Sweden’s VK Media is building its future on a young – and paying – audience

By Niklas Jonason

VK was an early champion of digital subscriptions and is now a leader in gaining paying young readers. In a recent Innovate Local webinar, Stefan Åberg, VK's Managing Editor, and a key person through much of their journey, told us how they've done it.

Founded in 1900 and owned by a non-profit foundation, Västerbottens-Kuriren, VK, is the main newspaper in the town of Umeå, in the northern part of Sweden. Umeå has around 130,000 inhabitants and the region about 280,000. VK is the main title of the small news media group VK Media, which employs a total staff of 140.

Today, the paper has around 35,000 subscribers - 25,000 of them digital - with 80-85% of traffic coming directly to vk.se. A focus on breaking news and consistent investment in reader revenue has helped VK become the leading news source in Västerbotten.

Brand loyalty and a project-driven culture

VK has built steady subscription growth in a sparsely populated region by combining strong brand loyalty with a project-driven newsroom culture.

Supportive ownership and cross-departmental cooperation under one roof have allowed the company to move quickly and sustain journalism despite industry-wide cuts.

A turning point came in 2021 with the "Young Audience Project," which organised content development in sprints and cross-functional teams, using data, surveys, and user needs models to reshape coverage for readers under 45.

This led to over 9,000 conversions, a newsroom playbook, and international recognition.

Follow-up initiatives - such as the Family Life project, evergreen content strategies, and closer integration of editorial with marketing - tripled pageviews, quadrupled conversions, and improved brand consistency. VK also experimented with audio, newsletters, and a relaunch of video to appeal to younger audiences.

Challenges remain, including project leader overload and maintaining momentum after launches, but VK's mix of independence, structured experimentation, and user-focused journalism has proven successful in attracting younger subscribers and securing long-term growth.

Actionable ideas from VK

Use small cross-functional project teams

• Mix editorial, product, data, and marketing in 3-7 person teams.
• Organise in sprints, with one empowered project lead and clear guardrails.
• Rotate project leaders to avoid burnout and provide templates/support groups.

Build repeatable project models ("playbooks")

• Each project must end with a sustainable plan for routines after launch.
• Document learnings in a playbook and spread across the newsroom.
• Measure outcomes (conversions, retention signals, pageviews) and allow for failure.​​

Young Audience Project

• Split younger cohorts into segments (before children, toddlers, school years, empty nesters, seniors).
• Combine user needs framework (BBC and Smartocto model) with focus groups, surveys, and interviews.
• Content tweaks: clearer presentation, visual quality, coverage of topics like sex, relationships, family life.
• Result: +9,000 conversions, +2,000 net growth in young subscribers, 25% of subscribers now under 45 (vs 12% in 2018).

Content verticals based on life stage/user needs

• Redesign "family life" coverage: evergreen, tagged for discovery, expert Q&A.
• Tripled pageviews, quadrupled conversions with no extra staff.

Marketing-Editorial integration

• Created "Marketing Heart Editorial" partnership for consistent look/feel.
• Social posts aligned with three clear intents:
  • Get to know us (reach, trust)
  • Click & convert (traffic, subs)
  • Care (loyalty, retention)
• Added streaming-style "coming soon" feature to tease major content.

Subscription and paywall strategy

• Mixed model: breaking news often open; in-depth follow-ups premium.
• Strong early paywall focus (since 2013) built steady reader revenue growth.
• Special youth offer: discounted price <25 years, ~1,000 low-churn subscribers.

Build direct traffic and brand loyalty

• 80-85% direct traffic; low dependence on platforms.
• Invest in breaking news and follow-ups as core growth driver.

Experiment with formats but play to strengths

• Text remains core, but ongoing tests with video and podcasts.
• Newsletter expansion and strong new audio player to support listening.​

Cultural enablers

• Supportive local ownership prioritising journalism over high margins.
• Independence and "smallness" used as a strength - fast decisions, all staff under one roof.

Takeaway: Independence + cross-functional projects + user-needs focus gave VK speed, focus, and direction. The combination sustained steady subscription growth and attracted younger readers.

This is a shortened version of the original post, which appears in full, on our Innovate Local website.

WAN-IFRA Staff

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