As publishers grow more sophisticated with their reader revenue strategies, one trend in its early stages is the introduction of group calls and meetups as a benefit for subscribers or members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Here, we look at how three publishers have found value in subscriber and member-only calls and meetings, not just for their audience, but as a vehicle for sourcing new stories and connecting with potential new readers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most well-known example of group calls is the \u2018ThinkIns\u2019 from new publisher Tortoise. The publisher, which was launched in April 2019 following a crowdfunding campaign, is promoting ThinkIns as a key member benefit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
ThinkIns are billed<\/a> as \u2018live, unscripted conversations\u2019 where Tortoise journalists \u2018harness the diverse experience and expertise\u2019 of their members to shape their work. Members can join in person at venues around the UK, or watch live online, in the app or on-demand. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Recently, Tortoise has also started expanding their ThinkIn locations, and have hosted gatherings in Amsterdam, New York, Lesvos, Davos and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But ThinkIns are more than just a call or a meeting. They are advertised as \u2018a forum for civilised disagreement\u2019, where everyone has a seat at the table. Attendees are briefed in advance with \u2018Tortoise Notes\u2019; a short primer on the upcoming topic designed to \u2018stimulate and inform\u2019 the upcoming conversation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The ThinkIn itself is kicked off by a panel of experts, but is then open to all attendees, whether they want to contribute or just listen. Finally, all ThinkIns are followed up by \u2018The Readout\u2019, a summary of the key points and discussion in the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThey\u2019re a potent marketing mechanic and a powerful commercial proposition for partners,\u201d said Tortoise in a statement to WNIP. \u201cBut most importantly, ThinkIns are the engine of our journalism.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since launching in early 2019, Tortoise has brought together 11,000 people in over 280 ThinkIns; an impressive number for such a new publisher. Tortoise estimate that around 1 in 5 of their London-based members have personally attended at least one ThinkIn, which are frequently hosted in the capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ThinkIns also play a vital part of Tortoise\u2019s member recruitment strategy. Some ThinkIns are open to non-members who have to buy a separate ticket. But members can share up to 10 complimentary ThinkIn tickets with friends and family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnce somebody has been in a ThinkIn, they\u2019re very likely to join,\u201d a Tortoise spokesperson explained to us. \u201cIt\u2019s a super-powered word-of-mouth recommendation device, baked into the product.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s effective as well, with 60% of new members to Tortoise coming through referrals by another member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most importantly, the ThinkIns are a vital way for Tortoise to discover new stories, and are seen as the engine of the publisher\u2019s journalism. \u201cAround half of Tortoise\u2019s stories have originated in ThinkIns,\u201d Tortoise told us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n ThinkIns therefore play a valuable part in connecting the whole member experience together. Not only is it a valuable addition to the membership offering in terms of involvement, but attending a ThinkIn is a real opportunity for members to understand and influence the direction of the publisher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This in turn is raising other challenges for the Tortoise team around member diversity. Editor and Partner Polly Curtis told the FT\u2019s Future of News event<\/a> that corporate-sponsored memberships which are then distributed to \u201cpeople who don\u2019t usually have a seat at the table\u201d are a step towards mitigating the risk of creating yet another media echo chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe need a sustainable model, so we have to make every membership a funded membership. We can\u2019t just give it away,\u201d she explained. \u201cBut we have to work ten times as hard to make sure it\u2019s diverse, because it\u2019s quite a high bar we\u2019re asking people to engage with.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But they\u2019re not the only publisher bringing members directly into the newsroom. Quartz have also included membership conference calls as part of their membership package<\/a>, launched at the end of 2018, for $14.99 per month, or $99.99 a year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA core tenet of Quartz membership is to give members a chance to engage directly with the news and our journalists,\u201d said Quartz to WNIP. \u201cOur member calls are one of the ways we do this.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a conversational format that brings community and education together in a way that feels natural to our business-oriented audience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Quartz CEO Zach Seward told<\/a> Business Insider that the first six months of the membership programme involved \u201cexperimenting with a bunch of potential offers to see what would work.\u201d During this time, they increased the conference calls on offer from one a week to three, and increased the number of videos available exclusively to its 10,000+ paying members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The calls themselves are often based on field guides that Quartz produces just for members, on topics like the cannabis industry, battery technology, and life after cash. The topics are more business-centric than many competitors, as Quartz is pitching the membership as more of an investment<\/a> in the reader\u2019s career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEvery week we produce a really deep dive on a company or industry or business trend that we\u2019ve identified as really for you to understand if you want to understand the global economy,\u201d Seward told<\/a> NiemanLab. \u201cWe\u2019ve done nearly 50 of them at this point. Those are very unlike news coverage, in that all 50 of the news guides we\u2019ve produced remain valuable today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The conference calls are available on-demand<\/a> to members shortly afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The publisher sees the conference calls as a way of building two-way communication with readers. \u201cWe chose the word \u2018membership\u2019 deliberately,\u201d said Seward to Digiday<\/a>. \u201cIn addition to the content you get, it\u2019s a relationship with Quartz.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n But member conference calls aren\u2019t a recent phenomenon. The New York Times tested subscriber-only conference calls two years ago (albeit not without hiccups<\/a>) for those who paid for the All Access Plus or Home Delivery tiers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Times reporters and editors discussed topics from racial inequality to Game of Thrones to the opioid crisis, with NiemanLab stating that<\/a> \u2018several hundred\u2019 subscribers typically dialled into these calls back in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The difference with these \u2018conference calls\u2019 was that, although hundreds of subscribers could join the call, only a select few would be able to \u2018call in\u2019 to talk, with Times staffers managing the call from an online dashboard, like a radio station. <\/p>\n\n\n\nMembership conference calls with Quartz<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Group calls at the New York Times<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n