After 20+ years of consulting, it’s clear to me that every company has different ideas of what someone in “audience development” or “audience marketing” does for their job. 

Whether a company offer print products, digital ones, online-only services, or some combination, the job responsibilities for an audience marketing expert handles are similar. But, they also vary by company.  Some of these include:

• Create and manage the marketing plan. For media brands, this can include both renewals and new subscribers.  Channels include email, social media direction, direct mail, tip covers, telemarketing. Social media and online components can also handled by other departments.

• Monetize audience by working with sales and editorial as needed to help define new products or audience.
• Work across multiple departments including sales, marketing, editorial, and executive team to learn more about the industries and market reach and penetration goals.
• Keep abreast of new technology and tech platforms for managing your customer database.
• Work with internal teams to improve audience engagement across digital platforms. Guide team to develop customer profiles, segmentation analysis, survey design and analysis.
• Get involved with email privacy and permissioning management.
• For paid brands, there can be subscription-related revenue goals.
• For brands that maintain demographic information, make sure they are up to date.  Append file information where needed.
• For magazines, manage issue closes. 
• If a brand is audited, liaison with the audit bureau. 
• Sometimes, manage relationship with the USPS.
• Provide competitive analysis of other publishers’ audiences and tactics.

It’s a list that changes often. That is what keeps each day in audience marketing interesting.