I just dove into Tom Goodwin’s provocative piece, “We’ve forgotten how to market. So, how should today’s playbook look?”—which I first spotted in BoSack’s newsletter (highly recommend subscribing if you haven’t!)—and it got me thinking: what if you ran a niche magazine or a specialist news outlet—how would you apply his six-pronged revival plan to your world?
1. Reclaim the Classics
When you’re covering, say, indie architecture or artisanal food, you already know your audience’s quirks. But have you written down your positioning statement lately? Dust off that 4-Ps playbook:
- Segmentation: Beyond “interested in craft beer,” drill into motivations—collectors hunting rare brews, home-brewers, industry pros.
- Proposition & Consistency: If your magazine promises “deep dives into brewing’s alpine terroir,” every newsletter, cover story, and Instagram Reel must echo that core promise.
By re-centering these fundamentals, you build a loyal, identifiable readership that transcends fickle click metrics.
2. Pick & Polish the New Tools
Goodwin isn’t anti-tech—he just wants us to be choosy. For your niche title:
- Retargeting with Purpose: Don’t just chase “abandoned carts.” Use web analytics to spot readers who read three long-form essays in a session—serve them a webinar invite or premium newsletter upsell.
- Lookalike Audiences: Model your highest-value subscribers (annual-plan renewers) and find similar prospects on social platforms. But keep it tight: a narrow +5% lookalike is better than broad +20%.
- Creative Testing, Lightly: A/B test subject lines for your subscription emails, but only iterate on those that truly shift conversion by more than 10%.
The key? Only invest in tech that measurably deepens engagement or loyalty, not vanity metrics.
3. Define Your Success on Your Terms
Are your quarterly targets all about “lowering cost-per-click” or about “growing paid circulation by 15%”? Maybe you want to be known for live-streaming expert panels on emerging tech, even if that doesn’t spike immediate ad revenue. Clarify:
- Short-Term: Boost open rates on your weekend roundup from 25% to 35%.
- Long-Term: Cultivate a community around exclusive member-only Slack channels where your most passionate readers network.
When you know what you really care about, you can filter out the noise.
4. Fuse Old & New Playbooks
Put the two in dialogue:
- Classic Insight: A paid subscriber is 5× more valuable than an ad-only reader.
- Modern Tactic: Use cohort analysis (new tool!) to see which first-month issue topics yield the highest 6-month renewal rates.
You might discover that long investigative features drive retention more than listicles—and then double down on those premium stories.
5. Reimagine Your Canvas
Today’s screens are gorgeous and interactive. For a specialized news org:
- Interactive Infographics: Instead of a static pie chart on artisanal cheese markets, build a click-through journey that lets readers explore each region’s unique strains.
- Audio Supplements: Embed 2-minute mini-podcasts in your articles—think “soundscape of a New England dairy farm” alongside your written feature.
These high-quality, sensory-rich experiences align with Goodwin’s call for distinctive, creative work that stands out in a sea of bland ads.
6. Persuade the Powers That Be
This is often the toughest: convincing your board or investors that a six-month brand campaign—say, a “Founders Series” profiling craft producers—matters even if it doesn’t drive clicks immediately. Build your case by:
- Benchmarking Success: Show how other niche titles (e.g., a gourmet-pizza newsletter) saw a 20% lift in subscriptions six months after launching a video miniseries.
- Hybrid KPIs: Combine quantitative (subscription growth) with qualitative (Net Promoter Score, reader surveys on “how memorable was last month’s cover?”).
Frame it as “investment” rather than “cost,” and lean on your deep knowledge of your audience’s values.
Wrapping Up
If you’re running a niche magazine or specialist news outlet, Tom Goodwin’s rallying cry isn’t just about ditching hollow metrics—it’s about owning your unique space with conviction. Rediscover the bedrock of segmentation and consistency, wield modern tools to enrich—not distract—and champion the long game to stakeholders.
“Do we want to hide behind spreadsheets… or do we want to make work that we feel proud of?”
That question feels especially urgent when your brand is small but mighty. Here’s to bold, big-idea marketing in the specialist press—thanks again to BoSack’s newsletter for pointing me to this gem.