Audience growth is often framed as a race: more clicks, more followers, more reach. Over time, I’ve learned that sustainable growth doesn’t come from chasing attention. It comes from earning trust, designing systems and making deliberate editorial and distribution choices.
The most meaningful audience growth efforts I’ve led didn’t rely on a single platform or campaign. They were the result of aligning storytelling, production, distribution and measurement around a clear purpose.
Start With Service, Not Scale
The foundation of audience growth is usefulness.
In newsroom and institutional environments alike, audiences return when content consistently helps them:
- Understand complex topics
- Navigate moments of uncertainty
- Feel represented
- Discover something relevant to their lives
Growth followed when teams focused less on how many people we reached and more on why the work mattered to the people we were trying to serve.
Build Growth Into Reporting and Production
One of the most effective shifts I made was integrating audience and social strategy early, not after publication.
For major stories, audience growth wasn’t treated as promotion. It was treated as part of production.
That meant:
- Involving social or audience specialists during story development
- Identifying visual, interactive, or explainer opportunities early
- Planning how stories might travel across platforms without losing context
This approach improved reach while preserving editorial intent, and reduced the scramble that often follows publication.
Audience Growth in Practice
Some of the strongest audience growth results came from leaning in selectively, not publishing more for the sake of volume.
In San Francisco, that meant recognizing the cultural gravity of teams like the Giants, 49ers and Warriors, and approaching coverage as an opportunity for insight rather than saturation. Instead of chasing every incremental update, teams used social listening tools to understand what fans were actually reacting to, questioning, or debating. Those insights shaped more thoughtful story angles, explainers and human-centered features that traveled further and resonated longer than volume-driven coverage.
In San Diego, audience growth took a different form. Exploring San Diego was built around a simple but powerful idea: helping communities stay connected to the places, events and experiences that make the region feel like home. Coverage ranged from major cultural moments to everyday neighborhood “hidden gems.” Growth came from consistency, usefulness and reflecting lived experience, not trend chasing.
Data also played a critical role in improving breaking news performance. By analyzing audience behavior during major events, I helped put systems and best practices in place to capture — and recapture — attention across platforms. The goal wasn’t just speed. It was service, clarity and memorability. When audiences knew where to turn during moments of uncertainty, loyalty followed.
Across all of these efforts, the pattern was consistent: audience growth accelerated when teams focused on relevance, insight and trust, supported by data but guided by editorial judgment.
Meet Audiences Where They Already Are
Audience growth isn’t about forcing people to come to you. It’s about showing up in the spaces they already inhabit, with work that respects both the platform and the audience.
That included:
- Livestreaming events to meet audiences in real time
- Using interactive tools to invite exploration rather than passive consumption
- Adapting story formats without diluting substance
Growth followed when content felt native to the platform but grounded in the same standards.
Use Metrics to Learn, Not to Chase
Measurement matters, but not all metrics are equally useful.
I’ve always emphasized the difference between vanity metrics and learning metrics.
More valuable signals include:
- Repeat visitation
- Time spent with content
- Return behavior during ongoing coverage
- Engagement that reflects understanding, not outrage
Traffic spikes feel good. Loyalty is what lasts.
Distribution Is Part of the Story
Audience growth doesn’t end at publication. How stories are presented, packaged, and delivered — especially on mobile — often determines whether they’re seen, understood, or remembered at all.
Newsletters became a critical part of that strategy. They weren’t treated as promotional afterthoughts, but as editorial products with their own voice, rhythm and purpose. Used well, newsletters helped surface high-value work, reinforce habit, and provide context audiences may have missed during the news cycle.
Mobile optimization played an equally important role. With most audiences encountering stories on phones — often during brief, distracted moments — clarity mattered more than cleverness. Clean layouts, strong headlines, scannable structure and intentional use of visuals helped ensure stories worked where people actually consumed them.
Together, newsletters and mobile-first presentation strengthened loyalty by respecting the audience’s time and attention. Growth followed not because content traveled farther, but because it landed better.
Consistency Builds Momentum
Audience growth compounds when audiences know what to expect. That means:
- Reliable publishing rhythms
- Clear editorial standards
- Predictable quality
One-off wins don’t build habits. Consistency does.
Leadership Matters
Audience growth isn’t owned by a single role or department. It’s shaped by leadership decisions:
- How teams collaborate
- How success is defined
- How experimentation is supported
- How feedback is incorporated
When editorial purpose and audience strategy align, growth becomes a shared responsibility, not a pressure point.
Final Thought
Audience growth isn’t about gaming systems or chasing trends.
It’s about clarity, collaboration and credibility.
When organizations consistently serve audiences well, growth follows — steadily and sustainably.
Mario Sevilla 