Panos Sarlanis, co-founder of I Am Expat, speaking at The Audiencers festival on 24 June 2025

Last month (24 June), The Audiencers Festival brought together publishers from across Europe to share what they've learned about getting people to subscribe, keeping them happy, and making money in today's tricky digital world. Here's what works when it comes to building lasting relationships with subscribers.

Belgian media group Mediahuis Belgium reaches 2 million people every day and has 432,000 digital subscribers. But there's a catch: the average subscriber is 64.5 years old. That's prompted some serious soul-searching about how to attract younger readers.

Their first attempt - a 20 per cent student discount - was a flop because it turned out that students were sharing accounts with their parents, according to Katia Bebusschere, manager of acquisition and conversion, Mediahuis Belgium.

So they tried something different. In September 2023, they launched Plus subscription for 18-26 year olds: three years of access for €1 per week, cancel anytime, full access to five different publications. They focused on providing trustworthy news and fighting fake stories, and made sure people couldn't share accounts.

What worked: They tested two different approaches—one that shouted about the low price, another that focused on "getting the full story" with relevant news. Both worked equally well, though the content-focused campaign took much more effort to pull off.

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