IF YOU read ONE THING
The word on spoken word

Podcasts have been making headlines lately, but a new report from Gabe Bullard and Nieman Reports shines the spotlight on the power of audio articles, narrated articles that more closely resemble e-books than podcasts. While audio articles may not be “as robust of a listening experience,” Bullard writes, they offer busy audiences a convenient way to consume journalism—and publishers investing in the medium are seeing the return. After launching audio articles as an experiment in 2016, Danish digital media outlet Zetland has found a loyal audience for its narrated articles, particularly among audiences who are “too busy to read, but who want to know what’s on Zetland that day.” The Danish news outlet also found that creating a playlist of audio articles helps readers discover the breadth of its coverage—“members often listen to stories they wouldn’t otherwise read”—and that it helps create more consistent and frequent engagement with the publication. Other publishers, including Harvard Business Review, The Economist, and The Atlantic, now offer various forms of narrated articles. The Economist’s deputy editor Tom Standage, who oversees audio strategy, says of audio’s ability to build habit: “Our evidence suggests that the audio edition is a very effective retention tool; once you come to rely on it, you won’t unsubscribe.” (You can also listen to this article, if you prefer.)

POWERSTAT

This week, CNN Business shared the print circulation numbers for the Costco Connection, the “fourth biggest magazine” in America. The Connection is offered free with Costco’s $120-a-year executive membership, but serves to do more than just build affinity for the brand: According to the article, sales of some Costco products have jumped 30% after an ad or a story appears in the Connection. 

Sources: CNN Business, The Alliance for Audited Media, Parade

TREND WATCH
Subscription models seep into other industries

Take a bite out of this: An increasing number of food companies are opening up their businesses to subscription opportunities. This week, Panera announced that it’s launching a subscription for unlimited coffee and tea. For only $8.99 each month, subscribers can get one of these beverages every two hours. For skeptics, Panera’s early tests show that it could have a big pay-off: The company’s 150 test locations saw subscribers visit three times more frequently and purchase 70% more in add-on items than the average customer. Panera is the latest brand to join the subscription market, which has grown quickly in the last several years: As of 2018, the subscription e-commerce market had grown by more than 100 percent a year over five years, according to an analysis from McKinsey & Company. Other food brands have also started testing out different ways to incorporate subscriber memberships into their business: GrubHub also launched its first membership program on Wednesday. For $9.99 per month, GrubHub users can have access to GrubHub+, which offers numerous benefits, including free delivery. GrubHub and Panera join the likes of other subscription-based food companies, such as Blue Apron and Hello Fresh, and, most recently, Walmart’s delivery unlimited service, Walmart+.

NEWS YOU CAN USE
Learnings from overseas

As publishers around the world seek to evolve their business models, many are realizing the need to evolve their digital experiences and relationships with their audiences as well. In the latest paper from Reuters Institute, fellow Eduardo Suárez analyzes strategies that news outlets in the United Kingdom and Spain are using to “deal with the profound changes required by a subscription business.” Here are a few of our favorite learnings:

• “Readers appreciate a product they can finish.” In a world of never-ending feeds, there’s something comforting about a product with a finite ending. Suárez finds that older readers love digital editions, while younger readers gravitate to podcasts and newsletters; both “love the sense of achievement” that comes with reaching the end.
• A great onboarding experience is key to creating habit. When a reader decides to subscribe, helping readers to make the most of their subscription early on can be essential. Marie Goddard, head of customer marketing at the Financial Times, says “It’s not about showing them content. … It’s about showing them how to sign up to a newsletter, how to choose the right newsletters, or how to download our mobile app.”
• Great journalism is still one of the best acquisition tools. While distribution strategies are important, there’s no substitute for quality and consistency. Across organizations, Suárez finds that “readers often convert after reading long-form pieces and investigations that force politicians to resign.”

PERSPECTIVES
‘Stories’ may be appearing on this platform soon

You’ve seen it before—first on Snapchat, then Instagram, then Facebook. Now, LinkedIn is testing the Stories format (again) on the platform, according to a post from LinkedIn’s head of content products, Pete Davies. Stories have “spread for a good reason,” he writes in his post, as “they offer a lightweight, fun way to share an update without it having to be perfect or attached to your profile forever.” Davies and team also believe that Stories may appeal to younger audiences who have grown up with the format. The announcement sparked varying reactions across the web:

• “For example, the sequencing of the Stories format is great for sharing key moments from work events, the full-screen narrative style makes it easy to share tips and tricks that help us work smarter, and the way Stories opens up new messaging threads makes it easier for someone to say, ‘and by the way … I noticed you know Linda, could you introduce me?’” — Pete Davies, head of content products at LinkedIn (LinkedIn)
• “Technically, this isn’t even LinkedIn’s first time dabbling in the social media story format: In 2018, it tested a similar feature called “Student Voices” that let college students post videos to a ‘campus playlist’ that lived on top of the LinkedIn app. But where the Student Voices feature was limited both in who could use it (college students) and what they could post (just videos, without the plethora of features that apps like Instagram offer), the new LinkedIn story feature sounds like it would be a much broader service.” — Chaim Gartenberg, news editor for The Verge (The Verge)
• “Social media users have been suffering from Stories exhaustion for years at this point. It’s a feature that works great for its pioneer, Snapchat, and for Instagram … and pretty much nothing else — I mean, have you ever watched a Facebook Story on purpose? LinkedIn Stories inevitably promise to bring well-manicured, painfully corporate video clips to your feed as a way to mix up the approach to networking.” —  Cheyenne MacDonald, news editor at Input (Input) 

This week in our office
Our team learned that Harry Styles was in Washington, D.C. this week, leading a few Atlantic 57 members to go “mysteriously missing” around lunchtime and others to lambast the fact that they picked the wrong Barry’s Bootcamp to attend. (We’re kidding about the first thing.)

Know friends or colleagues who might be interested in this newsletter? Forward it to them!