Recently, I reviewed a piece from FT Strategies on the evolution of paywalls and pricing - their data on the most effective style of paywall was interesting.
First here are their definitions:
Freemium: Some content is always free, while premium content is always locked
Metered: All content is available for a set amount of articles over a set period (eg: 3-5 article per month before locked)
Hybrid: Uses a combination of metered and freemium to lock content
Dynamic: Personalised paywalls based on a set of criteria like engagement and propensity to subscribe models
Hard: All content is locked (with some exceptions for ad-hoc free public service media)
Interestingly enough, their data showed that on aggregate, publications saw a similar rate of growth in their digital-only subscribers regardless of what style of paywall they used (between 8.9%-10.4%).
Knowing that the choice of paywall doesn't significantly impact subscriber growth (they all help), more publishers seem to be switching over to models that prioritise collecting first party data.
If you have paywalled content, we can support you in building and implementing the right strategy to help you drive readers towards converting to paying subscribers. Examples of two tactics we can support you with:
1) Distribute free content on Apple News to build affinity and demonstrate value at the top of the subscriber journey.
Then seed optimised CTAs throughout your Apple News content to drive towards paywalled content on your own site.
2) Deliver paywalled content directly into Apple News via their News+ offering, making readers subscribe to Apple News+ to see your premium content.
This can work really well as an additional revenue stream – and even better if you offer something extra, outside of Apple News+ to bring readers into your Owned and Operated subscription too.
(Apple will give you some revenue share based on the amount of time readers spend on your content)
Let me know if you want to chat about paywalled content and Apple News!
North American Sales and Business Development @ MT Newswires | Financial News
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