Digital subscription success absolutely relies on constant testing, along with curiosity, says Mark Campbell, chief marketing officer at Tribune Publishing Co.

“Just because something worked for another organisation doesn’t mean it’s going to work for ours,” Campbell said at the INMA Media Subscriptions Week in New York earlier this year. “So we are really thorough, careful, and robust in the way that we build a testing slate and measure the results.”

The Tribune team measures things such as:

• Did they grow subscriptions?
• Did they harm page views or ad revenue?
• Is it a change that ultimately benefits subscribers?

Some of the tests aren’t necessarily communicated in as transparent of a way to the user as they would like, Campbell continued. For example, if the team is testing different pricing amongst different audience segments, they wouldn’t be crystal clear about the range of prices.

“But within those nuances, we are able to better grow our digital subscription base, grow the revenue, and grow the funding that we can import back into the journalism.”

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