Redefining Engagement – Madeleine White, Co-founder at The Audiencers & VP Marketing at Poool

How do you walk the line between frustrating readers and driving valuable engagement? 🤔

🎧This week on Redefining Engagement, Francesca spoke with Madeleine White, VP Marketing at Poool and Co-founder of The Audiencers, about the delicate balance publishers need to strike to convert casual readers into loyal subscribers. 💙

Madeleine highlights that every conversion (newsletter sign-up, app download, subscription) involves a degree of “frustration” (paywalls, pop-ups).

🔑 The key is understanding each reader’s engagement level and tailoring the “frustration” accordingly. Show a paywall to someone who’s new to your site, and you risk losing them. Show it to someone who reads you daily and subscribes to your newsletter, and they are more likely to convert! 🤝

They also discussed:

If someone’s just engaged in a single newsletter, what else are they engaged in?
Defining “engagement” consistently across your entire organization.
How smaller publishers can experiment and test engagement strategies without complex data analysis.

Listen to the full interview for actionable insights and (so many) examples of what other publications, who are building reader loyalty and driving revenue, are testing and trying like: Zetland, Der Spiegel NZZ Editorial, The Times, The Telegraaph, Globo, Graham Media, Village Media, Digital Spy (and more).

Those examples might be the inspiration you needed to find the solution you’ve been looking for? Who knows? 🩼

We know your time is valuable – simply browse the episode chapters below and choose the segments you’re most eager to hear.

00:00 Introduction to Engagement Strategies

03:24 The Role of Collaboration in Publishing

06:35 Defining Audience Engagement

09:33 Balancing Frustration and Engagement

12:40 Measuring Engagement Effectively

15:28 Engagement Strategies for Local News Brands

18:16 Building Authentic Connections with Audiences

28:50 The Power of Personal Connections in Publishing

33:34 Building Community Through Engagement

36:23 Innovative Strategies for Audience Engagement

40:56 The Role of Technology in Audience Engagement

45:54 Common Pitfalls in Audience Engagement

49:34 The Future of Audience Engagement

52:34 Essential Skills for Media Professionals

55:20 The Importance of Understanding Your Audience

download the step by step audience engagement guide

Struggling to engage readers at scale, stay relevant, or build trust in your news brand? This guide will help you outline the steps you can take in order to efficiently increase Community Engagement, signed-in users and subscriptions.