marketing and social departments when they begin to create a new show. Ahead of interviews, reporting trips, or in-studio recordings, have the creative team share their editorial plans, and discuss what assets can be created for engaging behind-the-scenes content. 

5. Work with platform partners

The vast majority of podcast listeners don’t consume content on a media company or brand’s website, They’re doing it through audio apps like Apple Podcasts or Spotify, or video-based social media platforms, like YouTube.  

“So digital service providers — like the Apples and Spotifys of the world — it’s important to work with them because you are getting in front of an audience that’s already listening to podcasting,” Mirabal says. “They’re looking for something to listen to. You’ve got a captive audience and more importantly, you’re preaching to the choir — they’re already listening to podcasting. You don’t even have to talk ’em into the medium.” 

Mirabal says it’s important to coordinate with audio platforms on your launch strategy because they can prominently feature your podcast to hungry listeners. 

“It’s a very useful way to get in front of an audience that’s literally searching for what to listen to,” she says. 

Coordinating with a platform should be done months before launch – they may require special visual assets to feature your show. 

“Apple Podcasts, for example, they’re looking for something that is like on par with [the type of marketing] you would find on like the movies or TV side of the Apple ecosystem — they want it cinematic, they want it lush, they want it to really stand out on the page so it can call people to listen,” Mirabal says. “You can’t just have one asset like the show art to try and tell that story.”

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What binds these initiatives together is a strong consumer research team. In addition to brand building and surveying about new initiatives or products, this team is also involved in almost all aspects of the organization, from retention efforts to optimizing its growing B2B business.

The Economist’s Global Head of Consumer Research Seema Hope believes that this is a function more publishers should be seriously considering to optimize subscription efforts. There is real value to be gained in getting to know audiences on a deeper level, even for those without paywalled products.

Getting to know consumer research

Hope’s Consumer Research team is one of the few which has ongoing communication with readers. “We get a lot of dialogue through editorial; people write in,” she noted. “But that two-way conversation is where we come in, and we take that really seriously. We’re there to represent what consumers are saying, and it’s our job to be frontline and independent on that.”

The team is made up of a mixture of disciplines, from UX and design to data and research. Hope firmly believes that it is more important than ever to bring these together rather than operate in silos. “You want to make sure that you’re understanding everything about the consumer, not just the way they’re interacting with a product. You want to understand their needs and motivations,” she explained.

This does add a layer of pressure on research teams to specialize in multiple methodologies. But Hope has seen this be advantageous for careers. Her team has people who are strong in UX, qualitative research and talking to people, as well as experts in qualitative and statistical methodologies. As consumer researchers, being able to operate across all of these means that they can work more effectively with teams across the business, from product to consumer marketing. “We touch nearly every aspect of the organization. And that can only get wider,” Hope said.

An internal and external independent voice

One reason the consumer research team at The Economist is so effective is because they believe in taking stakeholders on the research journey with them. “We won’t just deliver a project and say: ‘Here you go,’” Hope said, explaining how they anticipate any resistance to findings. “We start in partnership with them, working out what the objective is, what the business challenges are. Then our job is finding the right methodology to get them to a deeper understanding.”

Most of the projects the team are involved with are “quite iterative, with constant dialogue,” so findings aren’t a surprise. Hope also outlined that her researchers are often embedded in other teams while a project is ongoing so that everything is transparent. For example, if a consumer has made a statement about user experience in a video, that video is shared with the relevant people in The Economist’s Slack channels.

This perception extends to their interactions with participants, too. “It’s really important that we’re independent when we’re talking to consumers, and we make it really clear that you’re not going to hurt anyone’s feelings [with honest feedback],” Hope said. Constant and open dialogue with customers helps, as does keeping each other’s biases in check internally, with the team ensuring they’re not asking leading questions or putting a spin on data interpretation.

Currently working on growth and retention – once customers are acquired, how do we best keep them, as well as brand perception. Also students and what loyalty means for a news org.

Uncharted territory with Podcasts+

One prominent example of the Consumer Research team’s influence was in  in shaping The Economist’s Podcasts+ program. Last October, the publisher moved all but its daily The Intelligence podcast behind a paywall, offering a separate podcast subscription product.

Planning for this was a challenge as virtually no other publishers had made such a move (and still haven’t!). Many consumers will have never come across a paid-for podcast until they hit The Economist’s paywall. 

The decision to charge for podcasts was one the whole company stood by. It seemed incongruous to have such a significant product available for free when nothing else was? But they had concerns about how audiences would respond. Hope’s team started with needs, behaviors and motivations. This shaped their messaging and approach. 

“It was interesting the way the project evolved. Our consumers were telling us, ‘I can see why you’re doing this. You value your journalism. It’s really in-depth. It’s well-researched. It’s amazing to hear the voice of the journalists in my ear. I feel a real personal connection to this person,’” she explained. “So in the end, our consumers told us the kind of language that we should use when talking to them.”

It took months of conversations and rigorous testing before they arrived at a model that made sense for the publication, as well as one consumers would take up. The Intelligence daily podcast would remain free as a daily touchpoint. However, all other weekly and daily shows would be available for $4.90/month, or as part of the full Economist subscription package.

Hope says that there has been uptake not just of the podcast-only package, but also to the full subscription. One finding that her team were able to pick up was the perception of increased value now that the podcasts were paywalled. “Once you start charging for something, people put more of a value on it. So it’s changed that perception of quality content because they’re now paying for it, and increasing their listening,” she noted. 

Now, their focus is on understanding how to move people along the funnel from free to podcast to full subscriber. Hope’s work is never done; consumer research is an ongoing dialogue as tools, technology and behaviors evolve. “I think it’s naive to think you get it right the first time. It’s naive to think that you stop learning. So we rarely say, ‘That’s the end of a project’,” she said.

Lessons from The Economist’s consumer research

Hope has had over 16 years working in audience research, and firmly believes it’s a role all publishers should have to inform decisions across the business. It’s a role that changes and evolves. “But at the very crux of it, we are, as publishers, curating and creating content for a person,” she emphasized. “If you don’t understand what they’re thinking and the why, what, who they are as people, it’s very difficult to adapt what you’re doing.” 

We may have more data and insights than ever before into our audiences. But this can’t always provide the full picture about what is going on with consumers. To truly create products that audiences not only enjoy, but are willing to pay for, benefits greatly from insights that run deeper than data.  For The Economist – ranked sixth most effective subscriber conversion publisher globally – having a dedicated consumer research team to get under the skin of what really makes their audience tick is clearly paying off.

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