Chris Stone, The New Statesman (left) and Patricia Vol'anska, Dennik N (right)

So your exciting new growth strategy has hit a ceiling and you cannot quite find a way to shift to the next gear?

Two case studies from Newsrewired last week (13 May 2025) showed how to get unstuck in the worlds of podcasts and subscriptions.

"We were stuck at around 70,000 subscribers for almost three years," says Patricia Volanska, head of social media, video, and podcast at Slovakia's Dennik N.

10 was their magic number: the publication launched a subscription campaign on its 10th anniversary, promising to deliver on 10 public pledges if 10,000 new subscribers signed up.

Dennik N introduced a "pay what you want" model for a 10-week trial subscription – including a €0 option, which just one quarter (24 per cent) decided to take up. The average contribution was €4 and the highest amount offered was €100.

What's even more spectacular, Dennik N retained three quarters of subscribers after the first renewal, and half after the second renewal.

The campaign was directly........

© journalism.co.uk