Consumer media

From reach to relationships: a new model for best practice in consumer publishing

Best practice in consumer media has moved from reaching the most people to building the deepest relationships with the right ones. In a world of infinite AI content, a publisher’s edge is human authority, earned trust and a direct line to its audience.

For years, the measure of a good publisher was reach: push content out to as many people as possible and hope it lands. The platform era took that to its conclusion; media businesses, such as BuzzFeed, Vice and Mic, thrived off Meta’s gold rush moment, shareable listicles, quizzes and clickable headlines built to spread on social.

As the tide turned, publishers did what publishers do best, they pivoted again, this time leaning heavily into search to grow audiences. But in both instances businesses were writing for platform, not audience, and that left scale with little relationship.

Best practice today is the reverse. You create for an audience you know, with a feedback loop that tells you what they need and how well you are meeting it. Get that connection right and you are ready for whatever comes next.

Lead in core markets, not everywhere

The winning move is not to be everywhere, but to be the number one authority in a few spaces that matter to your audience. Strip back to the bigger areas where you can lead, then go deep on expertise, authority and trust rather than shallow breadth.

With AI overviews and an ever-expanding supply of creator content, audiences want expertise, and their trust needs to be earned. When a Radio Times journalist says a programme is worth your evening, that recommendation sits on thousands of hours of reviews and a brand with a reputation for its authoritative guidance. A Good Food recipe has been tested at least three times in a professional test kitchen and checked for nutrition and free-from credentials. Meanwhile, The Daily from the New York Times explains the anatomy of their story gathering, building a layer of human insight and deep expertise. In each case, a human is telling you what is worth your time.

Direct relationships are an asset

The strength of the business is the direct line to the people who value that authority. It’s the most valuable thing a consumer publisher owns. If you don’t know who your readers are, they’re one click from the next video, the next feed, and gone.

First-party data is central, not as a workflow efficiency, but to understand your audiences better and serve them, building stronger communities and building business resilience. It is symbiotic: utility and entertainment in exchange for the insight that makes the next thing better.

AI as accelerant

AI should also be integral to current and future workflows, as an accelerant of human talent. Used to understand audiences better, build faster, supercharge creativity and innovate at pace.

Whether it be prototyping a new app, clip generation, dynamic newsletters or personalisation at scale, the opportunities for publishers will only advance. Far from ending journalism, AI raises the value of human creativity. We’re at an industry inflection point where we’ve got a relatively level playing field, but the balance is temporary, it’s the moment for publishers to embrace.

Revenue follows the relationship

A healthy revenue mix starts with the same foundation – direct audience relationships. The strongest media businesses are not dependent on any single revenue stream, but multiple sources of value from a loyal and engaged audience.

Advertising is changing fast and won’t look the same in five years’ time. Value will shift towards richer, multi-channel partnerships, premium IP, and brand collaborations that connect advertisers with highly engaged, trusted and well-understood audiences. Equally, there’s significant opportunity to deepen reader relationships through diversified consumer revenue. Bundles, tiered memberships, events, commerce, merchandise and strategic partnerships not only create new income streams but strengthen audience loyalty and life-time value.

The brand-talent relationship

Audiences often have stronger relationships with the faces of the brand rather than the brand itself. The Athletic, Puck, even Substack, are all driven by specialist journalists, and build their success off authoritative names. The publishers succeeding in this space have a talent pipeline; both internal team members showing the inner workings of their storytelling, and external talent used in IP to drive scale and brand alignment.

Hire for attitude

None of this happens without the right people, and the capability that matters most is attitude. Hire for agility and curiosity, for the willingness to step forward as headwinds come; skills can be taught. What separates the publishers who thrive is simple to name, if not to do: real human authority, a direct relationship with the audience, and the agility to keep moving as the ground shifts.