Hearst’s Papers Turn to Two-Way Texting to Boost Engagement

At a time when getting to know your audience is of primary importance, what better way than the two-way street of texting?

It’s easier said than done, but the ubiquitous text message has become a real option for some publishers looking to increase audience engagement and loyalty.

Hearst has been experimenting with SMS for limited-run campaigns like following the Astros to the World Series win in 2022 for Houston Chronicle readers and it has an ongoing weather program in San Francisco that began in late 2023. Readers opt-in to communicate with the team covering the relevant story, normally consisting of the beat reporter, and they can discuss the news or just shoot the breeze. With an opt-out rate of about 5%, readers are evidently enjoying the back and forth. The payback, however, is not always easily identifiable or quick.

“It’s very much a long tail, it’s slowly growing loyalty over time,” Alex Ptachick, senior director of new content initiatives at Hearst told AMO. She also worked on SMS campaigns with USA Today before joining Hearst. “Not everyone’s going to like it. I’m not going to be able to keep everyone happy, and some people are going to leave, but I think the majority of these folks are hooked, and they like what they’re seeing.”

Depending on search and social media to funnel traffic to websites has become increasingly difficult, and it’s still unclear how to play into the gen AI game. That has media companies diving deeper into figuring out who their audience is and how they can best serve them.

Traditionally, readers are broadcast at, either from a website, podcast or video. Two-way texting gives the reader a voice and a direct connection to the media in question, bringing them closer and building loyalty that’s hard to replicate otherwise. It takes work, and patience.

More Than Connection

Subtext is Hearst’s provider, though it’s not the only one offering the services. Omeda, which provides audience data platforms, recently added SMS, and Twilio is also in the business. Subtext expects to send 10 billion messages this year across dozens of countries for media companies like The New York Times and Conde Nast, as well as for pop stars and bands.

“You have this audience that is really impacted by the content from an individual artist or an individual journalist,” Mike Donoghue, co-founder and chief executive officer at Subtext, told AMO. “They want to create a more enduring connection.”

It’s not just about the connection. Text messages are also being used to reduce subscriber churn and wake up zombie subscribers while adding value to their paid digital subscription. Case in point: a campaign by Subtext with Gannett prompted a 35% drop in churn for those users.

“That is a really, really meaningful business outcome, it has a meaningful financial impact,” Donoghue said. And a key idea behind texting is that it’s not owned by any one company. That means the campaigns aren’t subject to sudden algorithmic changes or other big tech decision making that could disrupt the business.

Another use case is for a publication to live survey an audience during, say, a presidential debate and get immediate feedback on how viewers are seeing candidates, Donoghue said. The results can be shared and then analyzed to target, for example, those who thought a certain speaker was winning and dig further into their thoughts. That information can be used a dozen ways, from using the feedback to provide better content to readers to fashioning stories around the results.

Hearst’s Plans

Hearst has run several test campaigns like its weather-focused messages in San Francisco, where nearly 3,000 people signed up, and only about 5% have dropped out since its inception a year ago. It doesn’t hurt that it’s free.

And while the Astros campaign was a hit, part of the problem with the SMS model in some cases is who the audience is in touch with. If it’s a specific reporter—and it often is, since those are the specialists—publishers may take a hit if that person gets hired elsewhere, so there’s consideration at Hearst over how to best position these programs. Is it beat reporter A, or the expert team over at the Houston Chronicle?

Because it’s a two-way relationship, those on the publishing side have to be ready and willing to engage. You have to be prepared for when a few thousand messages come your way. There are quick replies that can be deployed, but AI isn’t an option—the whole idea behind the campaigns is authenticity.

Another consideration is the actual content of the message and when to send them. Who makes the decision as to what is prioritized? What about timing?

Ptachick ran an SMS campaign from the Tokyo Olympics. In order not to bother her audience in the middle of the night, she advised them to turn off their notifications and provided a how-to guide for those who needed the help. That campaign was so successful that the marketing program behind it was turned off, but signups kept growing. The reach became organic.

While the immediate benefits of such campaigns may not be clearly evident, and may be more nebulous than many investments, Hearst is committing. Nearly two months ago, the company signed a deal with Subtext with plans to scale in all of their major newspaper markets next year.

Among the campaigns are two including the University of Connecticut mens’ and womens’ basketball, another around wine in San Francisco and a third surrounding City Hall in Houston, where there’s a lot of talk around education—yet another high-converting topic.

“That two way conversation where you sort of mass message everyone, and then you can peel off and have these one to one combos, and that’s you could do it over email. It gets a little wonky, but really this is the best place we think to have that direct to audience, one on one convo,” Ptachick said.