Turning plenty of data into actionable insights can be a struggle for many publishers. At Daily Maverick, their obsession with data has driven remarkable success. Known for its investigative journalism and hard news, this South African outlet has turned 40% of its revenue into member-driven support in just six years.
We spoke with Julia Harris, Membership Manager at Daily Maverick, who shared how their commitment to data has played a crucial role in their success. Beyond just delivering news, their goal is to defend the truth and keep South Africans informed about local and global events.
In this interview, you'll discover:
- Key data strategies that helped Daily Maverick grow and retain members.
- How they reached 30,000 paying members.
- Practical data tips to apply in your own newsroom.
About Daily Maverick
Daily Maverick is a South African online news publication and weekly print newspaper, with offices in Cape Town and Johannesburg. Since 2009, they’ve earned trust by breaking some of the country’s biggest investigative stories. By 2024, they’re drawing 12 million unique website visits each month in a nation of 64 million.
As an independent outlet, Daily Maverick relies on memberships, advertising, events, and grants. Their membership program, launched in 2018, now contributes 40% of their revenue, driven by strategic use of data.
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."
Using reader feedback to improve retention
Net Promoter Score (NPS) is one of Daily Maverick’s key tools. They send an NPS survey three months into membership and follow up with annual surveys for deeper insights. They also manage around 800 emails weekly, ranging from questions and suggestions to complaints. Their approach to handling negative feedback is to "kill with kindness." By approaching feedback with empathy, they often turn negative situations into meaningful, positive conversations. "Engaging on a human level usually leads to positive responses," says Harris.
Boosting retention with personalization and automation
Harris acknowledges the challenge of meaningful personalization. "Everyone understands its importance, but executing it in a meaningful way is not always easy," she explains. Despite the challenges, even small steps in personalization have shown positive results. "Something as simple as including a member’s name in an email has made a noticeable difference," Harris notes. With the right tools, they can now segment users by interests, engagement levels, and the newsletters they subscribe to.
What’s next for data-driven journalism
Harris sees personalization and automation as key to continued growth. "With small teams, newsrooms need to automate wherever possible. Our automated workflows have already been a huge success, and expanding these will allow us to focus on strategic growth areas."
One standout example is their automated email journey for new subscribers to the marketing database. "We send them our top-performing marketing campaigns over a six-week period, including a Q&A for readers who visit our signup page but don't convert."
Advice on data strategy
If Harris could offer one piece of advice about data strategy, it would be: "Never stop obsessing. Maintain an interest in the data, always be curious, and continuously seek new things."
5 practical tips from Daily Maverick for improving retention for publishers
- Embrace a "test, track, alter, improve, and scale" approach. Continuously experiment, measure results, and refine your strategies.
- Prioritize retention. Keeping current members happy is easier and more cost-effective than acquiring new ones.
- Boost engagement. The more involved your members are, the less likely they are to leave.
- Make the most of personalization and automation. Use data to tailor experiences and automate processes for a smoother, more personalized experience.
- Make small, data-driven changes. Even minor tweaks, like an email subject line, can have a big impact.
Looking to grow your reader revenue with data-driven insights? Email us at [email protected] or subscribe to our newsletter for more publisher stories and strategies straight into your inbox.
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