Yearly Archive for 2012

Study Finds Paywall Resistance Decreasing, But Most Buyers Want ‘Freemium’ Model

Date: May 18, 2012 Topic: Hybrid Model, Subscription Business Model Tags: , , , , ,

Good news for paywall and subscription site execs: audience resistance to paywalls seems to be decreasing!

According to a recent study of digital media professionals by DigiCareers, 42% said that they would research pricing if they hit a paywall, while 52% said they would immediately leave the site. While that’s not the most desirable number, it’s definitely a sign that there’s a growing acceptance of paywalls and paid content, especially since only 25% of respondents said they had a negative perception of sites that use paywalls.

What’s most interesting is that 90% of respondents said they expect a “freemium” model, where they can sample some of the site’s content. In addition, 63% said they expect no ads behind a paywall, although 61% said they’d put up with non-intrusive advertising if it dropped the subscription price.

However, a freemium model may not be as good an idea as a paywalled site with a separately branded free blog, as Golf Odyssey found out. And advertising behind a paywall may be palatable to your audience if it comes in the form of helpful, free white papers, as Gantthead discovered.

The decreasing resistance to paywalls and paid content is good news. But discovering what model works best for your site will take some trial and error. Don’t be dissuaded and start giving away your content for free. Eventually your paid employees will appreciate your business acumen and your audience will value your high-quality content enough to pay for it.

Posted by MinalB21
Click here to Twitter This Email this Page

Why You Should Never Say Your Subscription Site Is ‘Safe & Secure’

Date: May 17, 2012 Topic: Card Processing, Technology for Subscription Sites Tags: , , ,

This week, Attorney Lisa Dubrow spoke to members of our sister site, Subscription Site Insider, about recent government crackdowns on companies collecting customer data online. One of her best tips was that no subscription or membership site — no website at all, in fact — should claim their site is “safe and secure.”

Of course, we should all be using encryption technology and SSL certificates on our e-commerce and subscription payment pages (or s-commerce pages, as I like to call them). As Dubrow explained, you should definitely state whatever safety measures you take, like “using encryption technology.” But stating outright that your site is “safe and secure” can get you into a lot of legal hot water, especially since no site is that secure. We’re all vulnerable to hackers and identity thieves, and any security breech can open you up to a lawsuit if you claimed to be “safe and secure.”

You’ll also want to use those secure icons from vendors like Verisign and TrustE only if you have a licensing agreement with the vendor. And you should definitely test your wording and icon placement — different audiences respond differently to such assurances.

For more information on data collection crackdowns, privacy policies, and how to best notify your customers to any changes in your terms of service, check out the instant replay of Dubrow’s presentation.

Posted by MinalB21
Click here to Twitter This Email this Page

Match.com Finds New Revenue Opportunity with Offline Events

Date: May 16, 2012 Topic: Events, Other Revenue Streams Tags: , ,

Match.com, with 1.8 million paying subscribers globally, has decided to go retro and take dating offline.

The company recently announced plans to host 2,000 to 3,000 offline events in 40 countries around the world for paying subscribers. The new service will be called “The Stir,” and come in two varieties:

  • Free events, like casual drinking evenings, and
  • Paid events, like bowling or cooking lessons.

In both scenarios, however, Match.com will only send invitations to paying members who algorithmically seem like they will be a good match (based on factors each person lists in their profile).

It’s an ingenious way for a dating site to take advantage of offline events to boost revenues — a tried and true technique utilized by many subscription sites. (In fact, our sister site, Subscription Site Insider, will be releasing a how-to guide in the near future for subscription sites interested in hosting successful offline events.) It’s also an idea that can be easily adopted by smaller, niche dating sites, who may not have the IT power to run algorithms and pre-select attendees, but whose niche focus means members are already pre-selected and eager to meet like-minded individuals.

Posted by MinalB21
Click here to Twitter This Email this Page

$14.5M in Digital Subscription Revenues for The Economist

Date: May 15, 2012 Topic: Revenues, Subscription Business Model Tags: , , , , ,

While most publications have seen a decline in subscription rates over the last decade, The Economist has been able to double its circulation to 1.5 million in that time, mainly the result of some savvy marketing.

Of that1.5 million, recent reports indicate that 100,000 are digital-only subscriptions, garnering approximately $12.7 million in online dollars for the 169-year-old publication. In addition, The Economist has 15,000 Kindle and Nook subscribers, which accounts for a conservative estimate of $1.8 million in revenues. That’s a total of $14.5 million in online subscription revenues alone!

But getting back to that savvy marketing. An off-the-record source informed me that The Economist has made a conscientious effort in its branding to be THE publication of cosmopolitan intellectuals, and indeed, it’s hard to find a smart world-traveler or business exec who’s willing to talk trash about The Economist. Thus, aspiring smart people feel almost compelled to buy a subscription. It’s tribe marketing at its best.

The Economist has also been savvy enough to capitalize on “lean-back” devices like the Kindle, Nook, and iPad, which are more friendly platforms for their long-form content. They not only know their market, but their medium. While some readers may be asking for mobile (which they provide), the majority are going to be grateful to be able to read lengthy articles at their leisure on a lean-back device.

Posted by MinalB21
Click here to Twitter This Email this Page

Social Readers Get Mixed Results For Driving Traffic and Consumer Satisfaction [chart]

Date: May 14, 2012 Topic: Attracting Traffic, social media Tags: , , ,

Many sites with a metered paywall have been able to drive traffic through social media. (Poynter recently reported on the different ways six major papers were combining social media and paywalls.) But there’s been some speculation about Facebook’s social readers, which allow users to automatically share their reading and viewing activity with friends, with some rumors that they are “collapsing.”

The chart below, compiled and created by Inside Facebook, shows Monthly Active Users for a number of news sites. However, one should note that there are many things affecting social reader usage, from Facebook’s continually changing algorithm, which alters when and how user activity on another site is shared, to coding bugs within one publication’s social reader.

Social Reader x Monthly Active Users (c) Inside Facebook

© Inside Facebook

Clearly, social readers can be a great way to get referral traffic to your site, especially if you have a metered (not hard) paywall that lets new visitors sample your content. But be aware that user experience is a big determinant of how much referral traffic you’ll get. Many consumers dislike social reader applications that require referred users to authorize the app and share their activity in order to read an article read and shared by their friend.

Smart subscription sites know that social readers are traffic drivers, not conversion mechanisms. They’re also wary of Facebook, which essentially controls your content’s distribution through its social reader and has a penchant for changing terms of use on the fly.

Posted by MinalB21
Click here to Twitter This Email this Page