Subscription models have become a cornerstone for businesses across industries, from media to retailers and other brands, promising a steady revenue stream and deeper customer loyalty. In the media sector, publishers are implementing and building subscription models in a severely disrupted market with shifting advertising dollars and consumer expectations.
What lessons can others take from trends driving their subscription plans in 2025?
A changing landscape
“Media sells audiences (to advertisers).” That approach worked fine when publishers still controlled distribution and commanded advertising dollars. Over the past two decades, the duopoly of Google and Facebook fundamentally disrupted that model.
Fast-forward to 2025, and large language models (LLMs) are poised to wreak further havoc. Synthesised answers – delivered as coherent narratives – are replacing the blue search links we’ve grown so used to. No longer do you have to click through to get the information you want.
During 20+ years of this disruption, many publishers were slow to react. Even worse, many lost sight of their most important asset: loyal readers (rather than the advertising base).
That started to change as the disruption became more and more of an existential threat (many woke up to the fact too late). Audience-first (re-)emerged as an industry mantra. As part of the shift, (re-)developing reader revenue models became critical to their diversified business models. Subscriptions and memberships are core components within the reader revenue models.
Just last week, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University in the United Kingdom released its much-anticipated annual report, based on a survey of 326 digital leaders in 51 countries. Findings include that subscriptions and membership will remain their most significant revenue focus (77%), ahead of display (69%) and native (59%) advertising and another developing audience-focused revenue stream, events (48%).
What does this have to do with retail?
There are lessons in how publishers have responded and continue to respond to technological disruption and changing consumer trends. Below are five trends likely to drive publisher subscription strategies in 2025. Consider how the following may play out in your business.
- Direct relationships protect against intermediaries.
- Niche products and services drive engagement.
- Trust and authenticity build loyalty.
- Subscriptions build habit. Community enhances value.
- AI enables hyper-personalisation and retention.
1. Mass media decline drives niche product growth:
As mass media continues to decline, developing special interest, niche products and building communities around them present a more robust publisher model.
This trend also underpins the rise of the independent creator class (think video, podcasts, and newsletters) and the continued success of B2B media. In 2025, more publishers will build products around specialist topics and expert writers, including co-opting creators.
This matters for subscriptions. Niche publishing offers product development opportunities and aids higher retention rates. The logic is simple: the more passionate someone is about a topic, the more willing they are to pay for relevant content, community, or both.
2. Trust is a subscription driver:
Over the years, trust in institutions has faced a steady decline. Fake news, misinformation, toxic discourse and manufactured outrage are fire on social media platforms. Free speech without consequence appears to be the new currency. AI has the potential to accelerate the development and dissemination of misinformation.
In this context, audiences will increasingly put their trust in people. Their authenticity is a key driver. For media, this means opportunities to:
- Collaborate with credible niche content creators with strong audience loyalty.
- Build journalist-led mini brands.
- Lean into hyper-niche, personality-driven content.
- Build transparency – such as providing “behind the scenes” content or access to experts – into a competitive advantage.
This creates opportunities to pivot from institution-centric models to personality-driven, transparent and community-focused strategies – with authenticity and trust driving subscription and membership success.
3. Subscription strategies continue to shift from growth to retention:
After years of focusing on growth, 2024 marked a slowdown in growth and a shift to retention and improving customer lifetime value.
Publishers are using complementary approaches such as:
- Deepening engagement with personalised experiences and premium features.
- Building community through subscriber-only spaces and events.
- Introducing innovative pricing models.
The aim is to transform transactional relationships into habitual engagement – making subscriptions part of subscribers’ daily routines rather than just another monthly expense. This shift matters because engaged subscribers stay longer and are more receptive to upselling opportunities like premium tiers, specialised services and events.
4. AI puts further impetus on direct customer relationships:
Generative AI fundamentally changes how people discover and consume information. Instead of browsing multiple sources, users increasingly receive AI-synthesised answers. This risks making individual publishers invisible.
Subscriptions become more than a revenue stream. They’re a defensive moat against AI disintermediation. By building direct, regular touchpoints with readers, subscriptions help publishers:
- Maintain their distinct voice.
- Collect first-party data to drive deeper audience insights and engagement.
- Continuously enhance their value proposition even as AI reshapes content discovery.
5. AI enables hyper-personalisation:
Algorithms already drive personalised experiences, but 2025 will see an intensified focus on hyper-personalisation to enhance engagement and retention.
For publishers, AI’s ability to analyse user data – such as reading behaviour, time spent on content, and format preferences – will enable them to:
- Deliver highly personalised content in real-time.
- Tailor recommendations and dynamic pricing based on user preferences.
The result? More engaged audiences, better subscription products and higher retention rates.
In summary:
Technology will keep changing customer expectations and behaviours. Personalised, meaningful and authentic experiences will be universal drivers of loyalty. Retailers can find ideas in how media companies use strategies like niche offerings, community building, and hyper-personalisation to refine approaches to subscription models.
It is not about imitating them but drawing inspiration from their response to disruption.
Cobus Heyl
Hely is a Content Partner at Atlas and Founder of That Coalition, a fractional event services and content provider.
Hely has worked with third-party clients such as Chartbeat, Lineup Systems, and Tubular Labs in Europe and the US, Prospect in the UK, and industry bodies such as PRCA (Communications and Public Affairs) in the UK, MVFP (German Publishers Association) and the Association of Indian Media (AIM).
Subscribe!
Our editor carefully curates two InternetRetailing newsletters a week filled with up-to-date news, analysis and research. In addition to this, there is a dedictaed mailer focusing on the subscription economy with detailed commentary from Heyl every second Wednesday – click here to subscribe to the FREE newsletter.
And why not follow us on LinkedIn to receive the latest updates on our research and analysis.
You are in: Home » Subscriptions » From media to retail, with love: subscription trends to watch in 2025
From media to retail, with love: subscription trends to watch in 2025
Cobus Heyl
Subscription models have become a cornerstone for businesses across industries, from media to retailers and other brands, promising a steady revenue stream and deeper customer loyalty. In the media sector, publishers are implementing and building subscription models in a severely disrupted market with shifting advertising dollars and consumer expectations.
What lessons can others take from trends driving their subscription plans in 2025?
A changing landscape
“Media sells audiences (to advertisers).” That approach worked fine when publishers still controlled distribution and commanded advertising dollars. Over the past two decades, the duopoly of Google and Facebook fundamentally disrupted that model.
Fast-forward to 2025, and large language models (LLMs) are poised to wreak further havoc. Synthesised answers – delivered as coherent narratives – are replacing the blue search links we’ve grown so used to. No longer do you have to click through to get the information you want.
During 20+ years of this disruption, many publishers were slow to react. Even worse, many lost sight of their most important asset: loyal readers (rather than the advertising base).
That started to change as the disruption became more and more of an existential threat (many woke up to the fact too late). Audience-first (re-)emerged as an industry mantra. As part of the shift, (re-)developing reader revenue models became critical to their diversified business models. Subscriptions and memberships are core components within the reader revenue models.
Just last week, the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University in the United Kingdom released its much-anticipated annual report, based on a survey of 326 digital leaders in 51 countries. Findings include that subscriptions and membership will remain their most significant revenue focus (77%), ahead of display (69%) and native (59%) advertising and another developing audience-focused revenue stream, events (48%).
What does this have to do with retail?
There are lessons in how publishers have responded and continue to respond to technological disruption and changing consumer trends. Below are five trends likely to drive publisher subscription strategies in 2025. Consider how the following may play out in your business.
1. Mass media decline drives niche product growth:
As mass media continues to decline, developing special interest, niche products and building communities around them present a more robust publisher model.
This trend also underpins the rise of the independent creator class (think video, podcasts, and newsletters) and the continued success of B2B media. In 2025, more publishers will build products around specialist topics and expert writers, including co-opting creators.
This matters for subscriptions. Niche publishing offers product development opportunities and aids higher retention rates. The logic is simple: the more passionate someone is about a topic, the more willing they are to pay for relevant content, community, or both.
2. Trust is a subscription driver:
Over the years, trust in institutions has faced a steady decline. Fake news, misinformation, toxic discourse and manufactured outrage are fire on social media platforms. Free speech without consequence appears to be the new currency. AI has the potential to accelerate the development and dissemination of misinformation.
In this context, audiences will increasingly put their trust in people. Their authenticity is a key driver. For media, this means opportunities to:
This creates opportunities to pivot from institution-centric models to personality-driven, transparent and community-focused strategies – with authenticity and trust driving subscription and membership success.
3. Subscription strategies continue to shift from growth to retention:
After years of focusing on growth, 2024 marked a slowdown in growth and a shift to retention and improving customer lifetime value.
Publishers are using complementary approaches such as:
The aim is to transform transactional relationships into habitual engagement – making subscriptions part of subscribers’ daily routines rather than just another monthly expense. This shift matters because engaged subscribers stay longer and are more receptive to upselling opportunities like premium tiers, specialised services and events.
4. AI puts further impetus on direct customer relationships:
Generative AI fundamentally changes how people discover and consume information. Instead of browsing multiple sources, users increasingly receive AI-synthesised answers. This risks making individual publishers invisible.
Subscriptions become more than a revenue stream. They’re a defensive moat against AI disintermediation. By building direct, regular touchpoints with readers, subscriptions help publishers:
5. AI enables hyper-personalisation:
Algorithms already drive personalised experiences, but 2025 will see an intensified focus on hyper-personalisation to enhance engagement and retention.
For publishers, AI’s ability to analyse user data – such as reading behaviour, time spent on content, and format preferences – will enable them to:
The result? More engaged audiences, better subscription products and higher retention rates.
In summary:
Technology will keep changing customer expectations and behaviours. Personalised, meaningful and authentic experiences will be universal drivers of loyalty. Retailers can find ideas in how media companies use strategies like niche offerings, community building, and hyper-personalisation to refine approaches to subscription models.
It is not about imitating them but drawing inspiration from their response to disruption.
Cobus Heyl
Hely is a Content Partner at Atlas and Founder of That Coalition, a fractional event services and content provider.
Hely has worked with third-party clients such as Chartbeat, Lineup Systems, and Tubular Labs in Europe and the US, Prospect in the UK, and industry bodies such as PRCA (Communications and Public Affairs) in the UK, MVFP (German Publishers Association) and the Association of Indian Media (AIM).
Subscribe!
Our editor carefully curates two InternetRetailing newsletters a week filled with up-to-date news, analysis and research. In addition to this, there is a dedictaed mailer focusing on the subscription economy with detailed commentary from Heyl every second Wednesday – click here to subscribe to the FREE newsletter.
And why not follow us on LinkedIn to receive the latest updates on our research and analysis.
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