Doubler la communauté : Une opportunité générationnelle pour les éditeurs
En tant que directeur de publication, vous n’êtes pas étranger aux sables mouvants des médias numériques. L’époque où l’on pouvait compter sur le trafic bon marché des médias sociaux est révolue. Aujourd’hui, les audiences sont fragmentées sur plusieurs plateformes, tandis que les cookies tiers, qui constituaient autrefois l’épine dorsale de la publicité ciblée, sont en train d’être progressivement abandonnés. Ces changements posent des défis, mais ils offrent également une opportunité sans précédent de transformer la manière dont votre organisation s’engage avec ses lecteurs. En cultivant une communauté loyale et engagée directement sur votre propre plateforme, vous approfondirez vos relations, dégagerez de nouvelles sources de revenus et protégerez votre entreprise contre les perturbations constantes du marché. Ce billet explore les idées clés d’une récente session organisée par Viafoura lors de la conférence ONA24, intitulée « Doubling Down on Community » (Doubler la communauté).
The New Imperative: Owning Your Audience
The publishing industry has long faced an existential challenge—audience ownership. For years, tech companies like Facebook, Twitter (now X) and Instagram provided platforms where readers could consume and discuss content. However, these social platforms have shifted priorities away from news. As Adam Mosseri, Head of Instagram, put it on Threads, “Politics and hard news are important, I don’t want to imply otherwise. But my take is, from a platform’s perspective, any incremental engagement or revenue they might drive is not at all worth the scrutiny, negativity (let’s be honest), or integrity risks that come along with them.” The truth: If you’re not the one owning the conversation around your content, someone else is—and they’re monetizing it. Anthony De Rosa from On_Discourse framed this aptly: “Media companies have allowed tech companies to steal their content and monetize it by providing a platform for readers to discuss it. How absurd is that?”
La solution ? Construire votre communauté.
By cultivating an engaged and loyal audience on your own platform, you control not only the conversation but the data, the engagement, and—most critically—the revenue potential. When asked, here’s how the participants at ONA defined Community:
Certaines descriptions ne sont pas surprenantes : la connexion, l’unité, engagementtandis que le terme le plus marquant – laconfiance-a suscité de nombreuses discussions. Nous y reviendrons plus tard…
Community As a Strategic Priority for Publishers
For publishing executives, the strategic value of building a community extends beyond engagement—it directly impacts the business bottom line. Here’s what we know about the value of community members from Viafoura’s global research:- Generate 5x more revenue than non-community members.
- Visit 45x more frequently than the general audience.
- Spend 5.3x more time on-site, driving higher ad impressions and boosting subscription opportunities
The Business Case for Community-Driven Revenue
The data is compelling: active community members are more likely to subscribe, less likely to churn, and more engaged overall. But beyond the direct engagement metrics, what makes community an essential driver of revenue growth?- First-Party Data Collection: As third-party cookies fade, publishers must adopt first-party data strategies. Communities offer high-value data for targeted content, personalized experiences, and better ads.
- Increased Subscription Revenue: Community members are 31% more likely to subscribe and 2.5x less likely to churn. Exclusive community content and engagement tiers can drive subscriptions and reduce churn.
- Optimized Ad Revenue: Communities boost dwell time and page views. First-party data enables precise targeting and higher CPMs, while ads within communities offer new revenue streams.
- Higher Retention Rates: Communities foster belonging, encouraging users to return through interactive features like comments, events, and user-generated content.
Les 3 piliers fondamentaux de l’élaboration d’une stratégie communautaire réussie
To reap the benefits of community, it’s critical to recognize that community is a significant driver of business value — it’s not simply community for community’s sake. Viafoura has outlined three critical pillars of community building success: intention, cultivation, and operationalization.
1. Intention: Tie Community Engagement to Revenue on Day 01
Community is no longer a « nice-to-have »—it’s a core business strategy, with a front seat at the table. Set clear objectives and align your teams around building a loyal, engaged audience around your North Star metrics: converting engaged community members.
- Define your success criteria – get as specific as possible
- Build the business case – Community = Direct Ad Activation + Engagement Lift for Time on Site Attributable to Community + Conversion (Registration + Subscription lift)
- Map Your Ownership Framework – Who owns what, what is their level of disruption, and how long are the stakeholders engaged?
Ces pratiques sont conçues pour mobiliser autour d’un objectif clé et responsabiliser les équipes pour obtenir des résultats. Une stratégie communautaire réussie ne relève pas uniquement de la responsabilité de vos équipes chargées des produits ou de l’engagement – elle doit être adoptée par l’ensemble de l’organisation, avec une appropriation claire et une allocation des ressources.
2. Cultivation: Creating Safe, Engaging Spaces
Managing communities at scales is very hard. Language is ever evolving, trends move quickly and above all it’s nearly impossible to monitor with exclusive human, or exclusively systems. The biggest factor in the crux community is on the line, bringing us back to the concept of TRUST. Trust built by your community to engage in safe spaces, trust from your editorial staff that they can engage in a civil way, and trust from the brand that community meets brand guidelines.
Il y a deux côtés de la médaille à considérer :
- Silencing the Bad: Set up systems and processes in place to disable negative comments. Think: spam prevention, banned words disabling, auto moderation for sentiment and context, and including a human in review.
- Promoting the Good: Using advanced sentiment scoring, highlight positive engagement at scale to boost your highest quality community engagements to the top of conversations. Viafoura’s recent Top Comments feature does just this.
3. Operationalization: Scaling Community Engagement
Scaling a community requires effective, structured strategies ranging from Low to High lift using playbooks and cadences to operationalize community efforts. The core 3 examples covered in market currently highlight:- Live Broadcast Engagement: Driving TV audiences to your digital properties to ask questions answered by hosts directly on air. This is a big win building rituals and offering a unique value proposition for subscribers
- Editorial Recirculation: Using community sections to inspire follow up content for editors, and launching new highlights in newsletters.
- Live Events Operationalization: Pre-moderated AMAs connecting podcasters, spotlight journalists or featured specialists to audiences directly. Pair with advertising teams for sponsored activations here.