What happens before it all begins? First, we feel our way through it. Ideas are swarming, we laugh at them, and we tell ourselves, “This is crazy.” Then, the more we think about it, the less we forget, and we start getting ready. Issue zero, beta test, and launch campaign—today we’re talking about the media outlets that managed to launch well-prepared.
That wild urge to take the plunge without knowing exactly how—guided by the intuition of the moment—is perfectly described by Pauline Dupin-Aymard, founder of the magazine *Chassez le naturel*. Last month, the wine enthusiast decided to test out a new project with a pilot issue. “The pre-issue one—the issue that captures the energy of what’s created when you don’t know what you’re creating”. The result? A fanzine created entirely with pen and paint that tells the story of natural wine through the eyes of those who make it. Of course, the hundred copies sold out like hot cakes.
Involving your audience right from the idea stage is like starting a club. You find founding members to test the project and offer their feedback. You build an honest relationship with the people the project is intended for and lay a solid foundation. Just like Brief.me did in 2014 with its launch campaign, to co-create its editorial product. The daily newsletter enticed more than 800 news enthusiasts to test various options over a two-month period—including the amount of information, the layout of the emails, and even the time of day they were sent, before launching in earnest. Today, Brief.me has more than 12,000 subscribers and conducts regular tests with those who were there from the very beginning.
We see the same pattern at Tortoise, a British media outlet whose news feed is designed to be slower and more deliberate. Before the site went live in April 2019, it spent three months testing different publication frequencies and formats. Making the beta test part of the editorial experience—that’s the right idea. “The larger the community, the stronger the newsroom. That’s why we’re all here.” By testing several hypotheses until finding the right one—the one that works— Tortoise is living up to its ambition to co-create a new form of journalism that allows everyone to find something of value in it.
Ultimately, it is by testing one’s ideas that one is able to offer a final experience that is satisfying for one’s audience. Beta testing or a pilot version allow you to refine your value proposition while engaging an initial community. Those who believe in your project will always be there to help improve it and take it further. And so what if you hit a wall—next time, you’ll do better.
To go further
- You can check out our series of interviews on the role of testing in media creation, featuring examples from Brief.me, Les Others, Chassez le naturel, and Le Progrès.
- To learn how to create your media project or launch your crowdfunding campaign, step by step, you can check out our how-to guides.
