The Power of Simplicity and Personalization in Subscription Growth: Aftenposten Case Study

A recurring theme that stood out at this year’s INMA Media Subscriptions Summit was simple UX and effective personalization can drive subscription growth. Even in markets where audience sizes may be declining, subscriptions can still experience significant growth through optimizing the entire reader experience—from initial discovery to long-term retention.

Aftenposten’s presentation by Karl Oskar Teien (Director of Product and UX), Johanne Barman-Jenssen (Brand Manager), and Eirik Hammersmark Winsnes (Commercial Director) particularly resonated with me in that regard. Facing a clear plateau in digital subscriber growth, Aftenposten recognized that the methods that brought them to 165k subscribers would not sustain further growth.

They set an ambitious goal to reach 200k digital subscribers by the end of 2025. But this time, rather than continuously optimizing for their existing, highly engaged audience, they expanded their perspective to include broader, emerging audiences with different preferences and consumption habits.

They’re well on their way to reaching their goal. Here are tips they shared.

1. Don’t rely on assumptions. Know your audience.

Aftenposten’s commitment to clearly knowing their audience rather than acting on assumptions gave them a strong foundation to reach their goal.

They started by analyzing data on 13 potential audience clusters. Then, they narrowed them down to five key segments and conducted user interviews with these groups. Finally, they selected four core target segments that had meaningful growth potential:

1. Analyst: Older male, in-depth reader, macro perspective
2. Empath: Older female, story-driven, seeks human context
3. Sporadic: Younger female, time-starved, prefers quick audio news
4. Surfer: Younger male, multi-source scanner, video-oriented

This structured process grounded their solutions firmly in audience realities rather than intuition alone.

2. Get the whole company on board with a shared philosophy

Crucially, Aftenposten broke down departmental silos by aligning editorial, product, and marketing teams around shared goals. Their internal philosophy was that “redefining a target audience will only lead to growth if you act daily on your newfound insights.”

This alignment translated into tangible changes:

• Marketing adjusted branding campaigns to speak directly to new audience segments.
• Product teams streamlined user experiences for simpler, more intuitive interactions.
• Editorial expanded content strategies beyond traditionally engaged readers, introducing new storytelling perspectives to attract younger and broader audiences.

This unified approach ensured strategies were not only designed but actively executed daily.

3. Blend human judgment and algorithms

Central to Aftenposten’s growth was their dynamic approach to personalization, carefully balancing algorithmic recommendations with editorial oversight, constantly scoring the newsworthiness of articles, and weighting articles within the homepage feed. Next to this scoring model, the homepage personalization is also adjusted based on the current context:

• Major news events: Editorial judgment takes precedence, ensuring wide visibility.
• Slower news cycles: Algorithmic personalization surfaces niche interests, driving deeper engagement.

During my conversation with Karl Oskar Teien (Director of Product and UX, Aftenposten), I shared a preferred metaphor for ideal personalization: “If you were wealthy enough to afford someone to personally bring you news, you’d want them to challenge you and broaden your horizons—not reinforce your existing views.”

Karl Oskar agreed which supports my belief that fully algorithmic personalization can never entirely fulfill news consumers’ needs. Editorial judgment remains essential, potentially further reinforced and automated through advancements in AI.

4. Embrace new formats for emerging audiences

The summit also underscored an important insight echoed by Isabella Wohlwend from Der Spiegel: “There are no young news topics, only young news formats.”

Aftenposten recognized this truth. Their segmentation revealed distinct consumption preferences:

• Older segments (‘The Analyst’ and ‘The Empath’): Prefer in-depth written articles and narrative-driven storytelling.
• Younger segments (‘The Sporadic’ and ‘The Surfer’): Favor formats like audio, podcasts, short-form videos, and quick visual summaries.

This understanding led Aftenposten to significantly expand its audio offerings, including podcasts and text-to-speech functions, notably increasing engagement among younger segments.

5. Simplify  your subscription offers and encourage long-term commitment

Aftenposten introduced a simpler, lower-priced subscription tier excluding premium features like the ePaper and specialized sections. This attracted price-sensitive users without diluting average revenue per user.

Furthermore, promoting annual subscriptions over monthly cycles enhanced retention rates, emphasizing the importance of clear, simplified communication around value.

Final reflections

Their experience reminds us clearly that growth comes from solving clearly identified audience needs, executing unified strategies, and adapting formats to match evolving user preferences.

Early results from Aftenposten’s strategy are promising:

• Subscriber engagement on the homepage increased by 25% within one year.
• Engagement among previously underserved younger female users increased by 13%.

Aftenposten’s journey exemplifies the transformative power of strategic, audience-centric innovation. Their disciplined focus on simplifying user experiences, carefully balanced personalization, and proactive embracing of new content formats showcase a replicable model for publishers aiming to achieve sustainable subscription growth.