Senior Marketing Strategist, Gaming & Subscriptions
Gannett, Mc Lean, VA, United States
USA TODAY Co. Is looking for a Senior Marketing Strategist, Gaming & Subscriptions to own the end‑to‑end subscription growth model for PLAY—covering pricing and packaging, paywall and offer decisioning, registration to subscription conversion, onboarding, engagement/upsell, and churn mitigation. You'll partner tightly with the PLAY business unit to deliver profitable subscriber growth, higher ARPU, and durable retention through experimentation and AI‑enabled lifecycle programs.
USA TODAY PLAY is our casual entertainment destination that brings together crosswords, puzzles, horoscopes, comics, quizzes, and more. PLAY builds on a strong existing foundation from legacy Crosswords and is designed to significantly expand its share of the USA TODAY Network audience over the next several years. The long‑term vision is for PLAY to become a major revenue driver through a combination of subscriptions, stacked bundles, and sponsorship opportunities.
What you'll do
Own the PLAY subscription growth model
Define the value proposition and pricing/packaging for PLAY in partnership with key leaders in Consumer and PLAY
Build and iterate the known‑to‑paid subscription funnel, creating journeys that drive habit and, ultimately, purchase intent
Operate a rigorous experimentation program
Stand up structured price/term tests for acquisition, stop‑save, and winback
Maintain an always‑on testing backlog (paywall friction, day passes vs. subscription constructs, landing pages, overlays, lifecycle) and publish readouts; scale winners into playbooks.
Launch and scale lifecycle programs
Design and optimize full lifecycle journeys for PLAY, including lead acquisition, nurture, onboarding, engagement, upsell, and winback journeys
Partner with Product to optimize PLAY checkout, stacked checkout experiences including PLAY, and PLAY account management experiences
Define targeting and suppression logic with the CDP for real‑time, segment‑level decisioning and experiences across web/app/email
Reduce churn and improve save rates
Deploy AI‑assisted churn mitigation and dynamic stop‑save flows; align onsite intercepts with account management journeys and call center policies.
Partner and govern
Work within the PLAY‑Consumer model, clarify strategy, approvals, and delivery calendars; communicate progress and performance.
Success measures (primary KPIs)
Subscriber growth (net adds) and conversion rate from known to paid
ARPU lift from pricing, annualization, and stacked add‑ons
Churn / save rate improvement
Time to launch experiments and scale learnings to drive optimizations
Penetration of PLAY within USA TODAY Network audience and product add‑on rate contribution to portfolio revenue
What you'll bring
5+ years in subscription growth, lifecycle marketing, with gaming/entertainment experience
Hands‑on experience with paywall strategy, dynamic offers, and churn mitigation (stop‑save, winback) at scale
Proven success in developing and scaling multi‑channel lifecycle programs that deliver measurable improvements in subscriber base and LTV
Proficiency with A/B testing and experimentation frameworks; able to translate results into rollout playbooks
Demonstrated fluency with marketing technology ecosystems (e.g., Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Braze, CDP, CRM platforms) and personalization at scale
Strong analytical judgment with the ability to independently assess metrics, identify patterns and tradeoffs, and convert quantitative signals into strategic direction and recommendations
Strong cross‑functional leadership; able to work within the PLAY‑Consumer operating model and align Product, Data, Activation, & Creative on shared goals
The annualized base salary for this role will range between $100,000 and $120,000. Base compensation is reflective of many factors, including, but not limited to, the market in which one lives/works, individual education level, skills, certifications and experience. Note: variable compensation is not reflected in these figures and based on the role, may be applicable.
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USA TODAY PLAY is our casual entertainment destination that brings together crosswords, puzzles, horoscopes, comics, quizzes, and more. PLAY builds on a strong existing foundation from legacy Crosswords and is designed to significantly expand its share of the USA TODAY Network audience over the next several years. The long‑term vision is for PLAY to become a major revenue driver through a combination of subscriptions, stacked bundles, and sponsorship opportunities.
What you'll do
Own the PLAY subscription growth model
Define the value proposition and pricing/packaging for PLAY in partnership with key leaders in Consumer and PLAY
Build and iterate the known‑to‑paid subscription funnel, creating journeys that drive habit and, ultimately, purchase intent
Operate a rigorous experimentation program
Stand up structured price/term tests for acquisition, stop‑save, and winback
Maintain an always‑on testing backlog (paywall friction, day passes vs. subscription constructs, landing pages, overlays, lifecycle) and publish readouts; scale winners into playbooks.
Launch and scale lifecycle programs
Design and optimize full lifecycle journeys for PLAY, including lead acquisition, nurture, onboarding, engagement, upsell, and winback journeys
Partner with Product to optimize PLAY checkout, stacked checkout experiences including PLAY, and PLAY account management experiences
Define targeting and suppression logic with the CDP for real‑time, segment‑level decisioning and experiences across web/app/email
Reduce churn and improve save rates
Deploy AI‑assisted churn mitigation and dynamic stop‑save flows; align onsite intercepts with account management journeys and call center policies.
Partner and govern
Work within the PLAY‑Consumer model, clarify strategy, approvals, and delivery calendars; communicate progress and performance.
Success measures (primary KPIs)
Subscriber growth (net adds) and conversion rate from known to paid
ARPU lift from pricing, annualization, and stacked add‑ons
Churn / save rate improvement
Time to launch experiments and scale learnings to drive optimizations
Penetration of PLAY within USA TODAY Network audience and product add‑on rate contribution to portfolio revenue
What you'll bring
5+ years in subscription growth, lifecycle marketing, with gaming/entertainment experience
Hands‑on experience with paywall strategy, dynamic offers, and churn mitigation (stop‑save, winback) at scale
Proven success in developing and scaling multi‑channel lifecycle programs that deliver measurable improvements in subscriber base and LTV
Proficiency with A/B testing and experimentation frameworks; able to translate results into rollout playbooks
Demonstrated fluency with marketing technology ecosystems (e.g., Salesforce Marketing Cloud, Braze, CDP, CRM platforms) and personalization at scale
Strong analytical judgment with the ability to independently assess metrics, identify patterns and tradeoffs, and convert quantitative signals into strategic direction and recommendations
Strong cross‑functional leadership; able to work within the PLAY‑Consumer operating model and align Product, Data, Activation, & Creative on shared goals
The annualized base salary for this role will range between $100,000 and $120,000. Base compensation is reflective of many factors, including, but not limited to, the market in which one lives/works, individual education level, skills, certifications and experience. Note: variable compensation is not reflected in these figures and based on the role, may be applicable.
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