Categories: OLD Media Moves

How an app is using an online magazine to draw attention

Allison Schiff of Ad Exchanger writes about how the personal finance site Acorns is using content from its online magazine Grow to draw attention.

Schiff writes, “In terms of content, Acorns is positioning Grow, which soft launched in January, as an independent objective outlet for financial stories and advice rather than a way to promote the app or do lead gen.

“The magazine also has syndication partnerships with Business Insider and a number of other outlets, which means the content can’t be self-promotional.

“It’s why Acorns hired Jennifer Barrett, a seasoned financial journalist and CNBC vet, who now serves as chief education officer and editor-in-chief of Grow, which has generated more than 1 million page views in the four months since launch.

“‘Content usually falls under the marketing budget at companies that aren’t true media companies,’ said Barrett, who joined Acorns in November. ‘We work closely with the Acorns team, but we have a completely separate budget for Grow.'”

Read more here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.