Paid subscriptions in media — new revenue stream
If you are like me and love to read quality news from trusted source you certainly came across following “You have reached max number of free articles for this month”. And also, if you are like me, said the following phrase “What the…, I’m here every day and the web site was free”. Yes, you have successfully stumble upon the dredged paywall.
Subscription, subscription, subscription… News media are in constant search of new revenue streams that will substitute declining newspaper sales. Ad revenue can’t go much higher, for there is already a clutter of information on every website. Consumers just don’t care for banners and display ads anymore. So what can publishers do for survival is to shift their business model from being B2B + B2C company to being B2C + B2B company.
But what does that mean?
Most of news media companies are in essence B2B companies mostly focused on advertisers and advertising money, and consumers are not in that main focus. We could say that the whole business model is based on click. How many users are on my web site, total number of pages my users are visiting are two main metrics news media sites track.
“Because if I have large audience advertisers will come and spend their budget on me. Users, well, I don’t care so much about them and that is why most of my content has no real value for them.” — This was essentially train of thought for publishers.
And then different audience entered the market. You know, those kids called millennials, generation z. But they are not kids anymore and publishers saw that they must change something. So the quality of content came in focus and publishers shifted their efforts to their readers. This shift made them B2C + B2B companies. Suddenly new metric appeared, how much time does my user spend on my web site and are they loyal.
“Because my users are loyal to me maybe they are willing to spend their money on my content. Content is everything” — New train of thought for publishers.
There is a strong movement in news media towards paid subscriptions across the world.
So what is paid subscription in news media?
Paid subscription is just that, you pay so you can be subscribed for some sort of service or in this case content. There are number of incentives that you can offer to users other that content like promotions, coupons, prize games etc. but content is what users essentially pay for. So, terrible content equals no subscription. You need to have clear value proposition for your paid content and ask yourself “Are people actually willing to pay for my content?” So helping professionals to complete their work more efficiently or giving some deeper insight in topics that interest audience is good way to go.
Ok, but how can I start with paid subscriptions in my news media company?
Analyse your content
Is your current content something you can sell, and more importantly will your users be willing to buy it. Does it have any value for them and do you have your own unique tone of voice. Also analyse what successful publishers do with their content. How is it different and what can you do to improve it.
Analyse your audience
You need to know your audience, not necessarily by name, but who are they in general. What you should be looking at is where do they come from, are they registered on your web site, do they comment on your articles and do they have interactions with your site. Most important question you need to answer is “Are they loyal to me?”. So set up a scoring system for measuring loyalty. Metrics to include in your scoring system can vary but some that can help you are:
· Returning visitors to your web site
· Did they subscribe to you newsletter or are they registered
· To they interact with your web site, do they comment
· How much time are they spending on your web site etc.
Choose paywall model
There are number of paywall models that you can implement on you web site: Freemium, Metered, Hard paywall or some hybrid model by combining them.
· Freemium
Fremium combines free and premium content. In this model publisher provides free access to their everyday news content while premium content is behind a paywall and requires payment. Publisher controls what goes behind a paywall and how much of that content in on their homepage.
· Metered
In metered model free content a user is able to view is based on wide range of aspects. These aspects can include number of free articles, time spent on web site etc. All content on the web site is under a paywall but publisher sets rules that determine amount of free content user can read before they reach that paywall.
· Hard paywall
All content on the website is locked and user can usually see only title and few introductory paragraphs before user hits paywall. It has it’s negative side affects but can produce very loyal audience.
See which one might work best for your content and your audience.
Think beyond just selling your content
When you get your paid subscribers don’t think that the work is done. You need to nurture them and always think one month ahead. What can I do so that my subscribers return next month. Encourage your editorial staff to be creative. Create webinars, podcasts, interactive guides and news alerts, give them value beyond what they paid for.
Content is King
Focus on the quality of your content. Only relevant, interesting and powerful content will get you where you need to be. Take a hard look on which content your readers are spending a lot of time and create other content that revolves around that stream.
Good user experience is only user experience
If you make it hard for users to access your content or you have many steps that reader must do in order to pay, they are going to be dissatisfied. Easy access, easy usage, easy sign up and payment are crucial for readers.
There is a strong movement in news media towards paid subscriptions across the world. If you want to succeed everybody must be on board with it editorial, sales, marketing. It is not just change in business model of a company, it is much bigger. The change must be in the mind set of management and employees.
Sources:
https://www.inma.org/blogs/conference/post.cfm/7-key-global-trends-in-news-media-subscriptions
https://www.fipp.com/news/insightnews/digital-subscription-revenue-displacing-digital-advertising
https://www.strategy-business.com/article/The-Revenue-Stream-Revolution-in-Entertainment-and-Media?gko=e2d74
https://www.switch.tv/media-rely-subscriptions-ad-revenue-2020-deloitte/
