What happens if we think of content as a service, not a product? And how can you employ different types of content to do different jobs in your subscription businesses?
While the difference in content-as-a-service versus content-as-a-product might sound subtle, it emphasises different approaches to the content model.
Treat content as a product and it behaves like one: you create it, package it, and deliver it. Once consumed, the transaction ends. This leads to an endless content treadmill – more articles, more videos, more episodes.
Treat content as a service and it behaves differently: it enables ongoing engagement, builds relationships, creates communities, generates data, and opens multiple revenue streams. It’s less about the content itself and more about what it enables. For example:
- Spotify uses content to drive data insights for advertisers, not just listening.
- YouTube creators leverage content to sell subscriptions, branded merchandise, tutorials, and more.
- B2B event businesses use content to generate data, attract audiences, sell sponsorships, deliver networking and meeting opportunities, build communities and even memberships.
The service mindset also changes how you measure success. Product metrics focus on value and consumption – more content equals more value, cost per acquisition, and engagement minutes. Service metrics focus on customer lifetime value, cross-sell rates, community engagement, data quality and relationship depth.
There will be resistance to this thinking, especially in traditional media where content has long been treated as the product. And yes, that model can work. But thinking of content as a service challenges the thinking. It shifts the focus to utility and targeted value. It’s about what content enables.
Once you adopt the service mindset, the next question is about how different types of content deliver value. Each can play a distinct role in your business – some are better at attracting and converting, others at building relationships, generating data, or opening new revenue streams. Combined, they form your strategy.
Text, video and audio: Different jobs, shared impact
Of course, content comes in many flavours. Images, graphics, data visualisations, AR/VR and other immersive experiences are also powerful. But for this piece, I’d like to look at how the core content formats of text, video, and audio can support a content-as-a-service strategy throughout the subscription funnel.
Text: The multi-faceted workhorse
Written content is good at discoverability and authority-building. It pulls in audiences who actively seek solutions. It nurtures them through the funnel to subscriptions. It enables consistent value delivery. It remains the workhorse in the subscription economy.
Posts, long-form articles, reports, and newsletters excel at drawing in high-intent audiences and nurturing them with authority. The numbers support this. For example, companies that blog actively generate 67% more monthly leads than those without blogs, and those that prioritise blogging see 126% higher lead growth.
Text is so central to newsletters. For publishers, for example, newsletters are critical to attracting, engaging and retaining readers. At The New York Times, subscribers who receive subscriber-only newsletters have measurably higher retention. The Times’ newsletter service also gives it rich insight into readers’ interests and helps drive targeted cross-promotions and upsells. Moreover, The Times also reports that bundle or multi-product subscribers – often reached through text-based newsletters – engage more, stay longer, and spend more over time.
Text remains the foundation because of its versatility. It captures intent, builds trust, and delivers ongoing value in a way few other formats can. In short, it connects the dots. Its service value is in how it converts discovery into engagement, engagement into data, and data into durable relationships.
Other formats build on the base text provides. Video adds emotion, immediacy, and reach, while audio creates intimacy and habit – both extending the service value that text establishes.
Video: The emotional driver
As a service, video reduces friction in the customer journey, solving decision-making problems quickly while building emotional trust.
It aids memorability. Viewers retain 95% of a message via video, compared with just 10% via text. That matters in practice. For example, landing pages with video can drive conversions over 80% higher.
Video can frame stories fast. The Dollar Shave Club launch video from 2012 is a classic. A 90-second YouTube clip, shot on a shoestring budget, went viral and drove 12,000 sign-ups in 48 hours. The video solved customer problems and demonstrated value, personality, and differentiation in under two minutes.
In subscriptions, video can help build trust. Trailers and behind-the-scenes content help viewers grasp what they’re signing up for. Unboxing and tutorial clips show continued value beyond the first purchase.
Now, short-form video dominates discovery. TikTok, Instagram Reels, and YouTube Shorts have become essential distribution channels. And authentic clips often outperform polished productions because they feel genuine.
Duolingo’s TikTok strategy proves this point. Its playful, irreverent content – led by its mischievous owl mascot – builds brand affinity that traditional advertising couldn’t match. Since shifting to a social-first approach in 2021, Duolingo has let Duo behave less like a polished brand rep and more like an internet creator. The result? Videos that make users smile and open the Duolingo app.
Audio: The engagement powerhouse
Audio stands out because of how deeply people engage with it, and how attracted younger audiences are to it.
One stat holds that over 70% of podcast listeners finish most or all of each episode, and nearly half tune in within 24 hours of its release. That level of habitual listening creates sustained attention and brand affinity that few formats can match.
Denmark’s Zetland is a striking example. Its “user needs” approach led it to invest heavily in audio, which CEO Tav Klitgaard describes as one of the most crucial reasons for its subscription success. More than 80% of Zetland’s audience now consumes stories via audio, making it the publication’s core delivery format. But audio hasn’t just increased engagement. It’s also helped Zetland attract younger subscribers and build long-term loyalty.
In the UK, Tortoise Media has leaned heavily into audio-first publishing, with its daily news and long-form investigative podcasts. The company’s Tortoise+ audio subscription offers early, ad-free access and attracts a notably young audience, with the average listener 29 years old. The Observer, now under Tortoise’s umbrella, continues that audio-forward strategy, building on its app-based, curated listening experience to retain and deepen engagement.
Other brands are finding similar service value in audio. The Irish Times offers AI-narrated articles as a subscriber service, solving time-constraint barriers. The Economist addresses “unread guilt” with an audio edition that has become a retention tool.
Audio provides convenience, accessibility, and habit. It makes content usable during commutes, workouts, or household routines, moments where text and video cannot. In doing so, it is a service that solves real problems: reducing churn by deepening perceived value, building daily habits, creating direct engagement, and tapping into trust through personality and presence.
What this means for subscription brands
Content has moved from being merely a marketing tool to being a foundational element of subscription success. Products, services, and prices on their own are not enough for subscription brands. The surrounding content and community experience can create real differentiation.
Subscription businesses in the content game must think like media companies, producing content that adds value beyond the core product. That could mean personalised recommendations, user communities, or multi-format storytelling. The goal is simple: build loyalty by delivering consistent, useful value.
However, as I’ve argued above, successful brands should adopt the mindset that content is a service. Content builds relationships, generates insight, supports communities, and opens new revenue opportunities. There’s a difference here. A product mindset optimises for volume and consumption. A service mindset optimises for utility and relationship depth.
The strongest players use content deliberately across formats, recognising distinct roles in the customer journey. Together, they create experiences that justify continued payment and avoid commoditisation. Ultimately, though, success does not depend on who publishes the most. It depends on who serves the best.
Cobus Heyl is a content partner at Atlas and founder of That Coalition, a fractional event services and content provider.
Heyl has worked with third-party clients such as Chartbeat, Flashes & Flames, Prospect and The Times & Sunday Times in the UK, and industry bodies such as PRCA (Communications and Public Affairs), MVFP (German Publishers Association), the Association of Indian Media (AIM) and FIPP – Connecting Global Media.
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 dedicated mailer focusing on the subscription economy 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.
