On this week’s episode of The Publisher Podcast we hear from Marissa Zanetti-Crume, Bloomberg Media’s Global Head of Product. Marissa talks about how her product team are collaborators, integrating content, technology, and commercial considerations.
We also spoke about Bloomberg Media’s newsletter strategy and how its 70-strong newsletter portfolio is a mix of subscriber exclusives and free newsletters positioned to deliver both revenue and reach. Marissa explains how the introduction of a live audio Q&A has given Bloomberg journalists the opportunity to engage directly with their audiences.
Here are some highlights, lightly edited for clarity:
The place of product roles
I see our role as being a connective tissue. First and foremost, a product manager’s role is to deeply understand the business and the customer, and work together with engineering to make sure that we’re building products and features that meet the needs of both the customer and the business.
As media companies have grown, and as the role of product in media companies has grown, that’s really expanded and it’s become complex in different ways as you think about who are all of the different customers. We also support the newsroom, and part of our mission is making sure that the audience is aware of our journalism.
So when we think about the work of the product team, I have some product managers who are subject matter experts in a particular area, and they’re really going deep – either they’re part of the business or they’re part of the product. Then we have product managers on the team who are really great at connecting the dots.
Where product teams have grown is our ability to really flex as the business has changed, as companies have changed, as media in general has changed. It’s been a really fun evolution.
An opportunity for newsletters
We did a lot of research in 2023 into 2024 to understand what our audience was really looking for. One of the things that kept coming up was this idea of context. I was surprised to hear that, because that’s not just a, ‘We want news about X.’ Our customers really want to understand the context about why this story is important, why the market moving is impactful. What a wonderful challenge, what a wonderful problem for us to be able to solve.
Newsletters provide a really unique opportunity for us to do that. They really provide a moment where our audience is opening their inbox, and they are taking the time to really consume that longer, deeper read that is providing the story behind the story, and really providing that context.
Newsletters don’t take a lot of technical engineering to get up and running, and that’s a plus. But we really see them resonating with our readers. We’ve got a large portfolio that we’re constantly evaluating and looking at and understanding if newsletters are continuing to really serve the needs of our readers. But we’ve continued to see growth across the portfolio, and I think that’s a sign that our audience likes this format, and we’re doing something right in how we’re approaching the newsletters.
Different formats for different audiences: print
We talk about format: we talk about newsletters, we talk about audio, and we still have a really strong audience coming to our website and leveraging our mobile app. Print is a part of that. Print is a format that consumers still want to consume in, and that’s important.
Business Week, our audience just really engages with this content [in print]. It’s providing longer reads that our audience is asking for. There are moments when they want to get caught up quickly on the news that’s happening, and there are other moments where they want to lean back and go deep on a particular story. Business Week is a place where we really successfully do that.
Thinking again about all those touch points, yes print, but there’s also a Business Week newsletter, and a Business Week show, and we promote our Business Week content on our site and our app. It’s really about creating those moments where we engage with the customer. If it’s in print, or if it’s in digital, or if it’s in your inbox, for me that’s all an opportunity to continue to promote Business Week and that content.
This season of The Publisher Podcast & Newsletter is sponsored by Memberful, a best-in-class membership solution for independent publishers and journalists who want to diversify their revenue stream and connect with their audience.
Memberful lets you offer membership perks and exclusive content to your loyal audience, giving you full control over who has access to your articles, newsletters, and podcast episodes.
Take control of your publishing business this year with Memberful. Visit memberful.com/publisherpod and get started with a free trial.
