Bloomberg Media's digital chief on gaining subscribers, navigating algorithm uncertainty, and leveraging AI in news

In the fast-paced world of financial journalism, few names carry the weight and authority of Bloomberg Media. What began as a bold venture by Michael Bloomberg in 1981, offering financial data through Bloomberg Terminal has since evolved into a global media juggernaut. Over the decades, the news organisation has grown into a multifaceted empire—spanning television, radio, print, and digital platforms—setting benchmarks for financial news and analysis worldwide.

However, the transition from a single-product company to a multimedia powerhouse has not been without its challenges. As the digital age unfolded and the internet revolutionised the way information was consumed, Bloomberg had to adapt quickly. Recognising the need to expand beyond the terminals that had anchored its early success, the mid-1990s saw the launch of Bloomberg’s website, marking the company's entry into the digital realm. Now, as online consumption dominates news, the organisation has been forced to innovate and stay ahead of industry shifts.

At the helm of this digital transformation today is Julia Beizer, Bloomberg Media’s chief digital officer. With a career rooted in digital strategy and product development, Beizer is steering Bloomberg Media through its digital evolution. Before joining the news firm, Beizer held key positions at HuffPost and The Washington Post, where she led HuffPost’s first-ever redesign and rebrand, launched innovative projects in virtual reality (VR) storytelling, and explored new digital journalism formats. At The Washington Post, she managed product roadmaps for web, mobile, and connected devices, and played a pivotal role in bringing the publication to platforms like Facebook Instant Articles and Apple News, while driving digital subscription growth through strategic partnerships.

After meeting at the Bloomberg Media Bobo Bistro during Cannes Lions this year, Campaign followed up with Beizer to delve into the firm’s approach to navigating the rapidly changing digital landscape. Beizer discussed the company’s strategies, touching on everything from AI integration to privacy concerns and the challenges posed by shifting digital consumption trends.

Over the past three years, Bloomberg Media introduced several digital enhancements aimed at meeting the evolving demands of its audience, including the introduction of real-time watchlists, vertical video content, and significant upgrades to its mobile app, all of which prioritise user experience. Under Beizer’s leadership, the organisation has also seen a notable increase in its subscriber base, recently surpassing 540,000 subscribers globally (over 600,000 at the time of publishing). This milestone, achieved just after the sixth anniversary of Bloomberg Media’s paywall, was reached faster than expected.

Beizer attributes this growth to a focused, consumer-driven content strategy. “We got there by continuing to be laser-focused on our consumer-focused content, and—among other strategies—adding value in our subscription-only newsletter offerings,” she told Campaign.

She added that subscriptions have been a promising model for APAC with 20% of subscribers living in the region and the remaining proportion from Europe and the US. Marketing campaigns are also rolled out where the company’s digital products are targeted according to consumer needs in APAC. Meanwhile, media sales and brand partnerships form a key part of Bloomberg’s monetisation strategy, with its commercial partnerships “expanding beyond the standard advertising model”, according to Beizer.

The rise of social media has also significantly altered how the organisation approaches its business. As of February 2024, globally, social media users have surpassed five billion, with Southeast Asia (SEA) emerging as one of the most active regions. Platforms like Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram dominate the landscape, and users in SEA are engaging more frequently and for longer periods than in many other parts of the world. This shift has fragmented the news ecosystem, making it more fast-paced while also raising significant concerns about privacy and data security. Social media’s role in the dissemination of news has both democratised information and complicated the media landscape. On one hand, these platforms have made news more accessible, allowing users to consume and share content instantly. On the other hand, the algorithms that dictate what content is seen have raised questions about bias, misinformation, and the privacy implications of data-driven advertising. These concerns are particularly pronounced in regions like SEA, where social media use is high and regulatory frameworks are still catching up with the rapid pace of digital innovation.

Beizer explained Bloomberg Media’s approach to this shift: “Research shows that over 80% of consumers are getting their news across a wide variety of places—online, social media, TV, video, podcasts, events, the list goes on. The sense of information overload is real, which is driving audiences to seek out quality over quantity—quality information and a quality experience. Consumers want to go to a brand they can trust.

“For years, audiences have nibbled at premium publisher’s content—sporadically consuming information from various platforms. That relationship worked for users, platforms, and publishers for a long time and still allows us to introduce millions of new users every month to Bloomberg journalism. But as news consumers continue this ‘flight to quality,’ our strategy is to continue enhancing our own products and experiences so that users seek us out directly. Our recent enhancements to our homepage and mobile app were aimed squarely at improving the experience for our subscribers, who spend most of their time with us on those two products.”

While social media platforms will always play a part in Bloomberg’s growth strategy, Beizer also emphasised the need to adapt: “Social media platforms will always be part of our growth strategy, but with ongoing uncertainty around algorithm changes to news feeds, we are doubling down on our ‘audience-first’ approach.”

Where there’s social media, there’s data—and with data comes the opportunity for targeted advertising, but also the challenge of maintaining user privacy. Social media platforms generate vast amounts of data from user interactions, preferences, and behaviours. This data is incredibly valuable for media organisations like Bloomberg, which use it to better understand their audiences, personalise content, and refine advertising strategies. This is particularly crucial for elements such as programmatic advertising, where ads are automatically placed in front of the most relevant audiences.

Beizer explained how Bloomberg Media leverages this data within its programmatic advertising strategy: “We are a data-rich publisher and have a growing first-party data set along with lots of tools and resources. Being a direct business comes with immeasurable benefits. Knowing our users helps us better meet their needs. It helps us convert and retain them as subscribers. And it also benefits our advertising clients. When I meet with clients around the world, they are curious about our subscribers and want to know what insights we have about them.”

By harnessing the data generated through both direct user interactions on its platforms and from broader social media trends, Bloomberg can offer highly targeted advertising solutions. However, as privacy concerns grow and regulations tighten, Bloomberg Media has had to navigate these challenges with care.

“We believe that the best strategy for evolving regulation is to put your customer’s privacy first. We treat our consumers’ data with the utmost care and give our users control over how their data is used. Keeping those two principles in mind has helped us navigate evolving global regulations—and serve our customers well in the process,” Beizer emphasised.

Beizer also noted that having first-party data has been an extraordinary asset in the programmatic space, enabling Bloomberg Media to help clients find their audiences on its platform and across its ecosystem.

It’s data like this that has enabled Bloomberg Media to pivot to new digital formats, including video content and streaming services, which now present a significant opportunity—particularly in adapting traditional news delivery models to modern consumer behaviours.

“The shift to streaming presents a tremendous opportunity for companies like ours with a strong broadcast heritage. We have more premium video content than any other financial journalism player, and we see streaming as a way for us to reach new global audiences as consumer behaviours shift,” Beizer explained. “We also see an opportunity to innovate. The future of video news doesn’t have to look like its broadcast heritage. Through our Bloomberg Originals slate, we have leaned into documentary storytelling to allow our audiences to go deeper on topics that are of interest to them across regions including APAC.”

Bloomberg Media's Live TV. Photo: Bloomberg

Finally, what about AI? As the media landscape continues to evolve, AI is becoming increasingly central to Bloomberg Media’s strategy. Beizer highlighted the company’s stance on AI: “Bloomberg has been an active leader in the space for more than a decade. We have leveraged AI to provide summaries of the top three stories of the moment for consumers in our app in a feature called The Bulletin. We also use AI in our first-party data platform, Audience Accelerator, which uses first-party data to inform machine learning models that predict the population of users on the site that are likely to be in a certain group such as C-suites or tech decision makers.”

Beizer also sees generative AI as a potential game-changer for the industry: “Generative AI is of major interest to the industry right now. These tools have the potential to impact Internet search, which will have implications on how news online is going to be discovered.”

As Bloomberg Media continues to innovate, AI will undoubtedly play a crucial role in how the organisation adapts to the ever-changing landscape of digital media. “The future of our industry will be shaped by how well we harness these technologies while maintaining the trust and integrity that our brand has built over decades,” Beizer concluded.