Could old-fashioned SMS texting be a more reliable alternative to fickle social media algorithms for publishers? That’s the theory of Subtext, which was founded in 2019 within US publisher Advance Local’s tech incubator Alpha Group. This year it will send an estimated five billion text messages. Subtext operates in 200 countries and works with a variety of media companies, artists, political candidates and sports brands.
US publishers using Subtext include: the New York Post, Forbes, Washington Post, Axios, Conde Nast, Gannett, The New Yorker, Page Six, CNET, Punchbowl News, The Hill, CBC, Hearst Newspapers, Buzzfeed, Pitchfork, Vox, PBS, McClatchy, Morning Brew and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. They use the platform to drive traffic, engage subscribers, reduce churn and even drive affiliate revenue. In the UK the platform is less well-known, although Subtext chief executive and co-founder Mike Donoghue told Press Gazette: “You’ll see a fair amount of international expansion for us in the media space in the not too distant future.
” “When we conceived of the idea of Subtext, we took a look at – for media companies and artists and creators – the amount of time and money and love and effort and resources that went into building up these big audiences on social channels only for a lot of those same companies to come to the realisation that they were renting the relationship with their audience, as opposed to owning a really meaningful direct line of communicat.
