The New York Times plans to double its digital-only subscription base by the end of the decade, reports Media Post. The news comes from an 11-page internal strategy memo, “Our Path Forward,” circulated to NYT staffers last week. In the memo, NYTCO CEO Mark Thompson and New York Times editor-in-chief Dean Baquet explain their vision for the media outlet.

Their vision for the future includes:

• Doubling NYT’s digital audience (currently at 1.1 million subscribers)
• Doubling digital ad revenue from $400 million to $800 million
• Focusing heavily on mobile devices and social media
• Refining its approach to video
• Deepening its relationship with readers by hosting more live events and offering additional services
• Pursuing high-profile sponsors for NYT’s editorial content, where appropriate
• Tweaking the pricing structure of its subscriptions and spending more in marketing to better promote the value of paid subscriptions
• Expanding the T Brand Studio, the company’s in-house native advertising arm

“What’s needed adds up to a transformation of the company,” says Thompson.

While the New York Times has made great strides growing its digital audience in recent years, the memo admits that they can do better.

“We need to move with much more urgency. For all that we’ve accomplished, our digital business is not yet close to supporting the scale of our ambitions,” says the memo.

The company also needs to become less reliant on print ad revenue in order to sustain itself.

“We must succeed if we are to return The Times to a position of growth and outpace the slow but inevitable decline in print,” the memo says. “As our subscription model approaches its fifth anniversary, we know it must be updated with simplified pricing options that reflect our readers’ multiplatform lives…we are actively testing to find the right price and approach.”

Media analyst Brian Stelter of CNN says the document affirms that subscribers are the key to the future of the New York Times, not advertising. It needs to make the newspaper – print and digital – an integral part of subscribers’ lives, so readers keep coming back for more.

“In other words, paying for The Times might become cheaper, with the idea that it’ll be stickier – leading more users to keep paying for a longer period of time,” Stelter says.

Insider Take:

We applaud the New York Times for taking the time and energy to put forth such a thoughtful document and to share it with its staff. Often times, company leaders are the only ones privy to such important information, making it more difficult for a company’s goals to be realized. By being open about its plans, the New York Times has a greater chance for employee buy-in. Employees who disagree with the strategy, of course, have the option to leave if they don’t want to get on board with the plan.

We are particularly interested to see how NYT will restructure its subscriptions, recognizing that its users are, indeed, on multiple platforms and want a package that reflects how subscribers actually access the news. As an example, we subscribe to the New York Times and access it on a desktop, laptop, smartphone and tablet – using different combinations on any given day. We also subscribe to its morning news briefing and read that via email.

As a worldwide news leader, the New York Times will set the tone for other news organizations and subscription companies in terms of setting strategy and adjusting subscription offerings and pricing. The company’s ability to be nimble and adapt more quickly have the potential to establish new best practices for other subscription companies to adopt.