Discover how this independent South African publisher is using AI to drive its membership growth – turning casual visitors into committed community members

By: Talia Kincaid

The average news consumer isn’t exactly spoilt for choice. Between pop-up paywalls and unvetted information flooding social media, reader trust is steadily eroding (understandably so). While subscription models dominate the media landscape, Daily Maverick’s voluntary subscription approach, where readers pay what they can if they can, keeps our journalism freely accessible to all. Yet, with reader interest declining rapidly globally, we’re turning to AI to take reader revenue to the next level, backed by the JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, supported by the Google News Initiative.

The rise of digital media has transformed how we consume news, endlessly searching, streaming and scrolling across platforms, hungry for real-time updates and deeper insights. But this easy access also fuels misinformation and disinformation, threatening independent journalism’s very survival.

In times like these, innovation isn’t optional – it’s essential. AI offers the power to revolutionise journalism by boosting efficiency, driving growth and helping media outlets adapt to shifting consumer habits and the relentless rise of digital platforms.

Daily Maverick is proud to be one of 35 global newsrooms, selected out of 700 applicants, for the 2024 JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, a nine-month programme led by the London School of Economics’ JournalismAI team. This opportunity has enabled us to develop Revenue360 (Rev360), an ambitious suite of AI-powered tools designed to deepen reader engagement, grow our Maverick Insider community and demonstrate the real-world impact of our journalism.

Why Rev360? Why now?

“As a whole, the project is crucial for supporting our journalism. Funding for independent media is getting harder and harder to come by,” explained Alet Law, head of audience development at Daily Maverick. “There’s always a need to innovate and find creative solutions to this challenge.”

Unlike many media outlets that rely heavily on paywalls or advertising, Daily Maverick’s financial model centres on voluntary contributions from our Maverick Insider community, which accounts for 40% of our revenue. This approach keeps our journalism free for everyone, relying on reader support to sustain our work.

Rev360, developed with support from the JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, is designed to optimise this award-winning membership model through AI-driven improvements at every stage of the engagement funnel and is fundamentally rooted in three pillars of reader revenue: acquisition, engagement and retention.

“We call it ‘360’ because none of these pillars can, or should, exist in isolation,” said Fran Beighton, head of growth at Daily Maverick. “Acquisition in membership only happens as a result of the impact of our journalism. If there’s no impact, there’s no impetus to support.”

Optimised landing page

Our current Maverick Insider landing page has a lower-than-average conversion rate.

“We’ve wanted to redesign the Maverick Insider landing page for a number of years and Rev360 has allowed us to finally do this,” said Julia Harris, head of reader revenue.

“We’re testing the new page against our existing landing page and are making use of new analytics such as heatmaps to guide our decision-making,” said Harris.

The goal is to launch a streamlined, user-friendly page where AI-driven A/B testing and user analytics will allow us to continuously refine and personalise the experience for different campaigns and audiences.

Optimising the landing page is critical to “make it quicker and easier for people who have the intention of supporting by becoming members to complete their sign-up,” Beighton added.

Small changes can make a huge difference to conversion rates, and we’re excited to see what the data reveals, Harris said.

Daily Maverick Connect: Building a community

“Retention doesn’t happen without engagement. Readers need to feel that they belong, that they are part of something significant,” Beighton said.

Until now, readers could connect with us but not with each other. Recognising the need to foster stronger community engagement, Daily Maverick is launching Daily Maverick Connect, an online platform built on Discourse.

“For years we at Daily Maverick have had the privilege of the support of these members – and not just their financial support: we’ve hired from this group, we’ve leaned on their expertise; we’ve even had event spaces donated; they’ve chosen our book covers […] with ‘Daily Maverick Connect’ we want to open this network up so that members can connect with each other,” Beighton said.

It’s imperative to understand that the one thing our Maverick Insiders share in common is that they’re paying for a free service to ensure that those who can’t afford to pay still have access to quality journalism.

“That’s special. This community platform breaks down a barrier that will allow our members to truly become part of Daily Maverick, it’s their platform.”

Progress in action

“[Working on Daily Maverick Connect] has been a deep learning curve,” said Law. “Creating something from scratch means thinking about every detail – from technical aspects and user experience to content and communication,” both internally and externally, she said.

The platform will initially only be available to Insiders, offering a space for members to connect, network and collaborate around shared interests. AI-powered tools will assist with content moderation and conversation analysis, helping maintain a positive environment and providing insights to improve user experience.

“We haven’t put anything into practice yet, but I think I’m excited to see what comes of it,” said Law.

The team aims to have the platform live by early July, with editorial staff joining soon after.

“Our hope for [Daily Maverick Connect] is that [our supporters] will derive genuine value from it; whether that’s new business opportunities or just finding a like-minded padel partner or a new book club.

Impact Framework: Measuring what matters

The Impact Framework is Daily Maverick’s new strategy to make impact the guiding principle of our journalism. By combining proactive planning before publication with robust post-publication tracking, it helps inform newsroom decisions, optimise resource allocation and build reader trust.

At the heart of this framework is the Impact Engine, an AI-powered tool that analyses our articles and tracks their influence on public discourse, including references in parliamentary records. Alongside this we’re adopting new workflows to plan for impact intentionally and systematically track outcomes – ensuring every story’s potential influence is considered from start to finish.

What’s next?

As we enter the next phase, our focus is on scaling Rev360, sharing our learnings and refining each component based on real-world feedback.

“The support of JournalismAI has turned what was once only pipe dreams into reality,” said Beighton.

We believe Rev360 can become a model for independent publishers worldwide – proof that with the right tools and support, even small newsrooms can lead the way in innovation.

This article was originally published by the Daily Maverick here.

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This article is part of a series providing updates from 35 grantees on the JournalismAI Innovation Challenge, supported by the Google News Initiative. Click here to read other articles from our grantees.

AI is powering reader revenue at Daily Maverick