Friday 19th July: Political podcasts explode in popularity

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Groupe Sud Ouest, one of France’s largest regional publishers, had a wealth of great content, but achieving their ambitious newsletter subscription targets proved a challenge with their existing email setup.

Learn how they used Echobox Email’s AI-automation to personalize their newsletters and grow subscriptions by 400% while saving 80 hours per week. All in less than a year.

Much of the hype around podcasting may have faded, and it’s been notable that some publishers have been cutting back on shows. But sheesh, look at the figures here. Top political podcasts saw downloads rise more than 50% in the run up to the UK election, with the YouTube versions of shows getting millions of downloads.

Bron Maher has done a fantastic job of rounding up (and estimating) as much data as possible in this really thorough piece. What strikes me is what a good tool podcasts are for key news moments like these – of which there are expected to be many this year between sporting events and elections.

Audiences may be overwhelmed and shying away from the 24/7 news cycle. But a snappy daily or weekly podcast which smartly analyses what’s been happening and why? It’s no surprise these publishers are reaping the benefits.

As a publisher, it can be easy to lean on your own channels to promote newsletter sign-ups. But here, Dan Oshinsky makes a good case for approaching it in a more holistic fashion, making use of earned, algorithmic and paid as well to support a solid growth strategy and wider audience engagement.

The industry was quick to pronounce the death of the free daily when the Evening Standard reduced its print output last month. But Metro have shown here that savvy restructuring, and more importantly, a strong sales message, can still make a print daily sustainable. “We’ve just relearnt how to tell a brilliant story about this brilliant brand,” MD Richard Thomson said about the commercial team’s success.

If you’re a man who’s got this far into the newsletter, you may read the above and think, ‘not relevant to me’. But actually, I’d challenge you to give it a read. Not only is it a superbly written piece by Journo Resources Follow Ayza Alavi, but it draws on a range of opinions and perspectives into a complex issue which you may not have ever considered. (I also have been told I looked ‘tired’ when I didn’t wear make up to the office, and am thankful for remote/flexible working now so I rarely have to bother with it!)

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