Tuesday Buzz: The Guardian Doubles Down on Membership

When you’re an organization as large as Guardian News & Media, how do you ensure the financial future of your media outlet when you’re forced to cut costs by 20 percent? (That’s more than $70 million U.S. dollars, by the way.)

You double down on membership, that’s how. The publisher of the Guardian, best known in recent years for working with WikiLeaks  (opens in a new tab) and breaking the Edward Snowden story  (opens in a new tab), has announced a plan to double its membership revenues from $43 million to $86 million within the next three years by making membership a central element of its media offerings.

“Over the next three years, a growing and far deeper set of relationships with our audience will result in a reimagining of our journalism, a sustainable business model and a newly-focused digital organization that reflects our independence and our mission,” Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner said on Monday  (opens in a new tab).

It might be a good idea to keep an eye on those efforts in the coming years. (By the way, if you wanna see transparency in action, check out how the newspaper handled a member complaint recently  (opens in a new tab).)

Don’t Get Buried

5 Emails Your Association Should Send to Increase Memberships https://t.co/ynmUI8qzf4  (opens in a new tab)

— Everything Marketing (@evrythngmrktng) January 26, 2016  (opens in a new tab)

People receive tons of emails daily. How are you supposed to get a prospective member or two out of that mess?

The latest piece from HubSpot  (opens in a new tab) offers a ton of smart thinking on how to best use email marketing as a way to attract new members. The main thing, when it comes down to it, is that your email messages should remain focused on the personal touch that your organization offers at events or elsewhere. A key example of this is simply saying thank you.

“Always thank your members—this small gesture can go a long way,” writer Nick Cholakis explains. “When someone new joins, thank him or her, and drop a reminder of the benefits of the memberships upfront. Find subtle ways to make your audience feel appreciated.”

Other Links of Note

Incorporate an editorial calendar into your life! Nonprofit marketer Kivi LeRoux Miller breaks down how to use the workflow app Asana  (opens in a new tab), along with Google Calendar and Microsoft Excel  (opens in a new tab).

Speaking of organization, Lifehacker says that the new Gmail-based email-sorting tool Sortd is worth a look or three  (opens in a new tab).

Reddit has “ask me anything” sessions. Why shouldn’t your conference? Event Manager Blog highlights a new question-heavy trend  (opens in a new tab).

(Richard Dawson/Flickr)