Neither format is new, but as reaching and attracting traffic becomes increasingly difficult, news publishers are looking for opportunities to build a sustainable audience.
Illustration photo: GT
Correspondence creates opportunities for profitable collaboration.
Black Ballad is an independent lifestyle magazine for Black women. It has been running for nearly a decade. This is proof that self-help organizations can succeed if they remain focused on their mission and audience, rather than being distracted and chasing trends for profit.
To date, they have nearly 1,500 paying members who receive early access and privileges ranging from events to partnerships.
But above all, Black Ballad exists to address issues that many Black women feel have not been adequately resolved. Co-founder Tobi Oredein noted at the Newsletter Summit that "people build connections with people, not with brands," and that Black women have consistently felt overlooked and underrepresented in the media.
Every Friday evening, Black Ballad sends an email newsletter to its members, summarizing key articles, new collaboration offers, and organizational updates. Ms. Tobi says that every topic reflects what Black women need to hear about during the week or what she feels about her personal life.
Founder Tobi is heavily involved in sharing information in this newsletter. This makes her extremely selective because it's closely related to her reputation, but it also helps increase the value of potential partnerships.
Quality over quantity
Once you have a specific target audience, quality will undoubtedly become more important than quantity, both in terms of the types of content produced and the number of members or readers.
A publication called Reby Media has five different podcasts covering specific industries or experiences, from the brewing industry to pregnancy. Author Jon Young says the need for these segments began with examining market conditions. This allowed him to focus on specific business partners.
Young stated that audience growth wasn't the top priority. Instead of focusing on scale, he wanted to ensure he reached the right audience. That way, he could guarantee his commercial partners delivered their messages to the right places.
"Growth is great… but the reality is our whole focus is on quality," he said.
Using letters of recommendation to fill the market gap.
Both newsletters and podcasts are great ways to reach your audience directly, whether through the inbox or headphones. Another similarity between the two media is that they are excellent for developing loyal audiences for specialty and independent publishers.
Sarah Ebner, head of newsletters at the FT, said: "I tend to look for gaps that I think need a newsletter. So initially we didn't have a U.S. market newsletter, but now we have the award-winning Unhedged newsletter... Fashion is the same. I look for gaps that we can fill."
FT currently has 50 email newsletters and is allowing for experimentation by deploying them as either a premium or standard newsletter. "We know that email newsletters are really good at engaging our business audience, and we also want people to subscribe to FT. So we want to offer them other things that we think they might enjoy."
Local podcasts attract international audiences.
The daily news publication The Scotsman is attempting to expand its international appeal through the Scran podcast, which focuses on Scottish food and drink. Launched in 2019 to diversify its audience, the podcast has successfully piqued the interest of tourists in the US market.
"Over the last 10 years in Scotland in general… people have grown and become more interested in the origins of their food," says Rosalind Erskin, host of The Scotsman's Scran podcast. "The Scotsman has an American and international audience, so we're tapping into telling stories about local farmers, local bakers, or a famous whisky distillery."
The advertisements in podcasts also specialize in various food and beverage brands. This presents a potential commercial opportunity arising from podcasts by bringing listeners closer to the food and beverage industry.
Paid Podcasts
Ben Youatt, Head of Podcasts at Immediate Media, which has a vast portfolio of magazines and podcasts, said that podcast listeners in the U.S. are increasingly paying to hear exclusive podcasts for subscribers, and that's an encouraging sign.
Youatt said: "We're seeing more listeners signing up for paid subscriptions in the US than in the UK. Hopefully, people will gradually embrace paid subscriptions as things like Patreon or YouTube Premium become more popular globally."
He also expressed optimism that demand for podcast subscriptions would increase. However, news organizations would need to invest to see that growth.
Ngoc Anh (according to Media Voices)
Source: https://www.congluan.vn/5-bai-hoc-ve-podcast-va-tin-thu-tu-cac-nha-xuat-ban-hang-dau-post307519.html
