Campaign-led approach to reader revenue growth

Everyone has subscription fatigue now. As both news publishers and the likes of Netflix and Spotify prioritize subscription as their answer to growth, it’s now much harder to convince a reader they need a new one.
This panel explores time-bound, value-driven campaigns as a solution to driving growth in paying readership. It will draw on the examples of four successful campaigns from 2025, conducted by European publishers from the UK, Finland, Slovakia, and Ukraine.
Slovakia-based Dennik N’s campaign attracted more than 20,000 new subscribers in 2 weeks and started a new trend of pledge-driven campaigns. Finish news startup Uusi Juttu grew from zero to 25,000 members in under a year, in large part thanks to its successful launch campaign. Kyiv Independent, a Ukrainian news outlet, almost doubled its community size in 2025, driven by its campaign-focused approach. The Guardian concluded multiple campaigns across its key geographies, showing how goal-setting campaigns could be used at scale.
In this panel, we’ll hear from the people behind these campaigns about the lessons they've learned, the key tools and ideas that worked, as well as the broader impact these campaigns have had on reader retention and engagement.
Moderated by Zakhar Protsiuk.
Organised in association with The Kyiv Independent.