Axios Activate

Healthcare influencers rely on Axios for industry-specific coverage by subject matter experts. This audience is highly concentrated - over-indexing in those who influence healthcare policy, and they’re highly engaged, with 40% of health leaders reading two or more articles when they visit our site.

By the numbers:

• 1.56M monthly uniques are leaders in the healthcare industry (Permutive, 2024)‍
• 279% more likely to reach readers who influence healthcare policy (Comscore, 2024)‍
• 49% more likely to reach leaders in the healthcare industry (Comscore 2024)

Yes, and: Axios Intelligence routinely conducts qualitative and quantitative studies with our readers, illuminating deeper insights about what this audience  engaged with and what they are tracking:

• 41% think generative AI is the greatest area of opportunity for their industry
• 44% of Health Care industry respondents say keeping up with global health is absolutely crucial.
• 41% say following health equity is absolutely crucial
• 39% say following Medicare is absolutely crucial

Why it matters: Focusing brand messaging around topics of consequence for these readers will supercharge your brand’s relativity and build trust with these audiences.

Reach out to your partnership rep or ads@axios.com to learn more about how your brand can reach health care influencers with Axios.

Sources: Comscore 2024, Axios Intelligence Workforce Survey, June 2023

We asked our star health care team to share what they’re tracking as we head into the back half of 2024. Read on and subscribe to Axios Vitals for their daily reporting on the industry.

🏛 Regardless of who wins the election, Washington is becoming increasingly hostile toward certain industry groups, writes Caitlin Owens, author of our weekly Friday Future of Health Care edition.

• Congress has put a spotlight on what members from both parties say are anti-competitive hospital business practices. And Medicare Advantage is under a lot of scrutiny over whether the feds are overpaying insurers.‍
• At the same time, experts say the U.S. is poised to enter a golden age of health care innovation that could transform the future of medicine, with promising drugs and technologies that present tough questions about patient access and affordability.

🩺 How the competition in health care is being policed and what the next administration will do will be a focus of Vitals co-author Tina Reed.

• Another recurring coverage area is how weight-loss drugs are disrupting the health ecosystem, creating demands for new services and drawing new competitors to the space.
• There’s also a need to chronicle how the U.S. patient experience is changing with longer wait times, shorter appointments, more concierge arrangements and health systems dropping out of insurer networks.

📈 Tracking the worsening mental health crisis, including what’s being done to address the shortage of providers and insurers’ payment policies, is a top priority for Vitals co-author Maya Goldman.

• Another coverage area is how states are grappling with rising health costs and access now that the feds have dialed back pandemic-era aid.
• And we’re hoping to do deeper dives into women’s and children’s health, including what’s driving high maternal mortality and how providers are aligning in the post-Roe world.

Reach out to your partnership rep or ads@axios.com to learn more about how your brand can align with Axios health care coverage.

1 big thing: Axios and Deep Blue Sports are joining forces to launch a franchise dedicated to showcasing the power and impact of women's sports – TN50.

• The franchise will cover various aspects of the women's sports industry, including infrastructure, resources, competition, commerce, and more. The goal is to showcase the profound influence women's sports have on individuals and communities.

Why it matters: Consumer interest in women’s sports is more prominent than ever – now is the time to make meaningful and long-lasting changes in an industry ripe for reimagination. 👉

• 9.9 million viewers tuned into the 2023 Women's NCAA final between LSU and Iowa (a 50% YOY increase)
• $1.28 billion is the predicted total forecast revenue for women's elite sports in 2024 (a 300% increase since 2021)

The details: The franchise will span the entire Axios ecosystem with ample opportunity for brand alignment through:

• 🎤  Live event programming including moments for brand executive exposure and in-room brand integration
• 🗞  Special newsletter sends surrounding TN50’s tentpole moments
• 💻  Series landing page hosting all program content
• 🎥  Video content on-site and social
• ✅  Contextual alignment with TN50 content onsite, as well as via national and local newsletter promotion

How your brand can get involved: Reach out to your partnership rep or ads@axios.com to learn more.

Trends we’re seeing:

‍If 2020 was the year of sweeping promises, 2023 is the year of blunt pragmatism.

• Business and policy leaders are laser-focused on economic and workforce issues in 2023 (based on an Axios 1st party survey of 600+ elite readers).‍
• They’re thinking less about where we’ll be 10 years from now and more about the next 12 months.
• Sentiment around business, no matter where people work, or who they vote for, is leaning slightly cautious: 46% feel slightly cautious; 35% feel somewhat optimistic.

Why it matters:‍

Caution, whether it leans optimistic or pessimistic, is a signal that people are open to new solutions — and that’s great news for advertisers. 

• Our thought bubble: Advertisers shouldn’t just talk about plans for the future but lean into proving the near-term outcomes of their investments and actions.

1 big thing:

‍Audiences want content that’s easy to get on their phone – and for busy influential audiences that means email.

By the numbers:

• 74% of Axios subscribers interact with email newsletters on a daily basis
• 71% of people subscribe to Axios because it’s quick and easy to read
• 63% of Axios subscribers click links in newsletters
• 53% forward newsletters to family and friends

Go deeper:

‍Earlier this year we studied the effectiveness of a long-standing partner's two-month AM/PM campaign to see how their message resonated.

📈 The results: 

• 4,800 readers of AM/PM completed the survey, 80% of which touted themselves as daily readers.
• Subscribers who recalled the partner’s message on Axios reported a more positive association toward the brand. Of note: The vast majority of the respondents read Axios newsletters daily.
• The state of play: When it comes to reaching influential audiences, it's important to remember that they skew professional, have a high net worth, and most notably, busier. They prefer email over social. 

📩 74% of them prefer email newsletters to consume news and information daily vs. other platforms, including social media. (Source: Axios Subscriber Survey, February 2023).

Go deeper below on Axios newsletters and their engaged readers.

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At Axios, our essential reporting attracts the most influential minds inside the beltway. 

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What’s next:

New this year, Axios will offer a direct pipeline to DC leaders in five critical ways: 

1. Hill Leaders: A new daily newsletter, launching in the spring, will pull back the curtain on congressional power, led by senior politics reporter Eugene Scott. 

• It is the only Hill newsletter targeting top elected leaders, and will feature critical deep dives into key ideas coming out of Congressional offices.

2. Sneak Peek: Josh Kraushaar and Zach Basu will illuminate what matters most each day and cut through the fog to highlight the truly important congressional and White House news.

3. White House Coverage: Star White House reporter Alex Thompson will deepen Axios’ politics coverage through scoops and insights contributing to AM, PM, and Sneak Peek.

4. Axios.com: A new, engaging menu of on-site ad units that will leverage DC DMA precision targeting on our website.

5. Live events: We've noted growing eagerness in the marketplace to reconvene in person. In 2023, we will increase our Capitol Hill-focused events, serving our influential audience with powerful, engaging, and newsmaking discussions. 

• For example, The Axios What's Next Summit in March will convene influencers, policy leaders, and the most innovative companies as we discuss the future state of how we work, play, and communicate.

Reach out to us here to learn more about these updates.

The big picture:

Axios’ Smart Brevity has achieved unparalleled engagement (our 47% average newsletter open rate is more than twice the industry average), but we see reach and open rates that are even higher among opinion elites.

Axios defines “opinion elites” as wealthy, civic-minded community leaders who are engaged with current events. They regularly vote in local and/or national elections, are highly influential in their respective social circles, political donors, and/or work in policymaking, journalism, finance, tech, or higher education.

On site: Axios’ website attracted over 87.8M unique users in the past 6 months:

• 5.7M of them are highly engaged with current events.
• 2M of them are highly engaged specifically with local and national elections.

Yes, and opinion elites are our most engaged newsletter subscribers:

• 57% of Axios newsletters sent in the past 6 months were opened by C-Suite level +.
• C-Suite+ are more engaged with current events and news in their communities and engaged with 62% of local newsletters sent to them (and this is true across influencer segments with +60% open rates for Local).
• Tech C-Suite+ have a 61% open rate for AM and 62% for Crypto.
• Journalism/media employees are most engaged with AM with a 71% open rate.
• Finance readers are particularly engaged with Local (with a 63% open rate in Boston).‍
• Congressional staffers regularly engage with Axios: at least 84% of Senate offices are subscribed to AM and congressional staffers have a 52% open rate for AM.

Bottom line:‍

Axios is an invaluable source for opinion elites to stay up to date in their industries and get ahead in their jobs.