Media & Publishing Audience Engagement in
the Digital Age

Transform your media business with strategies that drive subscriber growth, advertising revenue, and audience engagement. We help publishers, broadcasters, and digital media companies navigate disruption and build sustainable business models.

Media's business model reinvention.

Media companies face existential challenges: fragmenting audiences, declining traditional revenue, platform dependency, and shifting consumption patterns. Success requires reinventing business models-building direct subscriber relationships, diversifying revenue streams, leveraging data for personalization, and competing with technology giants for attention and dollars.

Industry Challenges

  • Revenue disruption

    Declining print/broadcast revenue outpaces digital growth.

  • Audience fragmentation

    Competition from social platforms and streaming services.

  • Subscription fatigue
    Consumer resistance to multiple subscription services.
  • Ad model pressure
    Programmatic pricing and ad blocking erode margins.

How We Help

  • Subscription growth
    Build acquisition, engagement, and retention engines for subscribers.
  • Revenue diversification
    Develop events, commerce, licensing, and other revenue streams.
  • Audience intelligence
    Leverage data to personalize content and drive engagement.
  • Digital monetization
    Optimize advertising, sponsorships, and programmatic revenue.

Media Industry Landscape

Key trends reshaping the media and publishing sector.

$3.5T
Global Media Market

Total market size including digital by 2030

82%
Video Consumption

Share of internet traffic by 2025

10%
Digital Growth

Digital media CAGR through 2030

$9.20
Avg Subscription

Monthly digital news/content subscription

Media Transformation Stories

Real results from publishers and media companies that reinvented their business models.

Digital Subscription Scale-Up

Challenge

A regional newspaper had only 8,000 digital subscribers despite 200K monthly unique visitors, leaving significant revenue potential untapped.

Solution

We redesigned the paywall strategy, implemented tiered subscription offerings, created conversion-optimized landing pages, built email nurture campaigns, and trained teams on digital subscriber retention.

Outcome

Digital subscribers grew to 47,000 in 18 months, churn decreased from 38% to 12%, ARPU increased 34%, and digital subscription revenue exceeded print for the first time.

Audience & Revenue Growth

Challenge

A B2B trade publication struggled with declining print advertising and flat website traffic, facing existential threats to the business model.

Solution

We developed a multi-channel audience growth strategy, launched industry events and webinars, created premium content tiers, and built a data intelligence product for advertisers.

Outcome

Website traffic grew 156%, event revenue reached $2.8M annually, advertising revenue stabilized and grew 12%, and overall profitability improved significantly.

Media Company Repositioning

Challenge

A local broadcast station faced declining viewership and advertising revenue as audiences shifted to streaming and social platforms.

Solution

We repositioned the brand as a digital-first local news platform, launched OTT streaming apps, created social-first video content, developed direct advertising sales, and built community engagement programs.

Outcome

Digital audience grew 4.3x, streaming ad revenue reached $3.2M, social video views exceeded 50M monthly, and total revenue returned to growth after 5 years of decline.

Membership Model Transformation

Challenge

An independent media outlet relied solely on advertising but wanted to build direct reader support without alienating the existing audience.

Solution

We designed a membership program with multiple tiers, created exclusive benefits for members, implemented soft paywalls for premium content, and built a fundraising campaign strategy.

Outcome

12,000 paid members generating $1.8M annual recurring revenue, 65% of revenue now comes from readers vs. advertisers, and editorial independence increased dramatically.

Media Industry Expertise

Insights from advisors who understand media business model transformation.
mike-hoffman-headshot-600x600@2x

Mike Hoffman

CEO, SBI Growth Advisory

Media companies that build direct relationships with audiences-through subscriptions, memberships, or communities-create defensible businesses less vulnerable to platform changes.
Read CEO insights
john-staples-headshot-600x600@2x

John Staples

Sr. Partner, Talent Practice Lead

The most successful media companies diversify revenue streams early and aggressively, building multiple paths to monetization before any single stream becomes critical.
Read CRO playbooks
isaac-silverman

Isaac Silverman

CTO

AI enables media companies to personalize at scale, optimize content distribution, predict churn, and automate revenue operations-creating sustainable competitive advantages.
Learn about SBI Wayforge™

Ready to Transform Your Media Business?

Schedule a Consultation Explore Our Approach