Launching a membership model: Test, Track, Alter, Improve, and Scale

In 2018, Daily Maverick faced a financial crossroads, with ad revenue declining and bills piling up. Instead of resorting to a paywall, the team committed to keeping quality journalism free and accessible by launching a membership program. Harris believes the program’s success comes from understanding both their product and their members' needs, combined with constant experimentation.

"Our mantra is simple: test, track, alter, improve, and scale. If you don't try new things, you'll never discover what truly works," says Harris. 

Small team, big impact

Daily Maverick’s membership team is small but effective. Harris explains that the full-time team includes herself and a customer service lead, with support from the General Manager of Reader Revenue, a data analyst, and soon, an engagement specialist.

Using data to measure success

At Daily Maverick, the success of an article is measured through various metrics, depending on the focus. For those in audience engagement, key indicators include page views and the time readers spend on the page. From a membership standpoint, the primary metrics are conversion rates—specifically, how many readers sign up for membership through the article’s on-site messaging.

Read how other media professionals evaluate the success of an article in their newsrooms 

Daily Maverick initially struggled to turn vast amounts of data into actionable insights due to the lack of a comprehensive BI platform. “Journalism isn’t an industry where we can afford to invest in ‘nice-to-have’ tools,” Harris notes. They are implementing a SQL server and Looker Studio for better data visualization and have hired a data analyst to make insights more accessible to the team.

Key metrics for retention and growth

Continuous monitoring is a priority at Daily Maverick. "You don’t want to realize two weeks later that your messaging has been ineffective," says Harris. They focus daily on key metrics for retention, acquisition, and engagement. If specific messaging on a site ribbon isn’t performing, they quickly adjust it. This proactive approach helps them maximize traffic, understand what’s working, and make adjustments.

Retention strategies for membership growth

Retention is a must-have focus at Daily Maverick. "Acquiring new members is harder than retaining them, and that's why retention is crucial," Harris points out. 

She dedicates significant time to monitoring retention metrics, with a keen eye on churn rates. "We break churn down into involuntary—like payment failures—and voluntary, while also keeping a close watch on customer lifetime value (LTV)," Harris explains. These metrics, she says, are critical to understanding the health of their membership program.

Managing payment failures

One of the biggest challenges, according to Harris, is managing payment failures. "We closely track why payments fail—whether it’s an expired card, a lost or stolen one, or another issue." This data allows them to send tailored messages to address these specific problems, reducing involuntary churn.

Preventing membership cancellations

To prevent cancellations, Daily Maverick offers members the option to pause their subscription if they temporarily cannot afford it. This approach makes it easier for members to restart their subscriptions later rather than cancel outright.

Keeping members with website notifications

A significant improvement has been their shift in messaging strategy. Initially, they could only display sign-up prompts, but now they can also notify members about payment issues directly on the site. This real-time, on-site communication has been a game changer, allowing them to address problems right where members are.

Retaining members with effective newsletter onboarding

Newsletters also play a pivotal role in Daily Maverick’s retention strategy. "Our most engaged readers are usually those who subscribe to our newsletters," Harris explains. To boost engagement, they’ve designed a 9-step onboarding process that gradually introduces new members to the full range of their membership benefits over three months. “We know that engaged people are more likely to remain members,” she adds.

Applying Daily Maverick’s data strategy in your newsroom

#1 Analyze data daily

"Analyze data daily to stay ahead," says Julia Harris. "We're committed to diving into the data every day to prevent problems before they arise." She adds that hiring a dedicated data analyst was a significant win, as it makes the data more understandable and useful across the team.

#2 Have an audience engagement team

Two team members focus on audience engagement, producing "The Daily Data Memo." Every morning, they analyze the previous day’s stories to identify:

• What performed well
• Trending topics
• Traffic sources (e.g., search, newsletters)

This information is first shared with the editorial team but also benefits the business side. "If a topic resonates, we adjust our marketing messaging to capitalize on it and see if it works as an acquisition campaign," says Harris.

#3 Know your benchmarks

Knowing benchmarks allows for adjustments when something isn’t performing—or when it’s doing better than expected.

#4 Keep experimenting

Testing small elements like subject lines, button colors, or the color of an on-site ribbon can significantly impact results. Harris shares, "We recently changed the color of a ribbon on our site, and the conversion rate more than doubled. Those small adjustments really add up."