New INMA Report focuses subscription strategies to build sustainable journalism

Titled ‘Beyond the Funnel: Advice For a New Subscription Strategy’, this new INMA Report provides a look at how to develop a subscriber base that allows a media company to be profitable and secure its future. Originally written as Paulo’s capstone project for the Executive Program in News Innovation and Leadership at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York (CUNY), the report’s aim is to address a top challenge of many newsrooms today: building a sustainable subscriber base.

Through his research, Paulo identified a key problem for general news media outlets: Since they are not segmented or niched, it is easy to try to address all kinds of readers. But not all readers are open to paying for news. “Every successful news organisation that is managing to survive and grow does so under unique circumstances, making it impossible for others to simply replicate its model,” he said.

The report distills five key lessons from Pereira’s research:

• Create journalism worth paying for.
• Focus on the audiences who matter most.
• Align the entire company behind a shared goal.
• Build habits and emotional bonds with readers.

Keep experimenting

Pereira selected five successful media companies from different countries to find ideas and advice that can inspire and help editors to think of some paths to navigate these turbulent times. Among the report’s case studies are The New York Times (United States), Financial Times (United Kingdom), El País (Spain), Clarín (Argentina), and United Daily News Group (Taiwan).

The report concludes that sustainable journalism requires more than reach; it demands relevance. Media companies must build relationships with readers, understand their needs, and offer distinctive value. Subscription strategies must be aligned across departments, supported by experimentation, and grounded in metrics that reflect loyalty and engagement.

Now, ‘Beyond the Funnel: Advice For a New Subscription Strategy’ is available for free to INMA members and for purchase by non-members at: INMA.org/reports.

INMA master class focuses on turning first-party data into revenue in new privacy-first ad economy

INMA has unveiled a groundbreaking new Advertising Initiative master class focused on how news media companies can build a sustainable advantage in the evolving privacy-first ad economy. The First-Party Data Activation for Advertising Master Class was conducted across three modules, September 11-18. The master class addressed the news media advertising’s top priority, with 71 percent of publishers now prioritising first-party data as their most significant revenue driver. This comprehensive master class delivered practical frameworks for transforming audience relationships into sustainable competitive advantages.

Led by INMA Advertising Initiative Lead Gabriel Dorosz, the three-module virtual master class dived deep into: Accelerating adoption of first-party data foundations; Data-powered sales and activation strategies; and AI targeting and commerce signal integration.

Designed to appeal both to advanced practitioners and those new to navigating first-party data activation, the First-Party Data Activation for Advertising Master Class featured detailed case study presentations from product, data, insights, ad operations, and business leaders representing The New York Times, CNN, Times Internet, The Globe and Mail, HT Digital, Schibsted, The New York Post, Mediahuis, The Washington Post, Business Insider, Ekstra Bladet, and more.

According to Gabriel, the comprehensive three-module programme “addresses the full spectrum of first-party data activation, from foundational strategies for publishers just beginning their journey to advanced AI targeting implementations that combine content engagement with commerce signals.” Adding, “Participants learnt from organisations that have successfully transformed from having ‘very little first-party data’ to building millions of authenticated users that power both advertising deals and subscription growth.”

The master class leveraged the learning from INMA’s newly launched Advertising Initiative, which focused on helping INMA members navigate the “post-traffic era” for news media advertising, bridging innovation and business realities with practical guidance, real-world examples, and clear action plans to simplify an often opaque and unnecessarily complex digital advertising ecosystem.

“We’ll go beyond theory to provide actionable frameworks for build-versus-partner decisions, vendor selection, clean room implementation, lessons learned, and organisational alignment,” Gabriel said.