TechCrunch Sees 142% Uptick in Subscriptions, 82% Rise in Events Revenue

The startup and technology publisher TechCrunch, a Yahoo property, has seen substantial increases this year in both its events revenue and its number of digital subscriptions, upticks the publisher attributes to innovations in its experiential products and a more sophisticated subscription strategy. Since 2021, TechCrunch has grown its number of its digital subscriptions 142%, and revenue from the program has increased 82% in the same time period, according to Joey Hinson, the general manager of the publisher. The reader revenue program, which launched in February 2019 and rebranded last September to TechCrunch+, has doubled the number of members it had at the end of 2020, though the publisher declined to share exact figures. TechCrunch reaches 4.4 million unique visitors monthly, according to measurement firm Comscore, and it aims to grow its base of digital subscriptions by 50% annually, Hinson said. The influx of subscription dollars has paralleled the growth of its events revenue, which has increased 67% year over year. Throughout 2022, the publisher will host 18 online events and five in-person events, which will generate 10% and 90% of its events revenue, respectively. Disrupt, its signature experiential product, saw revenue growth of 30% in 2021. How a Bet on Virtual Events Is Paying Off for TechCrunch The two burgeoning revenue streams have helped diversify the TechCrunch business, as they generate almost 50% of its total revenue. As a composite, the publisher generates 10% of its revenue from subscriptions, 33% from event sponsorships and 56% from general advertising. Overall, TechCrunch is on pace to see a 30% increase in revenue this year, according to Hinson. “A lot of people that run news, subscription and events businesses don’t necessarily have a good idea of how they work, as part of their overall strategic approach,” Hinson said. “But we have figured those things out.” Despite these gains, the publisher has still experienced headwinds from the broader economic turndown in the tech sector, Hinson said, and the publisher declined to say whether it was profitable. It boasted a 49% growth in ad revenue in the first quarter of the year, but the industry has since experienced a pullback in advertising spend. While the darkening economic clouds portend pooly for publishers across the industry, the growth TechCrunch has seen in its events and digital subscriptions programs reflect the value of a diversified revenue stream as a hedge against economic uncertainty. To bring about these upticks, the publisher has focused on creating more bespoke experiences for its event attendees, as well as expanding the volume and nature of content it places behind its paywall. Growing events through personalization, data and nixing hybrid The TechCrunch team has made a number of adjustments to its events portfolio since the pandemic first forced the publisher to alter its strategy. First, it has informally adopted a Rule of 20 mentality, meaning every attendee should have an opportunity to interact with a small group of other, like-minded guests. To make this credo into a reality, the publisher has introduced a number of initiatives, such as its Dinner for Six concept, in which TechCrunch books a table at a nearby restaurant and invites small groups of executives in the same industry to network over a meal. Similar programs, including its Roundtables and an embrace of user-generated discussions, aim to offer attendees valuable one-to-one experiences. Hinson estimates that between 50% and 60% of people attend these activations. Another evolution from TechCrunch involves the collection and application of first-party data from attendees at in-person events, which has grown from a nice-to-have to an expectation, according to Hinson. Using technology embedded within its badges, TechCrunch can track the movements of its attendees and determine what people, events and booths they interacted with, which the publisher can then provide to the companies involved. Finally, the publisher has largely abandoned the hybrid model, opting to throw either wholly online or wholly in-person events. Although large in-person events, such as Disrupt, will capture video to be made available for on-demand streaming later, the team has found that turning every event into a hybrid increases expenses without reliably producing a commensurate increase in revenue, according to Hinson. “We didn't see a good way to provide an online experience and an in-person experience without making sacrifices that weren't worth it,” he said. This year, TechCrunch will expand the number of startups participating in Disrupt, from 20 to 200. Expanding subscriptions with sought-after content and a smarter funnel To increase its digital subscriptions, TechCrunch has adopted two strategies. First, under the leadership of recently appointed editor in chief Alex Wilhelm, the publisher has hired a number of reporters to cover subjects that data suggested its readership would pay to read. It has staffed up in areas such as climate, cryptomedia and venture, with the new staff all writing behind the paywall. Second, the publisher has developed a clearer sense of its subscription funnel, which it sorts into three buckets, each of which it monetizes slightly differently. The general news content of TechCrunch cultivates a broad audience, which it monetizes with advertising. The more category-specific news, data and analysis attracts founders and investors, who pay to subscribe. And at the bottom of the TechCrunch funnel lie the executives and deal-makers who want to meet the people they read about in real life, which the publisher monetizes with its events and other experiential offerings. While academic, operating according to this rubric has allowed the publisher to better understand the stages of its consumer journey, allowing TechCrunch to more effectively convert readers to subscribers and subscribers to attendees, according to Hinson. “When you understand your funnel, you can better understand how your subscription product fits into it,” he said. 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